UNLV police officers file suit

Greg Tuttle and Kim Smith

Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2000 | 11:37 a.m.

A federal lawsuit filed by three UNLV police officers alleging the university defamed them in an effort to avoid public scrutiny over a series of questionable police practices is evidence of how deep the problems cut between the campus administration and police department, according to an American Civil Liberties Union attorney.

"From our perspective, it's very clear there are a whole lot of problems with the campus police and administration and right now there is a lot of finger pointing," ACLU attorney Allen Lichtenstein said.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court seeks unspecified damages from UNLV and the University and Community College System of Nevada. The police officers, Ron Cuzze, Terry Jenkins and Brian Diaz, claim university officials threatened and harassed them.

The lawsuits stem from complaints of excessive force and violations of department policy levied against the campus police department beginning last year.

One of those complaints, from the arrest of a UNLV student last year while jogging on campus, was resolved Tuesday when charges against the student were dismissed.

Defense attorney Lew Wolfbrandt said that charges against Leroy Hudson were dismissed by District Judge John McGroarty Tuesday morning at the request of the Clark County district attorney's office.

Hudson was arrested in May 1999 on charges of resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and for being a pedestrian on a highway in one of several incidents that garnered the university a great deal of negative attention and prompted student protests.

After weeks of negotiations involving the university, ACLU and the district attorney's office, an agreement was reached to dismiss the charges.

In exchange, Hudson waived his right to sue the university, and the school also promised not to bring administrative disciplinary charges against him, Wolfbrandt said.

Had Hudson gone to trial, he could have gotten as much as two years in prison, Wolfbrandt said.

The three officers complain in the lawsuit that their civil rights were violated by university officials who ordered them not to speak publicly about the incidents.

The issue has led to turmoil on campus, with student protests and the firing of longtime UNLV Police Chief David Hollenbeck. The Nevada Division of Investigation also got involved, but a report of that investigation has yet to be released to the public.

Lichtenstein said the lawsuit filed Tuesday and the failure to make the investigation public have shrouded the serious nature of the incidents in secrecy, which threatens to erode public trust in both the campus administration and its police department.

"Even this (federal) complaint makes a lot of charges but doesn't substantiate them with any specifics," Lichtenstein said. "The very real problem is that the department and the public would be better served if those who police the university would be honestly self-critical."