Las Vegas’ January citizen of the month keeps eye on downtown
Donald Walford has been an insurance agent for 34 years, but he’s created a second job looking out for downtown Las Vegas.
Walford, 58, keeps his eyes peeled for crime occurring near his business on South Casino Center Boulevard. He moved there in August 2016 and noticed signs of drug dealing nearby.
“It was blatantly obvious what was going on,” he said. “In one day I took 46 pictures of people visiting the same apartment. The city and (the Metropolitan Police Department) took care of the problem. They were real reactive to us.”
The Las Vegas City Council on Jan. 3 recognized Walford as its citizen of the month.
“You can count on if there’s a problem that Don will be there to try to help fix it,” Councilman Bob Coffin said.
Born in Reno, Walford’s family moved to Las Vegas before his first birthday.
He graduated from Chaparral High School in 1977, then went on a church mission to New England for two years before studying political science and criminal justice at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
He returned to Las Vegas with a bachelor’s degree in the early 1980s and got married. He and his wife, Ann, have six children, including three sons who are Metro officers and a daughter who is a dispatcher for the agency.
Walford isn’t alone in his quest to help improve downtown. For about 15 years, he and a group residents, business owners and church leaders — dubbed the “God Squad” — have met regularly with police to discuss what they have observed in the area.
Father Courtney Krier of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, a member of the God Squad, said Walford has a leader and liaison among residents and goverment and law enforcement.
“He’s someone who has great concern and love for this community,” Krier said. “He’s making sure that we don’t just react, that we’re proactive. With all of us working I think downtown is pretty quiet compared to how it used to be.”
And the group isn’t solely focused on crime.
Members have hosted bike-safety rodeos, pumpkin carvings and donation drives for back-to-school supplies, Walford said. When Metro told them about a boy injured in a drive-by shooting, the God Squad brought him Pokemon trading cards.
“It’s not just getting together to find out what’s wrong,” Walford said. “We talk about service projects and who in the community is in need.”
Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @DavidsonLVRJ on Twitter.
