By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
This week, the Moapa Valley will mark a significant change in its police force. Long-time Metro Resident Officer Allen Johnson is retiring after a 26 year career as a police officer in southern Nevada.
Johnson has been working as an officer in Moapa Valley since he was assigned here in 2006. Since that time, he has built a reputation as a true community officer; one who is fully involved in, and dedicated to, the community in which he serves and lives.
One of Johnson’s earliest assignments as an Overton Resident officer was to serve in the DARE program for drug prevention in the local elementary schools. His friendly approach and gentle manner, quickly made him a favorite to hundreds of local children.
“He is just a friend to everyone,” said Grant Bowler Elementary school principal, Shawna Jessen. “He has a very disarming way about him and the kids just love him. In DARE, his approach was always to build a strong relationship with the kids well before the age that they would ever get in trouble. That way he could work with them later on if they ever did.”
Johnson was fully devoted to the DARE program. Even after Metro moved away from operating within the program, Johnson continued to act in the role for the local schools. He did it for the sake of the kids and the relationships he could make there, Jessen said.
Johnson has also become well respected for having a cool head in an emergency situation. Over his years of service, he has been recognized with two distinctions for this trait. The first was the Medal of Honor for his role in rescuing a local resident who had crashed his vehicle into the Muddy River in May 2009. The second was a Life Saving Award for bringing back a heart attack victim who had collapsed at Overton Park while attending an event there.
“In all of our emergency situations over the years, we could always depend on Allen to be a source of comfort in stressful situations,” Jessen said. “Whatever the situations were, when we needed to call for help, he would arrive, keep us informed and keep things calm.”
This comforting influence during a time of crisis proved especially meaningful to one local family. About two years ago, Johnson was the first responder to an emergency call at the home of Corey and Kristi Dalley in Logandale.
Corey had collapsed one evening, suddenly and unexpectedly, with a serious heart failure. Upon his arrival. Johnson found Kristi giving CPR to her husband and he took over the situation from there. Over the next 5-10 minutes, he worked on Corey with an automatic external defibrillator (AED) until medics from the volunteer fire department arrived to begin transport to the hospital.
To this day, the couple attribute much of Corey’s survival to Johnson’s actions that evening.
“He was a crucial part in saving Corey’s life,” Kristi said. “He handled the emergency situation so well. He was just a very comforting presence and went over and above to help us.”
Kristi added that Johnson’s involvement and support continued even after Corey had been transported to the hospital.
“He checked in on us, texting us even while Corey was in recovery at the hospital; just to see how he was doing,” Kristi said. “There was a sense that he was not just doing things out of duty, but out of genuine love and caring. I think that is what made the biggest difference to me.”
Since that day, Corey said, there has been a certain bond between the two of them.
“Of course, we always got along well before that, because Allen is such a great guy,” Corey said. “But now it has become much more personal. He is definitely special to me.”
Johnson has also gone out of his way to help those he encounters who might be down-and-out in the community. One of Johnson’s colleagues, Resident Officer Mark Harding recalled a time when Johnson came in contact with a homeless person in the community. At that time, Johnson went straight to work finding a place for the person to stay.
“I don’t think that this person actually expected Allen to find him a place that fast,” Harding said. “But it just took Allen one phone call and he had a home for him. Because of his love for people and his great personality, Allen has so many friends in our community.”
Johnson’s involvement in the Moapa Valley community has extended well beyond his role as a police officer. He has been active in community sports leagues. He has become a valuable coach in local youth sports programs, coaching youth soccer, as well as little league baseball teams.
“He has done a phenomenal job working with kids as their coach,” said John Stastny from the local Parks and Recreation office. “He is just great working with kids at whatever their ability in the sport. He helps them to have a good time and enjoy the game.”
Stastny added that Johnson is, of course, good at teaching the fundamentals of the sport. But his real value is in the interpersonal relationships that he develops with kids and parents. His aim is always in building self-esteem in the kids and making the sport a positive experience, Stastny said.
“Allen realizes that it is recreational and doesn’t ever take it too seriously,” Stastny added. “He is not fighting for the win at all costs. He would rather have the kids learn the skills and enjoy themselves.”
Johnson served on the Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board for a three year time period. He was appointed in September of 2013, understanding that it was not something he needed to do, but rather something he was doing to serve his community.
“I hope that maybe I could help out,” Johnson said in an interview with the PROGRESS at that time. “I know that a lot of things in the community are volunteer positions. And they are always needing new people to step forward and volunteer. So I felt like it was my turn.”
While serving, he became known as a thoughtful, fair and measured voice on the board.
Because of the scope of his service, Johnson has made many friends and has become a well-beloved figure in the community.
“He is jokingly known amongst his squad as ‘The Mayor’ because of his always pleasant demeanor with the people he serves,” said local Metro Sergeant Bret Empey. “He is always smiling, shaking hands, talking to people, and patting little ones on the head.”
“You knew if you rode with (Johnson) during the Clark County Fair that you would be talking to a lot of people,” Officer Harding added.
Johnson has had a distinguished policing career even before landing the Resident Officer job in the Moapa Valley. According to his service record which was reviewed by Empey last week, Johnson began his first day as a police academy recruit on August 31, 1993, graduating on January 14, 1994. He hit the streets as a new police officer immediately after the graduation.
“By December of 1994, Allen was already doing what Allen does,” said Empey. “He teamed up with some of his partners at the station. They pooled their money and resources to throw a Christmas party for 65 under-privileged kids from the old westside of Las Vegas.”
In April of 1997, Johnson received a “Letter of Commendation” for his role in arresting a group of violent offenders who were doing home invasion robberies in Las Vegas. The suspects had tried to make their getaway by stealing the victim’s car. They were spotted by another officer and a pursuit ensued.
The suspects crashed into the back of a police K-9 truck and tried to run from the scene of the wreck. The K-9 apprehended the driver while Johnson and his partner chased down the other two suspects.
Johnson was accepted as a Metro Gang Unit officer in May of 1999. He stayed in that unit, serving on the enforcement squad until January 2005, when he transferred to the Internal Affairs Bureau. There he served as a detective until he was transferred to the Resident Section in Overton in June 2006.
“Allen is the type of officer that you want in your community,” said Harding. “He has always treated people with respect no matter the circumstance. Now he is able to leave knowing that he has given his all and is leaving with an honorable reputation.”
An open house celebrating Johnson’s retirement will be held on Wednesday, June 7 at the Old Logandale School beginning at 7:00 pm. All in the community are invited to come and congratulate Officer Johnson on his retirement.
