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By Jackie Valley (contact) 
Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013 | 5:40 p.m.
The Las Vegas police union’s stance on officer testimony has not changed despite what it calls “positive changes” in the new police fatality review process, approved Monday by the Clark County Commission. The union representing Metro Police officers — the Las Vegas Police Protective Association — sent a letter to its members Tuesday advising them to not testify if subpoenaed for an officer-involved shooting case. “While the decision to testify is up to the subpoenaed officer, our legal team still believes that it is not in your best interests to waive your constitutional rights and testify at the hearing,” the ...
The DA should use the Grand Jury system to get answers about police shootings! Bring the witnesess and officer in, question them, if the officer refuses to answer questions, ask for bill of indict from the Grand Jury. Charge him with murder and proceed to trial and let the union cough up the two or three hundred thousand dollars for a defence! We have a small group of out of control, trigger happy police, its a shame that the many good officers put up with these criminals.
5th amendment rights apply to everyone. Get over it
Aren't zipped-lips automatic qualifiers for enhanced interrogation sessions?
Send in the waterboarding experts.
As good of an excuse as any to strap these public servants with chin cameras -- let the recorded facts be justice's guide.
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These guys have a tough job here. In some parts of town there are more criminal scumbags per sq. mile than anywhere on the planet. This city draws in some fine people. It also draws in a lot of the most worthless people on this planet. Not sure if it's the vice, the gambling, the entertainment, sin city reputation, the proximity to prostitution...but Vegas has it all. It's one fun town, but there are parts of this city that should also be walled off from the rest of the civilized Las Vegas. The problem is the police have to patrol those areas. Again, these guys have a tough job. They have my full support.
Chunky says:
You're darn right! LEO have the same 5A rights as the rest of us despite the fact that the government is doing everything they can to chip away at our Constitution.
Transparency is fine and good but these police officers go up against the nasty knife edge of society day in and day out. There's no holiday for evil and there's only a millisecond between life and death for either party.
Can LEO be a little heavy handed at times and are there certain officers who take less BS than others; surely there are. However, how stupid do you have to be to ignore verbal warnings from armed police officers?
How ultra stupid do you have to be to draw a gun from your waistband like Erik Scott did when you're surrounded by armed police officers?
The police officers do not start the domino effect that ends in the use of deadly force, the bad guys do in one way or the other.
Get over it, get real and let the police do the dirty jobs they've sworn to do! By the time you've managed to screw up your life enough that you're looking down the barrel of a gun, whether it's a police gun or an armed citizen you've made some serious bad decisions. Let the cops do their job!
Somebody has to take out the trash!
That's what Chunky thinks!
Chris Collins is corrupt and so is Metro,the village idiot knows that police deal with the worst of society as well as the best, yet there is absolutely no accountability for Metro or the ignoramus Collins. The only way to have a level playing field as well as justice for the public is for the U S Justice Department take over Metro and the union, then relieve Collins of his duties and assign trustees to both depatments. This is a policy that has been done in the past with corrupt unions,and believe it this union is corrupt to the bone!Collins actually thinks he is untouchable and he can say and do as he pleases, he needs a waking up. There are federal guidlines and laws as well as huge amounts of tax payer dollars involved here and he is accountable for his ridiculous views and statements.
I am with Chunky on this one. EVERYONE has the same 5th Amendment rights, even our officers.
Anyone that things we have the worst crime or worst officers has their head in the sand. Take some time and read the news from many, many other cities. We don't hold a candle on crime or abuse to many other places.
Do we need a good review system? Yes, but one that is fair and legal for all involved.
The 5th protects from self incrimination. What exactly does a police officer have to worry about self incrimination for? We pay them to uphold the law, not hide behind it.
When acting Under Color of law, Officers have authority, not Rights. It is true they still have their human/Civil rights intact. However There refusal to testify in the best interest of the community they serve can/will make them obsolete... starting with the PPA.
It is not OK for a cop to be a "bit heavy handed". Police Officers should respond with the least force needed to stop an assailant. If it weren't for some off the hook out of control thug cops there wouldn't be a need for them to worry about testifying.
The next time someone is accused of a crime, we should round up his family and friends and get their opinion on how he should be handled. If the family and friends of a suspect don't believe anything criminal took place then we should let it go.
@Chunky (who has "special needs")...Are you going to tell Rhonda Gibson that Metro was "taking out the trash" when they executed her husband?
When will LVMPD take out their own trash?
Sounds like grounds to DECERTIFY THE UNION and nullify employment contract.
Hey Brooke...wasn't it a grand jury (of citizens) that cleared the officers of criminal charges in the Stanley Gibson incident? It wasn't the police that gave the OK on that one. Direct your anger about that decision in the right direction, which is at your fellow Clark County residents.
I'm kinda really enjoying this whole inquest saga. Let's recap.
-Clark County residents have the most transparent public review of fatal police shootings in the country.
-In typical fashion, people want (i.e. feel entitled to) more that what they are given.
-Whiners complain and scream about how bad it is.
-They get the changes they wanted.
-It backfires (as many of us anticipated) and caused them to lose the necessary cooperation of the officers, which they'd always had but felt wasn't good enough.
-That completely eliminated any public hearings at all.
-This prompted a re-revision of the inquest process.
-New process approved basically just changes the name of the hearing and drops the citizen panel (jury) but retains all the problems that doomed the first revision.
-Police will still not participate and the whiners will still get nothing.
This is actually perfect justice. The lesson here will be lost on all those who need to learn it. Keep your mouth shut when you have a good thing.
This one sounds familiar: "If the cops don't have anything to hide, why wouldn't they just cooperate?"