Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Nevada AG Ford asks for more power to investigate local police

Peaceful Protest

Wade Vandervort

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford asks for protesters to rally peacefully during a press conference at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department headquarters, Sunday, May 31, 2020.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said that if the Department of Justice doesn’t extend the power to investigate alleged misconduct by local police departments that he would request the state legislature intervene to give his office that power.

Ford recently signed onto a letter with 17 other attorneys general asking Congress for the authority to conduct those investigations, which are currently reserved for the federal DOJ.

“What I’d like to be able to do is augment what they’re by having the ability for attorneys general across the nation to jump in where it’s necessary,” Ford said.

Ford’s comments came Sunday during a panel he hosted with state officials to discuss racial justice and the ongoing protests around the country.

Ford was joined by Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, State Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno and State Assemblyman Tom Roberts, R-Las Vegas.

Ford expects an answer from the DOJ shortly, and said there were other ways to get that authority, including through the legislature.

“I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but you knew it was coming, didn’t you,” Ford said to the officials on the call.

Ford stressed that an investigation could just as easily find that a department’s practice is not discriminatory as it could find it discriminatory. For example, if it was found that there was a small subset of officers in a department engaging in racist practices, rather than a systemic problem in the department overall, that would exonerate the department, he said.

The lawmakers also discussed ideas enhance the interactions between police and communities of color, with Frierson saying law enforcement needs to be positioned as partners in the community, rather than antagonists.

“You want your law enforcement community to reflect the community it’s policing,” Frierson said. “I think it creates more barriers when it doesn’t.”

Cannizzaro said everyone working in law enforcement, from the newest officers to leadership, should be involved in the communities they police. Roberts said there needs to be a recruiting focus on ethnic groups not represented in law enforcement.

The group also talked about strengthening citizen review boards, such as Metro Police’s board of 25 nonpolice Nevadans, which includes two members of the Clark County Commission and two members of the Las Vegas City Council.

“I think there’s a general belief out there that these are toothless organizations that don’t have much authority,” he said.

The legislature isn’t scheduled to meet again until February 2021, although Gov. Steve Sisolak could call a special session to tackle budget shortfalls from the coronavirus pandemic. Frierson’s hope is that police reform could also be part of the agenda.

“If there is a special session, I would be advocating for addressing timely issues in a special session,” Frierson said.