Henderson city manager taps insider as next police chief

By Conor Shine (contact)

Thursday, July 5, 2012 | 4:53 p.m.

Henderson has tapped a 20-year police department veteran to replace former Chief Jutta Chambers, who retired earlier this year under fire.

Deputy Chief Patrick Moers, who joined the Henderson Police Department as a patrol officer in 1991, was recommended for the top job by City Manager Jacob Snow during the City Council’s Tuesday meeting.

Snow said he interviewed several candidates for the position over the past three months, all of them from Nevada, and that Moers stood out as the most qualified candidate.

“The department was really in need of a communicative leader, someone who is going to listen, who’s not going to react first,” Snow said. “I talked to a lot of the officers in the department and one thing that was a recurring theme about Patrick Moers was that this wasn’t a reactive guy; this was a guy who was going to be calm.”

Snow said two other finalists were also interviewed — Jeff Stilsen from Henderson Police and Bill Conger, a former Metro Police officer.

The City Council will officially vote on Moers’ appointment at its July 17 meeting.

If appointed, Moers will take charge of a department that includes 390 police officers, 83 correction officers and more than 160 civilian employees. He will be eligible for a salary ranging from $117,649 to $185,326.

Moers would replace Chambers, a nearly 30-year veteran of the force who announced her retirement in February amid controversy after video was released of Henderson officers kicking a restrained man in the head during an October 2010 traffic stop.

The city agreed to pay the family of motorist Adam Greene, who was suffering from diabetic shock at the time, a total of $250,000 as part of a settlement.