Las Vegas needs to give off an anything-can-happen vibe while also being inherently safe. The city has a dark edge, but it also needs tourists to feel like they can gamble, party, imbibe (and maybe inhale) without being in any real danger.
People come to Las Vegas to live a little larger than they do in their real lives, but living on the edge needs to mean staying up too late and indulging a bit too much. Yes, eating at Nobu or one of the city's many fine steakhouses puts both your financial health and your actual health at some risk, but that's a very different kind of peril compared to some recent incidents.
The Las Vegas Strip recently had a high-profile "slashing" attack that left two dead and multiple people injured. That incident followed a June shooting at the Fremont Street Experience that left another man dead.
Any large city, of course, has some violent crime (and small towns aren't immune from it either) but Las Vegas has a perception problem. Tourists need to feel like they're safe when they're visiting Sin City partially because when you're a little bit out of control, it's important to feel good about your environment.
Circa owner Derek Stevens actually shared his thoughts on exactly how safe Las Vegas is in a recent interview with Casino.org's Steve Bittenbender.
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Sin City Is Actually Safe City
When it comes to feeling safe, perception can be more important than reality.
“There’s nothing more important than people feeling safe. If you don’t feel safe, you’re not going to go to a destination, whether it’s Las Vegas or anywhere," Stevens said.
A stabbing on the Las Vegas Strip or a shooting on Fremont Street gets more attention than the same event happening in most big cities. Stevens made it clear that while any city can improve, Las Vegas has actually built a very strong track record for safety.
“The volume of people that have come through Vegas is also rather huge. And we’ve just got to keep getting better at it because no one wants to go to a tourist destination where you have both the lack of familiarity with the concern about safety. So, fortunately, we’ve had pretty good success and in most of Las Vegas, but obviously, it can be better," he added.
Is the Las Vegas Strip Safe?
"Generally speaking, the Strip is a pretty safe place, even at night. There are so many people out and it is very well lit, so it is risky for a criminal to commit a violent crime. The Strip also has a strong police presence." shared Ladah Law Firm, a Las Vegas Personal injury law office on its website.
That does not mean you should not take basic safety precuations.
"However, you should always be aware of your surroundings. In particular, pay attention to pickpockets. For men, this means putting your wallet in your pants front pocket or, ideally, in the front pocket of your shirt. Women should wear purses diagonally so they are harder to pull off," the law firm shared.
Stevens made it clear that safety is an ongoing, evolving issue both on the Strp and downtown.
"I think that you’re going to continue to see additional and enhanced safety measures taking place, both along Fremont Street and on the Las Vegas Strip. Many of which are above my pay grade that I know that are actually currently in place that I can’t talk about," he added.
