Report cites rift between UNLV police, campus

Jace Radke

Wednesday, April 5, 2000 | 11:28 a.m.

A new report on the troubled UNLV Police Department says some members of the 22-member force are arrogant, prone to intimidation and don't understand their role on a university campus.

And those are just some of the problems detailed by a national panel of college law enforcement experts that cited a divisive rift between the department and the rest of the UNLV community as its "most critical finding."

"Several officers harbor attitudes that are not compatible with the concept of community-orientated policing on a university campus," the report reads. "They have an 'us vs. them' mentality. These officers are not above using intimidation to keep other members of the department 'in line' with their thinking."

The study comes in the wake of numerous charges of police harassment against the department, whose chief was reassigned to another UNLV department and acting chief put on administrative leave.

The 26-page management assessment report was put together by Frank Pizzulo, vice president of student life and administrative services at Drexel University; Robert Robinson, assistant vice president of public safety at Syracuse University; and John Carpenter, director of public safety at San Diego State University.

The three experts conducted interviews and reviewed the university's police and public safety programs for three days in early March.

"There are a significant number of officers who do not understand the nature of their employment relationship to the university and their duty to the university community," the report says.

That rift has been pointed out as a problem before by Federal Public Defender Frannie Forsman and Rick Bennett, chairman of the UNLV Public Safety Advisory Board, which has been undertaking its own investigation and will send its recommendations to UNLV President Carol Harter.

"I think the basic findings are quite similar to what the advisory board is talking about," Bennett said. "This report is coming from law enforcement, and the board's report, when finished, will be kind of from a layperson's perspective, but I think the recommendations we give to President Harter will be similar."

The new report also noted the police department's low morale and found confusion among officers and others in the university community over who should be the campus police department's boss. The State Police Officers Council has advocated that UNLV Police, along with the state's other two university police forces at UNR and Truckee Meadows Community College, be put under the supervision of the state instead of the university and community college system.

But the study suggests that the officers are in fact a part of the university structure and should therefore report to the UNLV administration.

Acting Chief Ed Verkin said today that he agrees with the report that the department needs a clear direction, strong leadership and an open line of communication between the university community and the police.

But he says he hasn't seen any intimidation by officers on other officers or arrogance as indicated in the report.

"I've seen some officers who are strong willed and some who are more outspoken than others," said Verkin, who ran the Las Vegas office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms from 1990 to 1998. "It may just be the personalities of some of the officers, but I don't know that it's arrogance or intimidation."

Verkin says the mission should be clear and it is to keep the community safe.

Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said he believes the report is a beginning to addressing problems with the campus police.

"The report seems to confirm what the ACLU and a number of complainants have been saying about the department for some time," Peck said. "Unfortunately it took as long as it has for the university administration to recognize the problem."

One problem cited in the report that bothers Peck is that some officers have never been through a performance evaluation. The report states that the department does not have a formal employee evaluation program for veteran officers. The development of such an evaluation is among the report's recommendations.

Other recommendations include improving community relations, putting more community policing programs in place and developing a comprehensive role, mission and vision for the department.

Those are all recommendations that Bennett says he expects his board to make by the end of the month.

"Right now we really have three things going on," Bennett said. "You've got this report, the advisory board report and the search committee looking for a new director of public safety," Bennett said. "That person will be a big part of the process, and I think these reports and information will be helpful for the new director."

Verkin said there needs to be a change of attitude among police, students and university faculty and staff to improve the relationship.

"We need to not be thinking in a way of 'them' and 'us,' but bring everyone together," he said. "It's going to take some time. We may need to do some community-oriented policing and get to know people. It's going to take attitude adjustment on both ends."

A selection committee for a new campus police chief has narrowed the search to eight candidates and expects to pass a list of four or five finalists to Harter by mid-April. Until then Verkin, who says he's not a candidate for the permanent job, will serve as interim public safety director.