The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Foundation Presents:
The Eighth Annual Hidden Heroes Black & White Gala
Honoring LVMPD HONOR GUARD
Fontainebleau Las Vegas
Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.
Celebrating the Heroes Behind the Badge
The Hidden Heroes Black & White Gala celebrates and recognizes unsung heroes at LVMPD who work to keep us safe every day and are committed to our community.
Inspiration for the Hidden Heroes Black & White Gala comes from Nami Oneda and The Gratitude Project, and stems from the heroic acts of 1 October and the crucial role played by the investigative unit that reviewed the harrowing bodycam footage for the Criminal Investigative Report on the mass shooting. Since 2018, the Foundation has been honoring department sections and units that play integral roles in law enforcement but are not traditionally in the spotlight. The Gala’s “Black & White” theme is a nod to the color scheme of Metro’s squad cars.
Proceeds from the Gala support the Foundation’s mission to provide Metro with the strongest platforms for public safety, including training, equipment and technology, and community engagement events.
2025 Hidden Heroes Gala Sponsors
DIAMOND SPONSOR
GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
TABLE SPONSORS
Gold Coast Promotions
Letizia Agency
Penta Building Group
Siena Italian
Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino
Hidden Heroes Through the Years
2025 Hidden Heroes
LVMPD Honor Guard
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Honor Guard proudly serves the City of Las Vegas, the County of Clark, and the Law Enforcement Community across the United States of America. The Honor Guard performs military style honors during funeral services of officers killed in the line of duty, as well as for deaths of current or retired law enforcement officers.
By the appropriate rendering of honors, they endeavor to provide closure to the families of officers killed in the line of duty.
Duties performed by the Honor Guard include posting caskets, escorting bereaved family members, flag ceremonies, twenty-one gun salutes, and the playing of Taps.
The mission of the Honor Guard is to serve the police department and the community as a visual reminder of the service and traditions of law enforcement; forever respecting and remembering with honor and distinction past and present police officers for their dedication and service to the citizens of Southern Nevada.
2024 Hidden Heroes
LVMPD Air Support / Search & Rescue
Celebrate the contributions of the units who provide aerial and ground assistance during emergencies, from natural disasters to medical emergencies, locating missing persons, aiding criminal pursuits, and ensuring swift response to crises. They do their job regardless of dangerous circumstances and often without recognition.
2023 Hidden Heroes
LVMPD Events Planning Section (EPS)
When a gathering is designated as a Major Event, the Events Planning Section (EPS) will lead the development, exercising, and implementation of an operational plan for the event to ensure a safe and secure environment for the general public. In addition, the EPS works with local and federal agencies to secure additional funding, manpower, equipment, and resources needed to keep our community safe during major events. The EPS also conducts year-round multi-agency training operations to ensure all Southern Nevada first responders are prepared to work in harmony in the event of an emergency. Though their work is unseen, these Hidden Heroes keep our economy thriving as they protect millions of visitors and hundreds of events each year.
2022 Hidden Heroes
LVMPD Fusion Watch
LVMPD’s Fusion Watch is a 24/7 real-time crime center situated in the LVMPD Fusion Center known as the Southern Nevada Counter-Terrorism Center (SNCTC). Fusion Watch is a virtual crime-fighting unit that is responsible for the development and deployment of advanced technologies to prevent crime and terrorism in real-time across the Las Vegas Valley, and beyond. Staffed with both highly trained civilian specialists and officers, Fusion Watch operates under the mantra that one officer behind a keyboard can be equivalent to three or more officers on the street by solving crimes and giving police on the streets a real-world advantage in their virtual setting.
Fusion Watch is responsible for proactive police work and patrol overwatch via their network of 600+ public safety cameras, gunshot detection known as ShotSpotter, automated license plate reader detections and investigations, facial recognition investigations, drone monitoring, and enforcement, house arrest monitoring, tactical workups, and intelligence gathering, suspicious activity report vetting and dissemination, and much more. Fusion Watch personnel regularly help prevent and fight crime on a regular basis and keep our officers and citizens safe, to include violent crimes like homicides, sexual assaults, robberies, and lower-level misdemeanor crimes alike.
While the hard work of Fusion Watch breeds great success that has a tremendously positive impact on public safety, their personnel do not seek any recognition for their efforts. On the contrary, they operate virtually and hidden from the public with a burning passion to simply combat crime and keep Las Vegas safe. For these reasons, we celebrate Fusion Watch personnel for their great service to our community as hidden heroes.
2021 Hidden Heroes
LVMPD Criminalistics Bureau
In 2021 the Foundation, the Gratitude Project, and supporters honored the Criminalistics Bureau and more than one hundred professionals who perform scientific tests or techniques to detect crime. The bureau includes Crime Scene Investigations, the Evidence Vault, and the Forensic Lab. Previous honorees included the Redaction Bureau for their work on 1 Oct, the Communications Bureau and the K-9 Section.