For Wes Duncan, the role of the attorney general is clear: to serve as Nevada's top law enforcement official. In his career, the Republican has served as the state’s assistant attorney general, a Clark County prosecutor, as well as a judge advocate general in the Air Force. He sat down with KUNR's Paul Boger to discuss how to make the state a safer place to live.
"Our plan is informed by law enforcement," Duncan said, "and so we heard that the biggest issues across the state were the deficit in mental health resources. I've talked about the need for psychiatric [emergency rooms]. We're 50th in the nation in mental health and that's something that we have got to fix if we want to make our communities safer."
Duncan’s plan also includes more early intervention strategies, like after-school programs aimed at keeping kids off the streets.
"I really believe that we need to be more forward-thinking in the way that we look at the criminal justice system. Over the last 75 to 80 years, we've just simply been reactive," he said. "Something happens and we react. It's time to get proactive."
KUNR also spoke to Duncan's opponent, Democratic state Senator Aaron Ford. You can hear that interview here.