Metro asked to purge work-card info

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2001 | 10:28 a.m.

Metro Police officials will purge 1,000 outdated work-card records as a test to see how much time and effort it would take to delete all information gleaned from work cards that are no longer required.

Clark County commissioners on Tuesday urged Metro to expedite the process of purging information on hotel employees no longer required to hold the documents.

The Clark County Liquor and Gaming Board amended its work-card law in July, exempting employees who do not have direct access to casino money. Maids, bellhops and bartenders were among the positions excused from the ordinance.

Work cards are issued after Metro conducts complete criminal background checks on employees.

Since the law was amended, commissioners, civil rights activists and employees have complained that Metro still has private information in its computer system.

Commissioner Erin Kenny on Tuesday pushed Richard McKee, deputy chief of Metro's Technical Services Division, to figure out exactly how long it will take to purge the records of tens of thousands of employees.

"We need to let the public know exactly what the plan is," Kenny said.

Complicating the process is the fact that computer records are not clearly marked, McKee said. Metro officials plan to purge 1,000 records, determine how long it takes and return before the commission with a time frame.

"We might have to physically read each one of them to delete them," McKee said.

Metro is scheduled to come before the board with a status report in September.