Students claim panel not representative

Tuesday, Oct. 19, 1999 | 11:53 a.m.

A newly created UNLV Department of Public Safety Advisory Board, which held its first meeting Monday in the midst of growing complaints against campus police, is not an independent body and does not reflect the community it serves, critics say.

"There are 20,000 students on this campus but only 10 percent of the board is made up of student representatives," Catherine Clein, a junior and president of the student chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, complained to the board members.

Tension at the inaugural meeting rose when Nevada ACLU Executive Director Gary Peck noted that the board is made up primarily of UNLV administrators, staff and others who may or may not have a vested interest in the university.

"I'm a little troubled by the makeup of this board," Peck said.

The board has two faculty members, two undergraduate students, one graduate student, two members of the professional staff, two members of the classified staff, a campus administrator, a non-UNLV police professional, a member of the Task Force for a Just and Inclusive Campus Environment, the director of Public Safety and the UNLV code officer.

The board is scheduled to meet again next Monday.

Peck, who helped create a civilian oversight committee for the Metro Police Department, said the board is not an independent entity and without independence it will not accomplish much.

Retired Las Vegas FBI director Bobby Siller, appointed to the board by UNLV President Carol Harter, took Peck to task for challenging the board at its first meeting.

"It would be inappropriate of you to make a judgment so early," Siller said. "We're trying to get a solution. Before you criticize you need to give us a chance."

Robert Ackerman, vice president of Student Services, who directed the meeting, said recent complaints against the police and the creation of the advisory board at the same time are coincidental.

Two years ago the administration created the Task Force for a Just and Inclusive Campus Environment, which suggested the creation of the police advisory board.

"We spent last year designing the board," Ackerman said.

He pointed out that the board will not deal with specific complaints.

"Our role is to help define the kind of police the campus wants," he said. "We're not here to be a complaint resolver."

More than a dozen angry students who attended Monday's meeting said campus police have abused their authority and intimidate faculty and students.

"There is a large problem with the way the police department has been run, from top to bottom," Joey Cohn, a senior in political science, told the board. "It is not merely a perception problem.

"I believe strongly in the mission of this board, but I don't believe it can be independent. A separate board is crucial."