Drug raid prompts questions about UNLV police

Jace Radke

Tuesday, March 21, 2000 | 11:15 a.m.

Who runs UNLV's police force?

That's the question that federal public defender Frannie Forsman says UNLV's public safety advisory board has to answer.

"Who do the police officers work for?" Forsman asked at the advisory board's Monday meeting. "No one is clear on it, and no one is clear where the police fit into the university community. That is the huge issue that needs to be tackled."

The question comes on the heels of the latest allegation of wrongdoing by UNLV Police and an announcement by Bob Ackerman, vice president of student services, that the Nevada Division of Investigations has been asked to look into a March 9 dormitory drug raid.

Sgt. Don Drake, acting UNLV Police chief, and Sgt. Paul Harris have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Ackerman said.

"I met with investigators and asked that they help us by getting this done as soon as possible," Ackerman said.

University Police Officer Jeff Green told the board that he thought some of the officers feel they are a part of the university, but others think of themselves as state police who do not need to be integrated into the university system.

"It's my opinion that it works better if we're a part of the university community, but some don't feel that way," Green said. "Some say 'look at what the administration is doing to us.' "

The latest controversy swirls around Campus Housing Coordinator Mark Miles, who was asked by UNLV police to open dormitory room doors for officers in Boyd Hall to facilitate a search warrant in the drug raid.

Miles has filed a complaint with Ackerman's office alleging that officers dressed in full SWAT gear handcuffed and frisked many students after kicking the doors in to six rooms.

The raid, which was conducted on a warrant signed by Justice of the Peace Jennifer Togliatti, resulted in the arrest of one male student and the recovery of marijuana, ecstasy, opium and paraphernalia.

State Gaming Control Board member Bobby Siller, a member of the advisory board, said he believes that many of the problems with the department will be solved and a sense of direction will come with the hiring of a new director of public safety.

"The reason we're here is to get a strong leader in there who can create a community policing culture that supports what the university is doing," said Siller, a former FBI special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office. "Who they report to will be immaterial if we get the leadership in there that will enforce core values for the department."

A selection committee has narrowed the search for a new public safety director to eight candidates and expects to pass a list of four or five finalists on to Ackerman and university President Carol Harter by mid-April.

The State Police Officers Council supports the actions of Drake and Harris, union spokesman Tom Ely said.

"Everyone is going to come up and question if what they did was right or wrong, but that isn't really a concern because it is all going to come out in the wash," Ely said. "Our concern is that you're taking the acting chief and another officer out of circulation when it looks like the worst thing they did was bust in a few doors."

UNLV's force is one of three police departments within the University and Community College System of Nevada. The other two are UNR and Truckee Meadows Community College.