Fighting crime in Sin City

Las Vegas, Nevada recently unveiled a new recruiting campaign for police officers, using "edgy" and "modern" comic book-ish images in their advertising:



"This campaign is edgy; it's modern," Young said Thursday during an unveiling of the Metropolitan Police Department's new recruitment campaign at Las Vegas City Hall.

He said the ads are designed to attract the 18- to 25-year-old demographic to fill the department's ranks.

The department is short of its goal of averaging two officers for every 1,000 citizens and is seeking applicants to fill the 300 officers funded through the 2005 sales tax revenue increase, police said.

The ads are intentionally comic-book-like, with a Gotham City-like feel and comic book fonts. But certain distinctions, like the Stratosphere and palm trees, make it known that the cartoon world is Las Vegas.

R&R Partners, creators of the "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" campaign, volunteered the design and the hours to the campaign, between $100,000 to $125,000 worth, according to R&R President and Chief Strategic Officer Mary Ann Mele.

You can see the campaign in action at http://protectthecity.com/. Utility belt not included.