Thursday, March 6, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
A proposed police civilian review board would likely have the power to determine Metro Police hiring and training standards, said two state legislators.
The authors of the legislation, Las Vegas Democrats Sen. Joe Neal and Assemblyman Wendell Williams, said allegations that Metro hired cops with incomplete background checks is proof that community oversight is needed.
"People don't trust the police department to do what is right," Williams said. "I'm not anti-police. I'm in favor of eliminating the fear and mistrust there is in our community against police."
Some Hispanics, blacks and Asian-Americans, as well as representatives from the mentally ill and disabled communities, have been outspoken supporters of a civilian review board.
Their comments at a special hearing last month caught the attention of legislative leaders. The idea of a civilian review board has bounced around the Legislature for years, but this is the first time it has a chance at passage, supporters said.
But Assemblywoman Sandra Tiffany, R-Las Vegas, said minority groups' distrust of police is not an issue solved through a board. She has misgivings that the legislation would create another level of bureaucracy when Sheriff Jerry Keller is already responding to the problems.
"The sheriff is ultimately responsible. He's the elected official and he responds. I think Jerry Keller does a good job as sheriff," said Tiffany, a member of the Assembly Government Affairs Committee.
Sen. Ann O'Connell, a Las Vegas Republican and chairwoman of the Government Affairs Committee, said she expects the civilian review board to be the next major bill her committee addresses.
Although she is withholding her support until she reviews the final draft with all its amendments, O'Connell said: "I think we heard compelling reasons to do this."
Keller opposes the legislation, which would permit local governments to create the board. Last week he appointed an internal task force to investigate whether the department's hiring policies are weak. Police documents and personnel sources have said that recruits have enrolled in past academies before criminal records were checked or employee references verified.
Such situations have led to at least one recruit being removed from the academy after it was discovered that the person had an outstanding arrest warrant, said a personnel supervisor with a long record of service at Metro. By the time the recruits graduated, the supervisor said the background investigations were finished.
Keller created the task force the same day results were due from a month-long investigation into 147 officers' background checks. The head of the task force, Capt. Bill Young, is assembling a team of four or five Metro employees who will assist him in what he characterized as an inspection.
"We're going to be thorough. We're going to be fair," Young said. "We're going to take a hard look at the (hiring) system and make sure we have the best one we can possibly have."
However, Williams believes the task force is just an attempt to diffuse the public's call for a civilian review board.
"I don't give (the task force) any validity," Williams said. "I think it's another way to sidestep the issue of what people really want.
"Results of internal affairs investigations, coroners' inquests -- it's always in overwhelming favor of the police. This will be no different."
Police spokesman Sgt. Will Minor said it's unfortunate that Williams is critical of Metro's efforts to investigate itself. He rebuts the legislator's comments that the task force will rubber stamp Metro's position, pointing out that as members of the community, the officers also want a competent police force.
"The one thing that is overlooked is that we care as much, if not more than anybody, about who we'd put on the streets," Minor said.
Keller said in a recent SUN opinion column that he believed a civilian review board was unnecessary. Three Metro boards -- the Use of Force Board, Civil Service Board and Fiscal Affairs Board -- all have community participation, the sheriff said.
But none of the boards have jurisdiction over hiring and training, and a Metro spokesman did not know whether civilian members ever recommended policy changes to the sheriff.
The president of the Civil Service Board, Elgin Simpson, supports the creation of a civilian review board but questioned the community's attempt to blame inadequate background checks and poor training for the rash of officer malfeasance.
Since 1995, six officers have been charged with felonies.
"You can do all the background checks in the world ... it doesn't guarantee anything," Simpson said. "All of the misconduct you've seen come from this department is people making choices, not inadequate training."
But Neal contends that a civilian review board would make Metro more accountable and restore community trust.
The need for public confidence in Metro's hiring practices is underscored by the fact that the department plans to hire about 850 new officers in the next four years as the department keeps pace with Clark County's booming population.
Confidence was shaken after it was learned that a former cop, now charged with murder, was hired despite a negative recommendation, according to internal police documents and sources.
Officer Ron Mortensen, a cop for just 16 months, is accused of shooting and killing a 21-year-old man while off duty. Mortensen resigned Feb. 12.
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