Long before Carlos Hank embarked on his decades-long career with Metro Police, he had reservations about being a cop.
Growing up as a Black teenager in Lake Charles, La., during the 1980s, there were several interactions with police that rubbed Hank the wrong way, making him skeptical of law enforcement.
“The only time I saw the police was when they were arresting somebody or taking somebody to jail — somebody I knew, our family member,” Hank said during a recent interview. “So I did not like the police.
“But one thing my mother told me,” Hank continued, “she said you’re either going to be part of the problem or part of the solution.”
That’s advice the 54-year-old Hank has kept since boyhood, and it’s a mantra he still lives by. He retired at the end of October from the department.
Hank came to Las Vegas at the behest of his brother, Charles Hank (who retired as an assistant sheriff in 2020). He wanted Carlos to work with him so badly that he would fax him photocopies of his paycheck to show how well the job paid.
And over the past 23 years, Hank has held virtually every rank within Metro since joining the force as a corrections officer in 2000. When his retirement became official Oct. 26, his title was deputy chief of the west community policing division, which oversees the Bolden, Enterprise, Spring Valley, Summerlin and Northeast Area commands.
In recent years, Hank also led Metro’s internal oversight and constitutional policing unit, which investigates officer shootings and use of force, among other issues.
Hank now will start a new chapter in his life. What that entails, he isn’t exactly sure. But it assuredly will include time with his wife, whom he describes as his high school sweetheart, along with his three daughters and his three grandchildren. And it will also involve mentoring area youths in some capacity so he, too, can further bridge the gap between police and the people they serve.
“I’m still going to be here for this community,” Hank said. “Just because I’m retired, doesn’t mean I can’t be an advocate for this agency (and) be a conduit to help this agency deepen its relationship with the community.”
The Sun recently sat down with one of Metro’s (former) top cops. Here are highlights from our talk:
Have you had a chance to reflect on your career? How does it feel being a civilian for the first time in so many years?
It’s interesting because now you wake up, you’re like, what’s your purpose? I did 23 years and two months here at Metro, and, before that, I did 12 1/2 in the United States Marines Corps. So for a total of 35 years, I’ve been serving either the country or serving this community, and to wake up and be like, ‘OK. What do I do today?’ But I feel empowered. I do feel sad because I’m leaving something that I’ve lived for the last 23 years. And what I’ll miss the most are the people.
What are your retirement plans?
I also want to stay abreast of what’s going on in law enforcement. I’m not wearing a badge in the traditional sense, but when you’re a law enforcement professional, you don’t give this up. I want people like me coming through these doors and getting hired by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and in other agencies. I take pride in mentoring folks and trying to help them be better individuals, and I’m going to continue that in the future.
What drew you to the Marines? Did you always know you’d be in the military?
When I was a little kid, my mom said she would always hear me say I wanted to do two things: I was going to be a cop, and I was gonna be a Marine. And as I got older, I wanted to be a military policeman, initially, but that didn’t work out. I was too young. I would have had to wait another year. So I went in, tested, and did well in a few areas, and they mentioned I could do aviation and hydraulics. I was kind of handy — my dad was a handyman, and from an early age he kind of piqued my interest in turning wrenches and things like that. So I joined the Marine Corps and was trained in aviation hydraulics.
The valley has changed so much since you started at Metro. Are there any patrol calls you remember from early in your career that encapsulate what Vegas was like?
I remember a few car chases back when we could pursue stolen vehicles. I remember a guy stealing a shrimp cocktail from Landry’s Seafood and that morphed into a carjacking and a high-speed pursuit on I-15 all the way up to Mesquite. One of the things I saw that was a big transition in my career, I was one of the first sergeants to field body-worn cameras. I think body-worn cameras have transformed law enforcement. It has put us in a place where good cops are out there doing their jobs every day, and they’re utilizing that technology to document what occurred during a particular accident. It helps build trust, exponentially, within the community. I will admit there are bad actors, law enforcement officers that have done things that we do not condone, but when you have a body worn camera that backs up what a cop is saying, now it helps reinstill trust so that officers and the community trust each other more.
How should police agencies be interacting with their communities?
My first couple captains at Bolden Area Command were very community oriented. I remember us having fish fries in front of the Bolden Area Command building. You didn’t see that at police stations back then. I can’t take credit for (Metro’s) community outreach, but what I can say is that it was presented to me, I embraced it, and I tried to take it to the next level.
A lot of people now still feel the way you did about the police all those years ago. Obviously, public sentiment reached a high point with the protests in 2020, but do you think things have gotten better here?
It’s one interaction at a time. Every time a cop steps out of his car or her car and makes an approach to talk to someone or knocks on somebody’s door, that interaction is going to do one of two things: Either that person is going to feel that the cop is being fair and that they can trust the cop, or they’re going to feel that the cop doesn’t really care about anything that’s going on and they’re just here to arrest them. You must tell the reason behind the reason. So, yes, I’m taking you to jail, but here’s the reason why. It’s not a cookie-cutter approach. Anytime you maybe take an extra second and explain why you must do this, you’re gaining that respect and dignity, and you’re giving that respect and dignity back to the community. Every interaction has a way of helping us take that next step. You must understand people, and you have to understand how people perceive law enforcement. If that was your brother, sister, mother, cousin being arrested, how would you want them to be treated? If that were you, how would you want to be treated? I think that’s what I tried to convey as captain of Bolden Area Command to my officers. If you treat people fair, firm and consistent, you’ll earn that respect.