Nevada Capitol Police

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Nevada Capitol Police is a division of the Nevada Department of Public Safety that is responsible for law enforcement in major state buildings within Nevada. They also provide security for the senior government officials.

The Nevada Capitol Police was organized in the late 1940s as the security detail of the Nevada Division of Buildings and Grounds, with one night watchman patrolling the perimeter of the Nevada State Capitol Complex (including the Governor's Mansion), using any available B&G vehicle to deter crime (sometimes with the backing assistance of the then-Ormsby County Sheriff and Carson City Police Departments).

In 1966, the night watch crew had grown to three officers, and the department was renamed "Capitol Security". In 1972, the Nevada Legislature had reorganized their status as "limited peace officers", meaning that they were not recognized as fully-sworn peace officers under the Nevada Revised Statutes at the time. In 1985, their status was elevated to "official sworn peace officer", meaning that they were now in the same league as the Nevada Highway Patrol, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Reno Police and the reorganized Carson City Sheriff's Office.

There have been five Chiefs of the Nevada Capitol Police since its current status was established in 1985; Brad Valladon has been the current Chief since November 2001.

At the time of its 1985 reorganization, there were only eight officers statewide; currently, there are 32: twenty-one and an administrative assistant in the Carson City Command, the remaining eleven assigned to the Las Vegas Command (serving the Grant Sawyer State Office Building and State Supreme Court).