UNLV names interim police chief

Saturday, March 25, 2000 | 3:19 a.m.

After a series of controversies involving UNLV police, the university announced it has appointed a veteran federal law enforcement official as interim chief of the school's police force.

Ed Verkin, who worked for 27 years in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, will serve as interim director of public safety at the UNLV.

UNLV President Carol Harter said Verkin's first goal will be to "foster an understanding among the university's police officers that they are part of the campus community and work for UNLV."

A week ago, acting Chief Don Drake was the second university chief to be placed on administrative leave. That followed complaints that campus officers were overly aggressive during a drug raid. In November, then-Chief David Hollenbeck was taken off the job and reassigned after similar student complaints about officer behavior.

Verkin spent his last nine years in federal law enforcement as the special agent-in-charge of the ATF's Las Vegas office.

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