Editorial: Judge right to toss state law for police

Friday, June 28, 2002 | 9:35 a.m.

U.S. District Judge David Hagen was right last week when he nullified a state law singling out police officers for extra protection against false complaints filed by citizens. The 1999 Legislature passed the law at the request of police unions. In the end, it could not stand in light of constitutional safeguards of free speech and equal protection.

Under the law, citizens could be charged with a misdemeanor if they filed a report against a police officer and a subsequent investigation revealed that their report was in error. The law was intended to be an additional weapon against people who knowingly and maliciously file false charges. But cases in Northern and Southern Nevada demonstrated that people who file complaints presumably in good faith could also be threatened with criminal prosecution if their version did not ultimately square with the official version. All it would take for honest citizens to fear filing legitimate complaints against police officers would be a few successful prosecutions under this law. There are sufficient laws already in place that make it a crime to file false police reports, whether against police officers or anyone else.

What motivated the Legislature in passing the law was the unique circumstances of police officers, who are likely every day to encounter dishonest, belligerent people. Such people have no qualms about maliciously filing reports, which, no matter how false they are, can linger on a police officer's record and surface at promotion time. What's needed for that are better administrative procedures and strict enforcement of current laws. What's not needed is saddling the public with a law making police officers virtually beyond reproach.