Schools police chief fired for lack of certification

By Emily Richmond

Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004 | 11:07 a.m.

Clark County Schools Police Chief Elliot Phelps was fired Tuesday after spending four years on the job without the required state certification.

In order to oversee the district's police force and be authorized to make arrests, Phelps was supposed to have been certified by the Nevada Commission on Peace Officers' Standards and Training. District officials said they are investigating how Phelps had been able to hold the job for so long without the certification.

Phelps could not be immediately reached for comment. Superintendent Carlos Garcia, who directly oversees the school police chief, also was unavailable for comment this morning.

Bill Hoffman, senior counsel for the district, said Phelps' lack of certification was brought to Garcia's attention Sept. 15. Phelps was given two weeks to obtain the necessary paperwork but was unable to do so, Hoffman said.

It is the responsibility of the police chief to ensure all officers -- including himself -- are properly certified, Hoffman said. Unlike the Nevada Education Department, which regularly informs school districts about changes in a teacher's or administrator's licensing status, POST does not send out notifications, Hoffman said.

State law allows the head of a law enforcement agency up to 18 months after being hired to secure certification, Hoffman said. Whoever is hired to replace Phelps will be "closely monitored" to ensure that requirement is met, Hoffman said.

"I am certain we have learned from this experience," Hoffman said.

Phil Gervasi, president of the Clark County School Police Officers Association, said he was dismayed that the district wouldn't give Phelps a chance to resolve the situation. Phelps had completed the required paperwork for the certification and lacked only a passing score on the physical agility test, Gervasi said.

"The district said they wanted him (Phelps) to pass everything by Sept. 29, but the commission wasn't meeting again until Dec. 2," Gervasi said. "They (district officials) could have given him more time or moved him to another position in the department in the meantime, but they didn't want to."

Prior to meeting with Garcia on Sept. 15, Phelps had been under the impression that he had received an extension to complete his certification, Gervasi said. Phelps also conceded that he had let it "go too long," Gervasi said.

School Board President Susan Brager-Wellman said Garcia notified her late Tuesday of the firing.

Brager-Wellman said she believed the superintendent had acted appropriately.

"Once Mr. Garcia knew, he had to do something," Brager-Wellman said. "It's not appropriate to say, 'Well, it's been four years. What's a few more months?' and keep excusing it."

Brager-Wellman said George Ann Rice, associate superintendent of human resources for the School District, will need to explain how Phelps' lack of certification was not noticed for four years.

"Did he tell them he had it and he didn't, was it an oversight? These are some of the questions I think all of us have," Brager-Wellman said.

Rice was traveling Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

Hired Aug. 28, 2000, Phelps earned $87,732 last year. This was the first school policing job for Phelps, who spent several decades in municipal law enforcement in Colorado and headed up the police force in Elizabeth City, N.C., from 1998 until his hiring in Clark County.

Phelps secured federal grants to help pay for additional officers at the district's middle schools. He also pushed successfully for a new, $4.9 million school police command center slated to be built at Flamingo Road and McLeod Drive.

The district is also in the midst of a new approach to campus safety, using specially trained "security monitors" to handle crowd control and operate metal detectors at athletic events, freeing up school police officers for patrols.

With all of the changes and an understaffed department, it's a tough time to lose the school police chief, Gervasi said. While campus crime dropped overall in 2003, the current school year is off to a "rough start," Gervasi said.

"We've taken six guns off of kids, and we're only in our sixth week," Gervasi said.

There have also been guns fired at two high school football games -- Western vs. Cheyenne and Western vs. Mojave -- and a shooting near Desert Pines High School, Gervasi said.

Acting School Police Chief James Ketsaa has been appointed until a replacement for Phelps is hired. In assuming the chief's job Ketsaa maybe taking a pay cut -- in 2003 he was the department's top earner when overtime was added to his regular patrol sergeant salary. Ketsaa, whose salary was $55,390, had $39,556 in overtime, which brought his total pay to $94,946.