Henderson Police: Tape misleading

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, May 20, 1998 | 9:54 a.m.

A videotaped beating of a female Henderson Jail inmate was stolen two years ago and turned over to a Las Vegas television station just days after the informant was fired from the police department, Henderson Police Chief Tommy Burns said.

Viewers were stunned by the video aired on KVBC Channel 3 -- in the middle of sweeps week -- and participated Tuesday in the station's poll about whether the footage represented police brutality.

Burns said Tuesday evening that the videotape was "doctored" and doesn't show the entire incident or explain what the officers were trying to accomplish.

"It was twisted and there were a lack of details," Burns said. "You can apply your spin to a video and make it look like whatever you want it to look like."

Burns said the woman in the video was arrested in 1996 on suspicion of child abuse after hitting her 14-year-old son. When she was brought into the jail, she was drunk and refused to change into jail-issued clothing.

Officers at the jail are required by state law to search inmates for drugs or weapons and put them in jail uniforms before they are assigned to their cells.

Burns said officers repeatedly ordered the woman to change her clothing and warned her that they would use pepper spray to force her to comply. She refused. The segment of the video aired on the news showed what happened next: The woman was sprayed, knocked to the ground and carried to another room where her clothes were changed.

"What we did was a forced dress out; everything was done by the book," Burns said. "It's state policy, not mine."

Burns said police couldn't allow the woman to calm down before searching her because she may have been hiding drugs or weapons. Whenever officers know they have to use force, the sergeant radios the control room and has a video camera in the holding cell turned on.

"We videotape it for the protection of the employees and so we can review it to make sure they follow policy and there is no excessive force," Burns said.

Since police have been permitted to use pepper spray to contain uncooperative suspects, the number of injuries to both inmates and jail personnel has dropped dramatically, Burns said.

The police chief said there was not a body cavity search performed on the woman. If officers believe inmates have swallowed a substance or are hiding drugs in their rectum, they will either wait until the inmates use the bathroom or take them to the hospital to have their stomaches pumped.

What the video aired on Channel 3 does not show, Burns said, is the woman walking to a sink to rinse her eyes after the incident. He added that a nurse's report confirms the woman was not injured and never bled.

"I feel bad for the gal," Burns said. "The whole thing is being resurrected so Channel 3 can have news."

The charges against the woman were eventually dropped after she completed anger management classes. She never filed a civil claim against the city, according to Henderson Public Information officer Vicki Taylor.

Taylor said the city invites a third party familiar with law enforcement to review the video. If flaws in police department policies are found, she said, the city will investigate it further.

Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Nevada chapter, said today that he was sickened by the tape.

"It clearly involved excessive use of force," Peck said. "We are deeply disturbed. We are particularly disturbed that officials at the jail don't understand, even at this point, why their actions were inappropriate."

Peck said his agency and its attorneys are concerned about the way prisoners are treated at the Henderson Jail.

"We are going to contact the officials who run the jail," Peck said. "Hopefully we can resolve this manner amicably by persuading them to change their policies."

The former jail officer who supplied the television station with the tape was fired May 10. The day after the news station questioned Burns about the videotape, police obtained a search warrant and raided the former officer's home.

Channel 3 reporter Rick Fuentes' name was listed on the warrant because he told police how he received the video, Burns said.

"We were looking for stolen property," said Burns, who added that the officer could face theft charges. "We confiscated about 400 videotapes and a computer."

The chief said the officer had the tape for two years and didn't contact the news until after he left his job at the jail. The officer contacted the FBI last week and, soon after, the woman filed a complaint with the FBI.

"When a person complains to the FBI, the FBI looks into it," Burns said. "It's been two years and suddenly she's appalled? The FBI will find no excessive force and no civil rights violations on the part of the employees."