Reno police union wants L.A. chief

Friday, May 30, 1997 | 11:44 a.m.

"I'll be forwarding to the City Council at its meeting June 10 that Jerry Hoover be named the new Reno police chief," McNeely said at a hastily called news conference Thursday evening.

"Over all, he's the top-ranking candidate. He has been described as a policeman's policemen."

While McNeely praised Hoover's experience in Missouri and, before that, in Boulder, Colo., and San Diego, Reno Police Protective Association President Ron Dreher said his organization was sticking with Bayan Lewis.

Lewis was named acting Los Angeles chief last month and is a 35-year veteran of the city's police force. He has been its assistant chief since 1994.

"We will support the new chief if Hoover is the choice," Dreher said. "The most qualified by far is Chief Bayan Lewis, so I'm asking the community to please contact your elected officials. The selection does not officially occur until June 10."

The police union is running full-page newspaper ads today and Sunday backing Lewis, whom they say has the experience to build on the gains made by acting Reno Chief Jim Weston and his predecessor, Richard Kirkland.

"I'm an optimist. I want the best candidate, the most qualified," Dreher said.

But while McNeely was having lunch on Thursday with Hoover, Weston and Kirkland, Lewis was on the job in Los Angeles. He has not been in Reno since an interview April 10.

McNeely said at Thursday's news conference that Hoover was the top choice of two of three city panels -- ones representing the community and police. Lewis got the nod from a city employee panel.

Weston, a 26-year veteran of the department, announced in September that he was stepping down at the end of one year in the position after negotiations with McNeely failed to meet his job security and salary goals.

Weston became acting chief in January 1995 when Kirkland was elected Washoe County sheriff and assumed the post permanently six months later.

Even if he is passed over for the chief's job, Lewis probably will be moving to Nevada. He plans to serve as interim chief in Los Angeles until July, when he turns 55, then hopes to build on a 10-acre site he has bought in the Gardnerville area in the shadows of the Sierra, 50 miles south of Reno.