NEVADA’S POLITICAL ODD COUPLE

NV POLICE BODY CAMERA BILL A ROLE MODEL OF THE LEFT & RIGHT WORKING TOGETHER

May 27, 2017

A few years back, after former Metro Police Sheriff Douglas Gillespie allegedly covered up the shooting death of Eric Scott in 2010 at a Costco in Summerlin, when the store video tape “disappeared”, Tony and Shelly Shelton were determined to hold government accountable and make sure that injustices like that never happened again in Nevada.

                Eric Scott 

Shelly Shelton ran for the Nevada State Assembly in 2014 in the Republican sweep and won. In the Nevada legislative session of 2015, Assemblywoman Shelton and her husband Tony reached out to, then, Minority Leader Senator Aaron Ford who had sponsored a bill requiring NV State troopers to wear body cameras.

The bill went down in defeat in 2015, but this year Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford wrote a new bill. SB176 is identical in language and substance in the most important areas to Aaron and Shelly’s AB403 from 2015, according to Tony Shelton. SB176 passed both houses of the legislature and Gov. Sandoval signed the bill into law this week.

Shelly and Tony Shelton issued the following statement this week:

“Shelly and I want to personally thank Aaron for his friendship, his courage, and his determination. And also for making us feel like our time in Carson City wasn’t just three years of our lives wasted.

Thank you.”

Senator Aaron Ford’s Statement about the bill passing:

“Thankful to the Governor for signing #SB176. Nevada is now the second state to require all patrol officers to wear body cameras. Proud to sponsor this bill, which protects both cops and citizens.”

Tony and former Republican Assemblywoman Shelly Shelton consider Democrat Senator Aaron Ford a good friend to this day, all fighting for justice, government accountability and transparency. They’re indeed Nevada’s political odd couple. But they are an example of what we can do when we all work together on issues we agree on, instead of saying no just for partisan sake.

Rob Lauer

Political Reporter

360Daily.net