UNLV COPS' DRUG REPORT CALLED BOGUS

Three Officers Face Disciplinary Action

A controversial UNLV police drug raid on a dormitory five months ago
has become an embarrassment for the school in the wake of a revelation
that just four Ecstasy tablets and a small amount of marijuana were
recovered.

Rebecca Mills, UNLV vice president for student life, divulged the
results of the raid Tuesday to members of the Campus Public Safety
Advisory Committee who met to discuss a Nevada Division of
Investigation report on the March 9 police action.

The school has refused to release the report not only to the public
but also to the policy recommending board.

Several board members expressed dismay that the one touted redeeming
quality of the raid -- the alleged recovery of a substantial amount of
drugs -- turned out to be bogus.

"We busted talcum powder," said board member John Filler, a faculty
representative. "All of this was over four pills."

Board member Harriet Barlow, a representative for the Campus
Environmental Task Force, said that, "from the initial reports, I
thought it was a major (drug) cartel."

Three of the officers involved in the raid are awaiting disciplinary
action from new UNLV Police Chief Jose Elique in the wake of the
report that was given to UNLV in late July.

Following the drug raid, the State Peace Officers Council said in a
news release that UNLV police "recovered 18 baggies of opium,
marijuana and drug paraphernalia" while executing a search warrant
obtained following complaints by dorm residents of drug activity.

Mills, citing information contained in the state report, said no opium
was found. The bags contained "a fragrance enhancer," she said. Mills
told the committee that the report also did not find that UNLV ignored
numerous complaints that drug activity was going on in the dorms.

In addition to the pills and marijuana, police found drug
paraphernalia that Mills said was "pipes and bongs," according to the
voluminous state report that took nearly five months to complete.

Last week, UNLV released a two-page press release announcing bare
details from the report that found that UNLV police policies were
vague and that there was a lack of strong leadership, close
supervision and experience in executing warrants.

The raid has been a subject of controversy because police wore combat
fatigues and allegedly ordered Campus Housing Coordinator Mark Miles
to open dorm doors. Miles filed a claim that following the raid he was
frisked, handcuffed and pushed to the floor by UNLV police officers.

Mills told the committee that technically the raiding officers
followed a vague UNLV dorm policy that limited access to the rooms by
either the student residents or the housing staff. She said, however,
a change will be made to include situations where warrants are being
served.

Mills told the committee that other pending changes include
clarification of officer duties, specification of the chain of command
for the university and its police department and a change in the
policy of dealing with confidential informants.

Elique said two of his sergeants who were involved in the raid on Boyd
Hall, Don Drake and Paul Harris, were reinstated last week to their
supervisory posts. They were placed on administrative leave after the
raid and later were reinstated to limited administrative duties.

However, UNLV officials have declined to say whether the sergeants are
among the three officers awaiting discipline that, Elique says, could
range from counseling to suspensions. The state report says that
because police policies were vague, none of the raiding officers
should be terminated.

Mills said that charges were expected to be filed this week by the
District Attorney's office against the student who is alleged to have
possessed the contraband. No further details were provided by
university officials.

Some board members, including the student representatives on the
board, called for the university to make the report public -- or at
least make it available to the committee with the names of the
officers blotted out.

"How is the public going to have respect for the process when there is
so much secrecy?" board member Alina Shell, a student, said.

Board member Brian Alvarez, another student, implored the news media,
"to keep pressure on the university" to release the report: "The NDI
took forever, and I am not able to see one piece of paper from their
report. That is 100 percent unacceptable. I'm mad as hell. ... I can't
go on blind faith."

Board member Steve Fitt, a faculty representative, also criticized the
length of time the state police took investigating the incident: "Five
months after the event is unreasonable. It smacks of coverup or worse."

Gary Peck of the American Civil Liberties Union said whenever a
university police officer commits an impropriety, UNLV seems more
concerned about keeping things quiet to avoid being sued than getting
to the root of the problem.

"The public has a right to know," Peck said. "I'm troubled that this
body that makes recommendations on policy is left largely in the dark."

Peck said that while he is impressed with Elique's progress in his
first two months on the job, the UNLV police department should not,
without some type of oversight, be allowed to investigate itself on
matters of police impropriety.

Elique called the NDI report "professional" and said changes will be
made.

"I can tell you that it is impossible for this (the method by which
the raid was conducted) to happen again."