UNLV meeting set over police problem

Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999 | 11 a.m.

UNLV police will meet Wednesday with Vice President Robert Ackerman in a closed session that one officer hopes will clear the air in the wake of recent actions that have shaken the morale of the 20-man department.

Ron Cuzze, an eight-year veteran of the campus police department and president of the State Peace Officers Council, expressed high hopes that the meeting with the vice president of student services -- who also is the administrator over the police -- will clear up the confusion of recent events.

Ackerman on Monday removed Police Chief David Hollenbeck from office and placed him on leave pending reassignment. Sgt. Don Drake has been appointed interim chief until a replacement can be hired.

No reason has been stated publicly for the dismissal of Hollenbeck, who says he is consulting an attorney about the situation.

In recent weeks the campus police department has come under fire from a number of campus organizations as well as the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, who have alleged that officers harass students, instructors and staff and routinely abuse their authority.

Cuzze calls the allegations absurd.

"There are a handful of students making those complaints, and most of the complaints are false," Cuzze says.

Cuzze is the object of one of those complaints, made by former student Leroy Hudson, who was stopped by police while jogging on a campus road at about 5 a.m. on May 21.

Hudson claims he was wrongfully arrested and that Cuzze verbally and physically abused him.

He was charged with pedestrian on a roadway, resisting arrest and battery of a police officer.

Hudson denies all of the charges, but Cuzze points out that a justice of the peace has bound Hudson over for trial on the three misdemeanors.

"Hudson is trying his case in the media," Cuzze said.

Cuzze said there have been six allegations of wrong-doing on the part of the police department in recent weeks -- allegations that go back several years.

None of the allegations are true, he claims.

"Part of the problem is we have not been able to get our story out to the public and so there is a misconception of what is going on here," he said. "We do not condone abuse of power by police."

Cuzze said plans are under way to assign an officer to function as a public information person to keep the media informed about campus police activities.

"If we had had a PR officer when all of this started, we would not be in the position we are now in," he said.

In an open letter to UNLV police officers who are members of the State Peace Officers Council, Cuzze urged everyone to attend the meeting with Ackerman on Nov. 24.

"Dr. Ackerman has again extended an invitation to all officers to meet with him," Cuzze wrote. "I have spoken to four different sergeants about their meeting with Dr. Ackerman. All of them expressed that this was a positive meeting."

Cuzze says part of the blame for misconceptions about campus police is with the university administration because he doesn't believe they have been fully aware of the officers' duties and activities.

"President Carol Harter's priority is education," he said. "She probably wasn't aware of a problem till there was a problem."

But he believes Harter and other administrators are concerned enough to take positive action.

"They have taken the first step in correcting that oversight," he said. "And we're going to work with them to insure the safety of the community."