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LAS VEGAS - Criminals with guns are a dangerous problem for police in Las Vegas.
In the past month, a number of officers have faced off with armed suspects who've shot at them. In one instance, a suspect struck an officer.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is currently working to take firearms out of criminal hands.
The department started a social media campaign called One Less Gun. The effort becoming even more important for officers as more suspects are willing to use weapons against police.
"It's definitely concerning for me to watch these over and over. We have these instances," said Asst. Sheriff Tom Roberts, LVMPD at the latest officer-involved shooting media briefing.
Officer Richard Nelson was hit in a gun battle recently with a suspect who fired nine times.
"You know it's been a tough month for us. We've had quite a few officer-involved shootings in the past month. Each of those involved somebody or a suspect trying to harm us or our officers," Roberts said.
Officer Nelson is expected to survive. The most recent shooting of an officer has Roberts concerned about the bigger issue.
"We have a gun issue in our community and our country quite frankly and that's something that we are going to be working on over the next year," Roberts said.
Officers are now stepping up efforts to take guns away from illegally armed criminals.
Police working to get guns off the street