Former UNLV interim police chief receives promotion

Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2000 | 11 a.m.

UNLV Police Chief Jose Elique has promoted to lieutenant a woman who at one point this year ran the beleaguered department while a national search was conducted to find a permanent leader.

Sgt. Rochelle Sax, an 18-year veteran of the UNLV Police Department, is the first woman in the department's history to assume that high-ranking position. It was Elique's first significant promotion since naming Mike Murray assistant chief shortly after he took over on June 1.

Sax, a UNLV graduate with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, was one of four officers Elique recently promoted. The others are:

"These promotions send out a clear message that officers who provide a greater level of service to the community through our community policing model will be recognized and, when possible, rewarded for those efforts," Elique said today.

Following a controversial drug raid in March, acting UNLV chief Sgt. Don Drake was put on administrative leave by then UNLV Student Services Director Robert Ackerman, who on March 20 put Sax in charge of the day-to-day operations of the department.

Drake had been assigned to temporarily replace Chief Don Hollenbeck, who in November 1999 was transferred to another supervisory position following student complaints of police misconduct and racism.

Sax was replaced in late March by former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agent Ed Verkin, who served as interim public safety director until Elique arrived from New York, where he had founded the 21-campus City College of New York police department.

In a Sept. 8 letter to the news media, Youngflesh and Officer James Kettner disagreed with fellow UNLV officer and union president Ron Cuzze's assertions that Elique fostered a hostile work environment and created a situation that put the officers at war with the school's administration.

Cuzze, who played a major role in the military-style March drug raid on a campus dormitory that netted less than a handful of drugs and no felony convictions, was demoted from detective to uniformed officer by Elique. Cuzze has announced that he will retire for medical reasons in January.

Youngflesh holds a master's degree in adult education and a bachelor's degree in law enforcement.