Police board OKs two settlements

The Metro Police Department's fiscal oversight board Monday approved a $250,000 payment to a former officer fired over an $8.50 cleaning bill and $190,000 to a former Clark County jail inmate.

Former Officer Mark Beckerle will receive the $250,000 settlement to end his claims against the department for his firing in April 1996. A jury awarded Beckerle $328,500 on three causes in April.

Committee member Lance Malone, also a county commissioner, questioned why Metro was willing to pay so much money when state law allows for only $50,000 per claim, which would have totaled $150,000 for Beckerle. Metro Comptroller Lois Willis said the department was going to appeal the judgment, but decided instead to settle the case.

She also noted that the political atmosphere is such that the limit could be raised during the next legislative session.

Metro's Fiscal Affairs Committee -- a panel composed of one citizen, two Las Vegas City Council members and two Clark County Commission members -- then approved the payout.

The board, without discussion, also approved the $190,000 settlement with Scott Ferguson stemming from an Aug. 6, 1997, incident in the Clark County Detention Center. Ferguson, who was being held in the jail, sustained an eye injury and a fractured elbow that required surgery during the incident that involved at least one correctional officer.

In March 1999 Ferguson filed a federal civil rights lawsuit listing 15 causes of action including excessive force and denial of immediate medical care. The federal court assigned the case to a mediator, who recommended the settlement figure.

An internal affairs complaint was filed against a correctional officer involved in the incident.

"The complaint was not sustained, meaning an investigation failed to produce enough information to prove or disprove the allegations," said Officer Steve Meriwether, a Metro spokesman.

Neither Ferguson nor his attorney could be reached for comment.

Beckerle's settlement comes a little more than fours years after he was fired. Beckerle was arrested in 1996 on a misdemeanor petty larceny charge for sticking two fellow officers with an $8.50 bill for dry cleaning of some of his uniforms. He was later fired.

Beckerle admitted he did it, but he said he wasn't trying to steal, just play a practical joke.

The two officers testified Beckerle didn't have permission to use their accounts, but they also admitted at a Justice Court trial in 1996 that they initially assumed Beckerle's actions were a practical joke.

Beckerle was acquitted of the misdemeanor theft charges.

Beckerle said in April he still wanted to come back to the department.

But Metro officials say that is not likely to happen.

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