McCurdy promoted to captain

Keith Paul

Thursday, Dec. 7, 2000 | 10:34 a.m.

Lt. Greg McCurdy has been promoted to captain, marking the second black Metro Police officer to currently hold that rank on the department, police officials said Wednesday.

McCurdy, who has been on the force for 17 years, was suspended for 60 hours in August after an internal investigation determined he sexually harassed two employees when he was in the personnel department and then was untruthful during the investigation.

McCurdy admitted he made a mistake and says he wants to work hard in his new position.

"I'm not perfect," he said. "Sometimes we make mistakes, but the key is to learn and grow from the mistake. I think I've done both."

McCurdy is filling the opening created when Capt. Mike Ault was appointed to the rank of commander. Ault was taking the place of Cmdr. Charles Davidaitis, who announced his plan to retire after he was arrested on drunken driving charges over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Metro makes promotions off of a list created through testing. McCurdy was the first name on the list.

Sheriff Jerry Keller said six years ago when he took over Metro, the officers on the list have earned the right to be there and he would not skip over a person on the promotional ranking list, said Lt. Marc Joseph, a department spokesman.

"Our system is designed to select people for promotion through an open and competitive process," Undersheriff Richard Winget said. "You can't keep punishing people for their mistakes.

"He's accepted responsibility for the wrongdoing, and we believe he's learned from it," Winget said. "He's earned the opportunity to be a captain."

Winget noted there have been other officers who have been disciplined in the past and later promoted.

McCurdy's promotion is effective Jan. 6, and he will oversee the criminalistics bureau.

"I'm excited to be promoted and excited about the opportunity," McCurdy said. "I'm glad that the sheriff has the confidence in me to lead such an important bureau."

Lt. William C. Minor, president of the National Black Police Association's Nevada chapter, said McCurdy's promotion is another step to creating more diversity in Metro's command staff.

"It's a step, but we still have a long way to go," he said. "We're doing everything we can as we continue to mentor African-American officers so they can test and get on the (promotion) lists."

Deputy Chief Larry Bolden, who died in April, was the first black Metro officer who was promoted to captain. He also was the first black officer to be a deputy chief. Bolden retired from Metro in 1991.

When McCurdy's promotion becomes effective, he will join Capt. Cliff Davis, who is currently in charge of the downtown area command, as black officers to hold the rank of captain. There are 17 captain positions at Metro.