Use of Force: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department November 2013 Voiceover: Beat Intro 00:00 This is the Beat—a podcast series that keeps you in the know about the latest community policing topics facing our nation. TeNeane Bradford 00:08 My name is TeNeane Bradford and on behalf of the COPS Office I would like to introduce you to Sheriff Doug Gillespie from Las Vegas Police Department who is here today to discuss use of force issues. Can you tell us a little bit about the concerns your department has around the issues of use of force? Doug Gillespie 00:23 Well, you know we probably could talk at quite a length about that particular question, but you know specifically—officer-involved shootings and those that we refer to of mistake of fact, where the officer’s reason for using deadly force, whether they thought the person had a weapon or the circumstances, after the fact we find out that what the officer’s perceptions were, were not reality. They tend to create a lot of questions in the community, rightfully so, as well as internally. TeNeane 00:57 Can you discuss the process you were involved with, called the Collaborative Reform Process, which reviewed officer involved shootings? Doug 01:05 You know, I was approached by then-Director Barney Melekian when an ongoing story was being done in Las Vegas by the local newspaper on our officer-involved shootings. And he spoke to me about this collaborative process where they, the COPS Office, would contract, at their own cost, provide a group to come in, take a look at the organization, and make recommendations. And it would be done in such a time frame that it would be faster than other processes that were out there. It was not be a process where you would be mandated to do certain things. And there would be, there would be participation from the group at the organization itself, meaning they would see firsthand what the organization is doing: policies, procedures, training, and tactics. It sounded very interesting to me so we followed through on it, we actually contracted with them; they came out and did a review of the organization. They actually published their findings in the fall of 2012 and we’re in the process right now of making good on our commitment to fulfill each one of those recommendations. TeNeane 02:28 So from the Collaborative Reform Process what policies and practices involving use of force have you changed? Doug 02:35 Our whole use of force policy has been revisited and rewritten. I’m sure aspects of the old policy were kept, but there were a lot of changes made. Some of it had to do with the collaborative process, CNA’s recommendations back to us, even before they published the report. But it also, because of the collaborative approach with CNA and the COPS Office, opened up opportunities with us with our local ACLU chapter and they as well also had input in to specific policy revisions. We have taken, made considerable changes in training. We have moved from what is considered to be more of a classroom type atmosphere to what we call Reality Based Training; and it’s actually hands on training where supervisors, squads, officers go and participate and they’re run through scenarios. Our review process for the use of force as well as the review of the tactics has all been modified, and continues to be modified as we move forward, move through on this process. So there’s been a number of things that I’ve changed internally based on this review. TeNeane 04:03 What relationships have you built with the community through the Collaborative Reform Process? Doug 04:09 I believe it’s enhanced it. We had a lot of good, what I believe, working relationships, you know, prior. However, there was always this concern about the police department investigating their own in regards to officer-involved shootings. By CNA coming in as part of the collaborative effort and participating in this process, interacting with the community, getting the community’s feedback, reporting back to the community once the report was done—I think showed the community that we have the ability to do this and this process basically was proof of that to them. The best part that I see about the Collaborative Reform Process in regards to my organization and what we’ve all been through is that it was truly an independent third party that looked at the department. Historically, say if Civil Rights comes in, Civil Rights is looked upon more in tune with advocacy groups, in my community it would be NAACP and ACLU per se. Some police departments have brought in police consulting firms, which again, they’re seen as beholden to the police organization. Where in this particular case, because we paid no money, we didn’t contract, the community paid no money, the community didn’t contract, they’re much more seen as an independent third party and I think that’s really solidified some of the relationships that we’ve had with the recommendations that came out. It was pretty clear I think to anyone that this was not a “let’s show everybody that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is doing just a great job.” They did say we were doing some things well, but they also said we were doing some things not so well and we needed to improve. TeNeane 06:09 Sheriff Gillespie, thank you for your time and expertise. Doug 06:12 My pleasure. Voiceover: Beat Exit 06:14 The Beat was brought to you by the United States Department of Justice, COPS Office. The COPS Office helps to keep our nation’s communities safe by giving grants to law enforcement agencies, developing community policing publications, developing partnerships, and solving problems. Voiceover: Disclaimer 06:31 The opinions contained herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or polices of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the authors or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues.