UNLV ad for new chief cop drawing responses

Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

UNLV has begun to receive responses to an advertisement on its website seeking a new public safety director to fill the position of the campus police chief the school fired in mid-November.

While UNLV plans to start reviewing the applications on Feb. 10, according to the website ad, it could take a few months to fill the position.

UNLV Vice President of Student Services Robert Ackerman said today he expects to receive a short list from a 10- to 12-member selection committee from which he will make a choice to submit to the president's office in early March.

"We are beginning to get calls," Ackerman said of the ad that was put on the school's website earlier this month. "We also will be advertising in national publications and with police associations."

Ackerman said the committee's interviews should start in mid-February. He expected a new director to be on board by late March and early April.

The new public safety boss will be taking over a university police force that last year became the focus of criticism and lawsuits from students and others who claim they have been harassed and abused by campus officers.

UNLV Police Chief and Public Safety Director David Hollenbeck was reassigned from the job Nov. 15 after students protests against the alleged harassment.

Hollenbeck, who has been on paid leave since then, recently was named director of facilities policy development and management. He will oversee the development and maintenance of buildings on the 330-acre campus.

Ackerman said today that Hollenbeck should continue to receive his $83,000-a- year salary because he was reassigned, not demoted.

Among the complaints levied against the campus police force was that black people attending a play at UNLV's Artemus Ham Concert Hall in November 1997 were frisked by officers, while white people were not searched.

The incident resulted in the filing of a lawsuit that may become the basis for a class-action suit for about 75 people who claim they were abused by campus police in that and other incidents.

UNLV police have said the Ham Hall incident and others involved private security officers not associated with the university's police force.

UNLV hosts about 200 major shows a year on campus, including concerts and sporting events attended by 1 million people. UNLV Police say there have been few complaints of campus police misconduct in conjunction with those high-profile events.

The public safety department has 105 workers: 21 state-certified police officers, seven dispatchers, 36 reserve officers and 41 parking enforcement employees. Senior Sgt. Don Drake has been serving as interim police chief.

UNLV has 23,337 students and more than 700 full-time faculty.

The website ad for the new police boss asks that candidates "demonstrate excellent communication skills, the ability to work effectively within a diverse environment and the experience to manage a unit in a complex setting."

Qualifications for the public safety director's job include:

The ad says salary for the post will be "commensurate with qualifications and experience. The university has an excellent fringe benefits package."

All letters of interest, resumes, applications and the names, addresses and phone numbers of three references are to be sent to the Office of the Vice President for Student Services, UNLV, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Box 452019 Las Vegas, NV 89154-2019