SLAYING OF SIMI MAN HAS VEGAS SAFETY IN DOUBT; FAMILY MEMBERS WANT CITY TO EXPLAIN.

Byline: Glenn Puit Las Vegas Review-Journal 

During a trip to Boston last year, Doug Sherry spent hours sightseeing and walking through historic neighborhoods, taking in the city's atmosphere in an outing that culminated with a visit to Fenway Park.

When Sherry came to Las Vegas in February, he planned on doing the same thing, walking from his downtown Las Vegas hotel to the tourism attractions along the Strip.

That late-evening walk cost Sherry his life.

Family members of the 39-year-old Simi Valley man now want to know how a tourist walking within one block of Las Vegas Boulevard, in the shadows of the Stratosphere, could end up a slaying victim in a city almost entirely dependent on tourism.

``He came here with his friends to have a good time, and within four hours after he gets here, he gets shot to death,'' said Sherry's brother Gregg. ``It isn't right.''

Las Vegas police say in light of Sherry's case and a handful of others like it, they are examining whether there is a cost-efficient way to distribute common sense safety tips to tourists. At least six tourists have been slain in Las Vegas since 1994.

``It might involve setting up kiosks on the Strip, something like handing out pamphlets with important phone numbers and safety tourism tips,'' police spokesman Steve Meriwether said. ``Nothing has been finalized as of yet.''

Meriwether cautioned that police are just beginning to examine the feasibility of such a project. He said the information booths could serve as a complement to the Las Vegas police Tourism Safety Unit, which focuses on preventing and solving crimes involving the financial exploitation of tourists.

``We are still a very, very safe destination,'' Meriwether said. ``But, unfortunately, there are going to be some people who try to take advantage of other people in vulnerable situations.''

People like Sherry, an industrial safety inspector who came to Las Vegas on Feb. 6 with 24 Simi Valley co-workers for a weekend of gambling and fun. Just hours after the group arrived, police were called to the 1400 block of Casino Center Boulevard at 1 a.m. and found Sherry's body.

He had been shot to death, but police have no suspects or motive. Sherry still had his cash on him.

``At this point we don't know what happened,'' homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said. ``We have no information indicating that he was out there up to no good. There is talk that he was walking to the Strip, with his final destination possibly being the Stratosphere.''

Glenn Sherry said he believes his brother was probably trying to take a shortcut to the Strip and ended up walking through a neighborhood that everyone agrees is frequented by drug dealers and prostitutes during early morning hours.

``My brother didn't do drugs,'' Sherry said. ``He didn't do prostitutes.''

There is no organized effort to educate tourists on how to avoid becoming a victim of violent crime, said Rob Powers, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

``I don't think that would be feasible,'' Powers said, noting that more than 30 million people visited Las Vegas last year.

``Even the best precautions in the world will not prevent random acts of violence.''

Also, Meriwether said handing out safety pamphlets at highly populated tourist spots could create a perception problem or unnecessary anxiety among visitors.

Powers said Las Vegas has made strides in the past decade in addressing tourism safety. He said one example of that progress is a tourism safety seminar scheduled for May that will bring security experts from across the nation to Las Vegas for a discussion on how to protect visitors.

For the Sherry family, the slaying of one tourist is one too many. Sherry's brothers recently came to Las Vegas and placed two yellow roses at the base of a makeshift monument crafted on the sidewalk where Doug Sherry died.

His brothers then stapled posters throughout downtown Las Vegas offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to Doug Sherry's killer.

``He was an easygoing guy who lived a very simple life,'' Glenn Sherry said. ``He was always the considerate one, and he didn't deserve this happening to him.''