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WIN UP TO $250 SeeSee Page Page 16 20xx Representing Las Vegas Metro Police Department Officers and Deputy City and Municipal Court Marshals VOLUME 12 | ISSUE 1 May/June 2017 STRENGTHENING MORALE The Importance We Need Committed The Cost of of Trust Leadership De-Escalation Page 6 Page 7 Page 14 DISCOUNTED PRICES FOR METRO $595 Living Trusts $49 Wills (Includes Living Will & Power of Attorney) We Know How Important Family Is That’s why we do our best to help you protect yours. Revocable Living Trusts Trust Amendments Tax & Retirement Planning Financial Planning & Complimentary Reviews Probate Services JASEN E. CASSADY, ESQ. (702) 650-4480 Advanced Law Degree in Taxation Licensed in NV & FL Certified Financial Planner® cassadylawoffices.com BRANDI K. CASSADY, ESQ. Henderson Las Vegas 2425 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy. 10799 W. Twain Avenue Henderson, NV 89052 Las Vegas, NV 89135 LAS VEGAS POLICE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION Representing Las Vegas Metro Police Department Officers and Deputy City and Municipal Court Marshals Las Vegas Police TROY MCARTHUR HENRY HOFFMAN Protective Association CCDC 1 Resident Metro, Inc. CONTENTS 9330 W. Lake Mead Blvd. Suite 200 DANIEL VARNER MIKE MALONE Las Vegas, NV 89134 CCDC 2 Retirees General information: TYLER DARRINGTON WALTER TLOCKOWSKI Phone: (702) 384-8692 CCDC 3 Southcentral Area Command Fax: (702) 384-7989 EXECUTIVE BOARD www.lvppa.com CHRISTOPHER JIMISON VACANT CCDC 4 Southeast Area Command President’s Message 4 LVPPA BOARD OF MICHAEL REINARZ PAT BURKE DIRECTORS Deputy City Marshals Special Units The Importance of Morale 6 STEVE GRAMMAS JASON AUSCHWITZ BRIAN SMITH President Downtown Area Command Spring Valley Area Command Committed or Involved? 7 SCOTT NICHOLAS KEVIN KOVAL VACANT Vice President Enterprise Area Command Traffic State Legislative Update 8 MYRON HAMM BRUCE GENTNER CHAD LYMAN Secretary/Director of Health and Welfare Trust: Helpful Headquarters 1 Training Corrections Resources 10 ROBERT SIGAL MIKE RAMIREZ Headquarters 2 LVPPA STAFF Director of Governmental Retirement: Law Enforcement’s Affairs PETER FULLER DAVID ROGER Holy Grail? 12 Headquarters 3 General Counsel BRYAN YANT Sergeant-at-Arms KEVIN DaROSA KELLY SWEENEY De-Escalation: Is There a Cost? 14 Municipal Court Marshals Director of Employee TYLER TODD Relations Treasurer GUY TURNER Northeast Area Command LAURA PALETTA KIRK HOOTEN Executive Secretary Director FEATURES ED PAZOS Northwest Area Command ROY HOERNKE RICHARD SIBELRUD Office Assistant Airport Expert Medical Opinion Program: DAVID TOMCZAK Laughlin ADELLA SOLANO The Doctor Is In 16 LUIS PAYAN Receptionist At-Large 1 Retirements 16 BRIAN GRAMMAS At-Large 2 Workers’ Compensation: JOHN ABEL Published by 911MEDIA® What You Need to Know 17 For Advertising call At-Large 3 (702) 987-4789 Metro: Our History, Our Story 18 TRICIA CAINE 911MEDIA® is a division of At-Large 4 Trade News International, Inc. The Las Vegas Police Protective Association is affiliated with the following organizations Calendar 19 TYLER McMEANS at the state and national level: Bolden Area Command NAPO – National Association of Police Organizations, representing over 241,000 law enforcement officer members in more than 1,000 police associations nationwide. LVPPA Vegas Beat Contest 20 PHILIP CLOSI “BIG 50” – An informal association of the 50 largest law enforcement associations in the United States. Convention Center Area SNCOPS – Southern Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs Command JOE JONES Covert Ops May/June 2017 | VEGAS BEAT 3 President’s Message DETECTIVE STEVE GRAMMAS, PRESIDENT Labor Pains will justify that decision to anyone on the Department.” I don’t feel this happens To be clear, I am not talking about the process of bringing a new life into this often. It does happen on occasion, and I wish I could commend those supervisors world. This article is going to focus on the issues that we are experiencing related who have done it, but I do not want to put anyone’s name in this article. You know to our current Labor Relations Department. I would like to start by saying that I who you are, and we greatly appreciate you. Most of the time, however, it