Police citizens review board gets OK

Erin Neff

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2000 | 11:41 a.m.

After years of political struggle, a proposed citizens review board of Metro Police cleared its final bureaucratic hurdle Wednesday.

The Las Vegas City Council unanimously approved the funding for the board and adopted an ordinance giving the city manager the same role the Clark County manager has in personnel decisions.

Mayor Oscar Goodman did not back down on his criticism but never proposed an amendment to the ordinance that would have forced the review board's "sunset" after a certain period of time.

"The way this has been set up ... for the expenditure of money that's involved, you should have the authority to criticize with sanctions if you find misconduct," Goodman said.

The board will only have the power to recommend punishment to Sheriff Jerry Keller. It will not have the authority to override Keller's actions.

Goodman said he hoped leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union and other proponents of the board will seek more power for the board during the next state legislative session.

"I have long felt that this has been woefully inadequate," Goodman said.

Wednesday's approval came a day after the Clark County Commission approved a language change to the interlocal agreement. That change, which was requested by the City Council, gave the city manager the power to fire the review board's director.

The city adopted the same language Wednesday, finally paving the way for the board's creation.

Gary Peck, the ACLU's executive director in Nevada, praised the vote.

"This will finally give us the opportunity to create a genuinely independent board to review Metro," Peck said.

Selection of the board's 25 members will be made by Metro's Fiscal Affairs Committee -- a board composed of two county commissioners, two City Council members and one citizen.