Northeast Section Gets New Metro Police Sergeant

By NICK YAMASHITA

The Progress

The local Metro Police substation has a new leadership. sergeant Keegan Doty has taken the helm of the Moapa Valley Resident section, filling the vacancy left by the retirement of former-Sergeant Bret Empey.
Doty has been a resident of Moapa Valley for some time. But he has been commuting to Las Vegas to work for Metro, in some challenging urban areas.

“It has been quite a change as I have been in fast-paced areas seeing a lot of action,” Doty said. “Now I am in a town where it is a little more laid back and easier going. But there still is crime present, and we will still be at full attention ready to go if needed.”

Doty was raised in Las Vegas and graduated from Centennial High School. He grew up on the edge of Las Vegas, in a suburban environment. “I grew up with horse property which was a lot more similar to here,” stated Doty.

He attended the College of Southern Nevada a little bit after high school, but was always interested in law enforcement.

“I was in the Explorer program in Vegas since a young age, and it sparked my interest in becoming a police officer,” said Doty.

After returning from a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Montana, he was accepted the police academy and began work.

Doty has been in “rougher” areas of his career, including Maryland Parkway, Boulder Highway, Fremont Street, Nellis, etc.

“I have always liked the fast pace of my work in those areas,” he said. “I am a person who likes to be moving and doing. I will try to emphasize that “doing” attitude here in positive ways that will benefit the valley.”

Doty has been excited to start some new programs in the community. First he wants to retain and improve the transparency of the police department in its interactions with the community.

“We want to work together with the community, he said. “We will be doing what we can to keep the community informed. Relationship with the community is of utmost importance to have success.”

Doty said that he also wants to reach out to those with better knowledge on some key issues and problems in town. “We hope the community will self-enforce such things as speeding and smaller issues, but we will write tickets and enforce the laws if necessary,” Doty said. “These are issues that people should be aware of in making the changes for themselves. We do not want to overregulate, and we want residents to enjoy their freedoms out here.”

Doty highlighted three goals he wants to achieve while serving as the resident officer leader.

The first area of focus would be on the youth. “Because of COVID, many young people are getting into drugs, mischievous behaviors, and illegal things,” Doty said. “I am sure anxiety is at an all-time high with our youth. We want to make sure they are helped. So we will have a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to drugs or drinking.”

Secondly, Doty wants to get the community working together in following the proper procedure of reporting crimes. “We have many local people who just call their favorite officer to report issues or crimes,” he said. “This is not proper because that officer may be off or on vacation when they call. We have good officers out here and always on duty.”

Doty said that local residents should call (702) 828-3111 to report crimes or other problems. “That way, we can act quicker on the incident and be able to better serve you,” he said.

The third area of focus would be to keep a closer watch on particular residents who have had constant issues with the law.

“We want those who are consistently bringing down this community with issues like drugs and other problems to be made more aware that we are watching them,” Doty said. “These are people who are problems for the communities here and need to be dealt with properly.”

Doty is married to Aubrey, an alumnus of Moapa Valley High School, and has connections to the valley. Keegan and Aubrey have four children.