WHO'S WHO IN NORTH LAS VEGAS:
Police chief fights on and off the rink
By AMANDA LLEWELLYN
VIEW STAFF WRITER
Larry Cruikshank/View
Larry Cruikshank/ViewNorth Las Vegas Police Chief Joseph Forti, foreground, drives toward the goal and eventually scores during his Oct. 24 hockey game at Fiesta Rancho, 2400 N. Rancho Drive.
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Facing off with hard-core members of the Hells Angels biker gang, working undercover with national drug enforcement officials or presiding over the police department of one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation may seem a tad intimidating to most people, but for North Las Vegas Police Chief Joseph Forti, it's just another day on the job.
"I love what I do," Forti said. "I always have. I've been very lucky and blessed to work with and under some great people."
Forti has been on the job, as chief, for only nine months, but said he can't imagine being any place but where he is.
"It's a great feeling to be such a part of a department," he said. "I will end my career the same place I started it."
The Henderson resident moved to the valley after graduating from Buffalo State College in 1976 with a degree in criminal justice.
Forti said he struggled to find work on the East Coast and left New York with a determination to move west.
"The economy was a lot like it is now," Forti said. "Nobody was hiring. New jobs were hard to come by. I heard that there was work here, so I took a chance that I would get on someplace."
After testing for both the Metropolitan and North Las Vegas police departments, Forti was offered positions on both forces.
"At that time, North Las Vegas was a smaller city, and I liked that," he said. "I thought about all of the good I could do here and decided to take the job."
The longtime Buffalo Bills fan said the city reminded him of the area he grew up in.
"That was a factor," he said. "It was a bit of nostalgia seeping in, I suppose."
Forti has spent his entire 29-year career with the North Las Vegas Police Department, where he started as a patrol officer in 1980.
"The truth is, I think that I have worked just about every job there is in the department," Forti said. "I went on to become a motorcycle traffic officer. I've done patrol several times, worked in homicide and the detective's bureau. I've been a sergeant, detective, lieutenant and assistant to the chief. I've worked at the detention center, overseen day-to-day operation. I loved every position I've ever served in."
Forti also worked the undercover narcotics beat, where he said he feels like he did the most good.
"Narcotics was a great assignment," he said. "It's in cases like that, when reality hits, you realize there's so much damage, you could never possibly fix what's broken. That's when you realize that making an impact on one life, in small areas, is the way to go. You can't tackle the whole problem, but you can help individuals affected."
According to Forti, it was around that time that methamphetamine labs with a serious nexus to Los Angeles street gangs were popping up all over North Las Vegas.
"Cops tried to emphasize then that meth was the next big drug," he said. "People didn't take it seriously. We'd dealt with bikers who trafficked dope, but they liked to keep to themselves. The gangs weren't quiet about their activity at all. It was an interesting time to be in narcotics."
When Forti accepted the chief's position in February, he said he did so with great esteem for his predecessor, but with very finite ideas about what needed to change in the department to be more effective in the community.
"I look at every situation as an opportunity for growth," he said. "I really wanted to utilize what we have by getting more officers out there in the community, whether that means on patrol or working with kids or educating the public about ways that they can help us do our job better."
Forti said he believes that as the economy continues to spiral, the crime rate may rise.
"People need to be aware of what's happening in their community," he said.
According to Forti, criminals are seizing the opportunity to create mischief and rob vacant homes of fixtures and copper wiring.
"With all of the foreclosures, neighborhoods can help us by being vigilant as to what is happening on their street," he said. "You are our eyes and ears."
Forti said he hopes that the positive changes in the community will help reconstruct the city's image.
"There is crime here, but there is crime everywhere," he said. "North Las Vegas has always been represented as a rough area. That's a negative image that just isn't true. I hope we can help to change that image."
Contact North Las Vegas and Downtown View reporter Amanda Llewellyn at allewellyn@viewnews.com or 380-4535.
CHIEF JOSEPH FORTI AT A GLANCE
* Hobbies: Hockey, running, spending time with family.
* Most influenced by: His father, who served in World War II.
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