Panel OKs police review board

Erin Neff

Tuesday, May 18, 1999 | 11:58 a.m.

Calling it a way to "build the trust" a Las Vegas City Council committee agreed Monday to the creation of a Citizens Review Board of the Metro Police.

The Recommending Committee's position will be forwarded to the City Council for a full vote May 24.

The ordinance, which resulted from nearly a full year of meetings by an independent committee, is being called a compromise.

"What you have before you is a good start," said Franny Forsman, a federal public defender who served as chair of the committee that drafted the ordinance.

"It is something that will launch the process of civilian review of the Metropolitan Police Department."

The effort to create a review board came after months of public criticism of the police department due to some highly publicized cases in which residents said officers abused their power. A cross-section of the community, including cops, lawyers, residents and the ACLU comprised the committee that hashed out how the review board could be created.

Sparking the debate were several cases of officer-involved shootings that led to coroner's inquests into the actions by police officers.

No coroner's inquest -- including one held two weeks ago -- has ever determined an officer acted improperly.

A May 7 inquest, for example, found the shooting death of a pedestrian stopped by an officer to be justifiable.

Since the Metropolitan Police Department is jointly funded by the city and county, both government entities must approve the review board before it is formed. The county approved such an ordinance last month.

The proposed board will cost an estimated $200,000 a year, and will be comprised of 25 members -- appointed by both the county and city.

The board will be separate from Metro's Internal Affairs Bureau and will screen cases and consider requests for review.

David A. Freeman, who retired from Metro in 1996 after 31 years on the force, told the Recommending Committee he was opposed "to the usurpation of the authority of the duly-elected sheriff."

He called formation of a citizen's review board "an insult to (Metro's) integrity."

Frank Pelteson, a retiree who has spoken against the review board at every public hearing related to formation of such a board, called it a communist plot to "federalize the police department" and forward the ideas of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"It's review by unqualified citizens," Pelteson said.

Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU in Nevada, said the review board is necessary because it serves as an independent checks and balances system.

"We are asking for one forum where citizens can go where they feel they are getting a fair examination of the facts," Peck said.

Former North Las Vegas Police officer John Armstrong, who was dismissed last November amid a claim of sexual harassment by a fellow officer, told the committee he favors creation of a review board.

"There's a lot of peer pressure, there's a lot of camaraderie among officers," Armstrong said. "If you don't think there's a hidden agenda within the police department, you're mistaken."

Deputy City Attorney John Redlein, who sat on the committee that created the ordinance, said similar review boards in other cities are used by police officers who don't believe they've gotten a fair shake in internal affairs.

Of the 25 members, 12 will be appointed by the city and 13 by the county. Up to five members of the board can be former police officers.