As Nevada’s new street vendor law takes effect, advocacy group pleads for tolerance
A Nevada advocacy group is asking law enforcement officials to extend grace to street food vendors after the release of a video that shows a Metro Police officer scuffling with a vendor near the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign.
“I think what happened over the weekend could have been avoided,” Rico Ocampo, organizing director for Make the Road Nevada, said Tuesday. “We never need to see these types of situations transpire.”
Ocampo, whose nonprofit group advocates for working-class immigrants, said many street vendors were confused by news about a recently signed state law that legalizes street vending but hasn’t fully been rolled out.
Metro released a portion of body camera footage showing an officer on Sunday threatening to arrest a street vendor for not showing a driver’s license. The vendor walks backwards and throws his arms up to block the officer from grabbing him before the video becomes disorienting. According to a Metro news release, the vendor had pushed the officer to the ground.
The officer is then shown pointing a taser at the man while using strong language to order the vendor on the ground.
In the release, Metro said the officer had “reminded” the vendor on Saturday that it was illegal to operate without a license. Metro said it released the video after another video circulating on social media showed just the officer threatening the vendor with the taser.
Metro did not release the full body camera video, so it is unknown what transpired prior to the officer threatening arrest.
Newly passed legislation legalizes street vending once local and county governments and the Task Force on Safe Sidewalk Vending have created regulations and ordinances for the businesses. Legalization of the businesses will allow vendors to apply for business licenses and health permits.
Ocampo said many business owners have heard the law was passed but don’t realize what the legalization process entails.
“It is going to take us as a community, with the help of law enforcement, to provide some sort of grace for street vendors who think it is already law,” Ocampo said. “Law enforcement has fallen short on understanding that grace period.”
Street vendors don’t have the option to wait, Ocampo said.
“They don’t do this as a hobby,” Ocampo said. “Many depend on the income that is coming from this small business to feed their families. Any pause on any street food is going to have effects on the street community.”
There is no timeline on when the task force or city and counties will have regulations in place, Ocampo said.
“We should be cognizant,” Ocampo said. “Right now, we don’t have ordinances but we shouldn’t be arresting folks.”
During a ceremony last month in which he signed the street vendor legislation bill into law, Gov. Joe Lombardo, a former Metro sheriff, said the Latino community had a fear of police, but law enforcement’s only goal was to be partners. Many street food vendors are Hispanic.
“He wanted the community to trust law enforcement,” Ocampo said Tuesday. “This type of situation only erodes that trust. We hope this is the last time that this happens to a street vendor.”
Once more details are understood about the process, Ocampo’s group plans to conduct town hall meetings to help inform vendors and would-be vendors about how to apply for licenses and receive permits.