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IT'S ONLY TAX MONEY Sheriff Must Reveal Whether and How Involved Officers Were Disciplined Las Vegas Review-Journal, Editorials, 11-22-02, P. 12B The on-duty police supervisor at the scene later testified he was "embarrassed as a police officer" because of the "unprofessional behavior" of the four off-duty SWAT cops. "They were belligerent... They were drunk," Sgt. Steve Custer said of his off-duty Metro colleagues, Jerry "Bob" Montex, Mark Mills, Rick Klein and Bob Lewis, who had gotten into a bar fight after harsh words were exchanged over a spilled drink. And the two out-of-town cousins with whom these four representatives of Metro's finest had gotten into their brawl on that early May morning of 1997? James Suggs, 32, who works for a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical firm in Kentucky, and Juan Berry, 31, a corrections officer in a Minnesota prison, were "calm, professional, polite and cooperative," Sgt. Custer has testified - despite the fact it was the two tourists who were handcuffed. Though the SWAT officers insisted the two cousins be charged with felonies, Sgt. Custer decided no charges were warranted; the two men subsequently returned home. More than a week later, though, Mr. Montes met with Metro detective Bob Rogers. Without ever contacting Mr. Berry or Mr. Suggs - or even speaking with the on-duty officers called to the scene that night - Mr. Rogers succeeded in getting the two men charged with felonies, in absentia. The cousin's names were entered on a national database that would cause them to be arrested upon contact with any law enforcement officer nationwide. Mr. Berry was indeed arrested and jailed for three days in Minnesota in 1997. When Nevada officials declined to extradite him, his name was cleared from the warrants database. Three minutes later, Mr. Rogers inexplicably re-entered it, which could have led to Mr. Berry being arrested a second time on a charge of which he'd already been cleared. Such use of official police databases to exact revenge in a petty personal vendetta is a jaw-dropping abuse of power and authority. The second man, Mr. Suggs, flew to Las Vegas at his own expense and surrendered to police to get the matter resolved. A local justice of the peace dismissed all charges against him... of course. Now, Metro has decided to settle a lawsuit stemming from the matter and pay $900,000 in our tax money to the two victims of this case. Yet - while court records do reveal SWAT officer Lewis received a written reprimand, and we do know that everyone involved remains on the force - Sheriff Jerry Keller refuses to disclose what other discipline, if any, has been meted out to these men. This is an abomination. A case that could otherwise have gone to fund schools or parks or the prosecution of real felons - is a clear-cut example of why all such disciplinary procedures must be matters of public record. WORKING TOGETHER TO ATTAIN FAIRNESS | ||
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