Mike Blackeye, the chief of Clark County School District's police department, is retiring after 21 years with the district. He started in 2003 as a school police officer at Monaco Middle School in the northeast valley and worked his way up to chief. His last day hasn't been announced yet, but the district is already searching for his replacement.
If you have kids in CCSD schools, you've probably seen school police officers around campus during pickup, at sporting events, or handling situations on school grounds. Blackeye's department oversees all of that. The school police force is separate from Metro and specifically trained to work in schools. They respond to everything from fights and drug incidents to more serious threats. The chief sets the tone for how officers interact with students and families across all 357 CCSD schools.
Blackeye took over as chief in 2018, a particularly tough time. He led the department through the pandemic, when schools shut down and then reopened with new safety protocols. He also navigated increased concerns about school security that every parent in this valley has thought about at some point. Before becoming chief, he served as a lieutenant and captain, so he's been part of the school safety conversation here for most of the 2000s.