Rhodes levels charges at police

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, March 20, 2001 | 11:01 a.m.

North Las Vegas City Councilman John Rhodes is accusing city police officers of targeting minorities, maintaining quotas and mismanaging funds.

His accusations have been delivered to thousands of residents by way of glossy mailers, which urge voters to re-elect him to the City Council.

His fight, though, could squander his ability to gain support in his election run; the police department's union has dropped its endorsement of the councilman and is fighting back with its own media campaign.

And with Rhodes facing a June 11 trial date on felony insurance fraud charges brought by the state attorney general's office, time is short for the councilman to clear his name.

Several weeks ago Rhodes placed an ad in the Sentinel Voice -- a publication that targets the black community -- with the headline: "Police Violate North Las Vegas Citizen's Human Rights."

In the half-page ad Rhodes accuses the police department of using a quota system that requires each officer to write an average of one moving and one parking ticket per day. He alleges that the practice violates civil rights because if is more likely the officers will conduct random stops.

Police spokesman Lt. Art Redcay said the department uses a "list of expectations," not a quota system. New officers receive the expectations from their supervisors.

For evaluation purposes, police officers are expected to write one moving and one parking violation per day, but it is only a recommendation, Redcay said.

"It is not a quota, it is not a policy, it doesn't come out of a department manual. Nobody's disciplined for not doing it." Redcay said.

Rhodes also alleges that members of several minority groups are being pulled over based on their race, commonly known as "racial profiling."

Rhodes, without providing statistics, said Monday the proof comes straight from Police Chief Joey Tillmon, who, during a December press conference, said, "It's possible that racial profiling could happen with certain individuals within the police department."

"As your City Councilman, I will not tolerate this type of activity to continue happening in our community," Rhodes states in the ad.

Rhodes said Monday that he is working with staff members to put new policies in place to ensure the type of activities he alleges in the ad cease.

"Do we have officers that may stop somebody because they're a certain race? We probably do," Redcay said. "Do we have a large number? Absolutely not."

The union began a media campaign of its own this week, blaming Rhodes and fellow councilwoman Stephanie Smith for the downfall of the Safe Streets 2000 initiative approved by voters in 1996.

The tax increase added officers but failed to add the proposed 68 officers and 36 employees by 2000 because of a built-in deficit.

The union, which represents 300 officers, launched television spots, mailers and billboards accusing the council of abandoning the program and placing the blame on Rhodes and Smith.

North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon and councilman William Robinson also sat on the council when Safe Streets was approved.

Police union director John West said Smith and Rhodes were targeted because they have not always supported the police department.

One of the television spots features a drug dealer thanking the council for allowing his business to prosper. The direct mail piece outlines how Smith and Rhodes have diverted the funds and reminds voters that they "voted for it," are "paying for it" and are "not getting it."

Police union director John West said the department was supposed to have 202 officers under the Safe Streets program by 2000; it has 180.

"It has become an issue for the safety of North Las Vegas and its citizens and also for its police officers," West said. "Right now at the current rate, statistics show it's over a 30-minute response time for a call. That's the length of a TV show."

Rhodes said the police department is to blame because it spent Safe Streets money on salaries for supervisors.

"We need to ask them, Where's the money?" Rhodes said. "Every dime that we have given that's been allocated has been given to the management of the police department. This is a problem with mismanagement on their part."

Ted Jelen, director of the UNLV Political Science department, said negative campaigning is as old as elections themselves.

"If you hit a nerve that might work, but only if there is element of truth in it," Jelen said.

"If I was trying to convince people that North Las Vegas Police were brutal or unsympathetic, I'd try to find African-American radio stations in town ... for those who these types of things would be most likely to resonate," he said.

archive