Officer’s falsified report revealed

Keith Paul

Wednesday, May 2, 2001 | 11:21 a.m.

A Metro Police sergeant filed false reports during an internal investigation he conducted that cleared an officer of a misconduct complaint filed by a citizen, police officials told the Sun Tuesday.

An internal investigation of Sgt. Dan Southwell's actions sustained department charges of neglect of duty and falsifying a police report, Undersheriff Richard Winget said.

A Citizen Review Board review of the complaint revealed a shoddy internal investigation. Police reopened the case and discovered alleged misconduct by Southwell, 40, a 13-year Metro veteran.

"An internal investigation revealed the documented information he collected was not based in fact," he said. "It cuts directly to the issue of integrity. It touches the very heart of what police officers do, and that is document materials that have to go before judges and juries."

Only two other times in the past five years have officers been punished for falsifying information. Between January 1995 and November 2000, one officer was found to have filed a false report and another filed false information in a report. In both cases the recommended punishment was termination, according to Metro documents.

Southwell's supervisors will determine the disciplinary action. He could be fired for the violations, although Sheriff Jerry Keller must approve any punishment that exceeds a 40-hour suspension.

Southwell, a patrol sergeant, in August conducted an investigation of a citizen's complaint against Officer Richard Splinter.

Splinter, who was off duty and playing baseball, was accused of pulling back his shirt and showing his gun to Jon Tignor, an umpire who had just ejected him from the game. Splinter, according to police reports, stated that he thought Tignor had a gun. Tignor dropped to his knees and remained there, with Splinter standing in front of him, until officers arrived.

Splinter was cleared of wrongdoing based on Southwell's investigation, Winget said. Southwell had recently been promoted to sergeant.

Tignor filed a separate complaint with the Citizen Review Board after Splinter was exonerated.

The board in February not only sustained the complaint against Splinter, but also rebuked Metro for the shoddy internal investigation of the complaint.

"The investigating officer interviewed only two witnesses, the officer who was the subject of the complaint and one other witness who had been friends with both the investigating officer and the officer charged with misconduct," the board wrote.

Southwell didn't even interview two of the three witnesses named in the incident report filed by Splinter, according to the board.

Southwell contacted Tignor but, "based upon his experience," decided Tignor "was drunk and uncooperative." The board found Tignor doesn't drink, but he does have a speech impediment, the board said in its decision.

Metro officials agreed the investigation was substandard and reopened an internal investigation into Splinter's alleged actions.

The new internal investigation sustained a misconduct complaint against Splinter and uncovered the suspected problems with Southwell's investigation, Winget said. Splinter's discipline for his conduct will be recommended by his supervisors.

"It's the review board that discovered the problems and brought to our attention what you could call a cover-up, but what I believe was a falsified investigation," he said.

The uncovering of a shoddy investigation and accusations by police that one of their own falsified reports reinforces the need for the Citizen Review Board, said Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.

"This case once again makes clear that it cannot be left to police investigators to investigate themselves," he said. "I want to commend the department for taking seriously the findings of the review board and for going beyond them to send a message to officers that they need to fairly and competently investigate allegations of misconduct."

The review board's executive director agreed.

"Metro's actions unequivocally prove that the Citizen Review Board is not only appropriate and necessary, but it also proves that but for the review board's actions, this misconduct by officers would have been completely ignored," Andrea Beckman said.

Peck said he hopes Metro will give Southwell "the appropriate punishment" and "that this type of vigilance continues."

Exactly what punishment Southwell will receive will be recommended by his supervisors because the misconduct occurred before the department's discipline guidelines took effect in January. Punishment under the guidelines for false information in reports and filing a false report is termination.

Metro also has changed the way it handles internal investigations. The majority of inquiries are now done by internal affairs unit investigators. The number of internal affairs investigators also has been increased, Winget said.

The review of internal investigation reports has been increased, as well. Now, an internal affairs administrative sergeant, lieutenant and captain review the findings, Winget said.

The Citizen Review Board was established last year, following years of political wrangling and public outcry, after high-profile, officer-involved shootings in which officers were vindicated by Metro's internal affairs unit or a coroner's inquest.

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