System criticized for two demoted Metro officers

Cathy Scott

Wednesday, Oct. 23, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The attorney for two Metro Police officers who were demoted and suspended for forgery and fraud has attacked the system they are accused of cheating.

Lt. Steve "Whitey" Franks, 47, was demoted from captain and Officer Ron Fox, 35, was demoted from sergeant after the department said they conspired to forge and backdate performance evaluations so Fox could be promoted to lietenant.

Fox also was punished for ordering an on-duty officer to use a department computer so he could study for the lieutenant's exam.

Attorney Tom Beatty, representing the pair, told the Civil Service Board at an appeals hearing Tuesday that the officers did not conspire to cheat anyone else out of a promotion.

"There was no putting two heads together to make glowing performance evaluations," he told board members in the Clark County Commission chambers.

Beatty said the officers admit to forging the documents, but they apologized and believe their punishment was too severe.

Attorney Al Marquis, representing Metro, said in his opening statement that Franks gave Fox credit in the evaluations for work other officers had done.

The hearing was expected to end today, with a decision on the appeal to be voted on by the board.

Beatty's first witness was Lt. John Alamshaw of the Internal Affairs Bureau who investigated the allegations.

Beatty questioned why Alamshaw did not give Franks a polygraph test after Franks had requested one.

Alamshaw defended the decision, saying that "the evidence against was so overwhelming and admissions by both these officers that there was no need to take a polygrpah."

At the crux of the department's allegations, Beatty said, is the lack of an evaluation tracking system within Metro.

Capt. Les Simmons, who was acting director of the personnel department at the time of the May incident, was questioned about Metro's evaluation system.

Simmons said, "The (evaluation) policy is not up to par."

"There is no follow-up," he said. "It's taken seriously by some, by others it's not."

Board member Ann Casados-Mueller questioned whether the evaluation system was valid.

When asked by Casados-Mueller if he thought that part of the department had been neglected, Simmons answered, "Yes."

"It's frightening," Casados-Mueller said. "Being in human resources myself, it's scary. There's room for vulnerability."

Simmons told the board that some supervisors turn in annual evaluations while others do not, even though department policy requires them to do so.

Board member Phillips said, "That sounds like a big hornet's nest. That doesn't sound like equal treatment to me."

Also, Simmons said some supervisors are reprimanded for not completing evaluations "while others are skating through."

Casados-Mueller responded, "I always say a tight ship is run by its captain. I think there's some loose ships out there.

"I'm just appalled. I absolutely can't believe something hasn't been done. As a taxpayer and a board member, I'm appalled. I'm very offended by this and every employee of Metro should be offended."

Chairman Elgin Simpson noted, "It is apparent that there is a policy in the department that has not been followed. There is no way to prove one way or the other if (appraisals) have been done and when they've been done."

Beatty said Franks had written three evaluations for Fox, backdated them and forged Capt. Mike Ault's signature on two of the appraisals. He said, however, it was not unusual for supervisors to write overdue evaluations after the fact.

Fox did not have any current evaluations in his file, Beatty said, and Franks hurriedly wrote them up to him get a promotion.

Fox scored high on the promotions list, but his name was removed after it was learned that documents had been forged and falsified by then-Capt. Franks.

Franks was demoted and suspended without pay for three weeks, along with Fox. Both appealed the actions to the Civil Service Board after Undersheriff Richard Wingett denied an appeal to reverse the punishments. After the demotions, Fox was relocated from the southeast to the northwest substation and Franks was moved to Metro's forgery section.

Ault said at the time Franks forged his signature, on May 17, he was on his way to Australia. But at that time, Franks and Fox no longer worked for Ault.

Ault also said that he reviewed his own personnel folder and found some documents about his wife, who also works for Metro, in his folder instead of hers.

Marquis was expected to call witnesses on behalf of Metro today, including Sheriff Jerry Keller.