appears do like the folks who work in that office. If you ever have the chance to stop in and easier to just go with Labor’s recommendation and let the officer fight the case chat with them, they are quite nice. I have had conversations with them in the past through their grievance process. Kelly Sweeney was hired by the PPA and serves and have worked on some issues with them that have turned out to help some of as our labor director. She used to be the director of Labor Relations for LVMPD for our members. What we are currently having issues with is the apparent control many years. She absolutely cannot believe how often Major suspensions are being over discipline that Labor Relations has or has been given. used currently. When she ran Labor, those cases were saved for the worst-of-the- From the LVPPA standpoint, it appears that commissioned supervisors are no worst discipline. We now have an officer getting their duty belt stolen from their longer allowed to make decisions related to discipline. It appears from our side that car, without their firearm, and getting 40 hours with no option! A victim of a crime no one is allowed to go against what Labor decides. This fact becomes even more gets the same discipline as an officer who actually commits a crime? I don’t care painfully obvious when we file a grievance on a case for an officer. During the what realm of “progressive discipline” they are trying to apply. Full disclosure: This meetings with either the captains or the chiefs, we are routinely told that they need officer has two documented levels of discipline in their file. But neither of them to check with Labor before they make their decision. This is a whole other issue, is even remotely related to being a victim of a crime. If I have two conduct issues as we believe it violates your CBA regarding the grievance process. We believe the and then I am a victim of a crime, how can anyone say I should keep progressing CBA gives the person hearing the grievance the sole authority to make the decision in discipline for being a victim of a crime? We believe the punishment should fit to overturn discipline or whatever matter gave rise to the grievance. the crime. If you want progressive discipline for conduct issues, or even continual There should always be some mitigating factors associated with these cases performance issues, as long as they are similar, feel free. At least we could under- when they are warranted. Sometimes, officers screw up. It happens. We all know stand that progression. But a conduct, a performance and then a victim of a crime? it. Sometimes we go into an IAB interview and have our officers “fall on the sword” I can’t find the nexus of those three incidents. Yet these are the decisions and offers because they know they messed up. However, all we have recently observed is coming out of Labor these days. aggravating factors to increase discipline on our officers. I have rarely observed a What about accountability? When officers show accountability for things, they mitigating factor of “Officer has several commendations for X, Y and Z. Officer still get the full force of Labor. The loose interpretation of the Discipline Matrix has volunteered several hours in the community. Officer has received employee and where things can fall is also being abused. If say you have an excessive use of of the quarter for their area. Officer has no discipline in their file.” But we sure see force, the Matrix puts you in a certain line item. However, they can slide you out plenty of “Officer has been on the Department for X years and should know better. of that line item into another because the first offense for use of force is a Written, Officer has received training in this area. Officer has acknowledged POs and GOs but line item 6 can allow me to give you a Suspension. It is disheartening to me about this topic. Officer is responsible for knowing policy.” These are factors that how discipline gets decided, and also the fact that supervisors are not free to make apply to everyone every day, yet when they want to justify bumping your Written their own decision when hearing a grievance, but rather they, a captain or a chief, to a Suspension, they use these vague factors to increase punishment. I am hard- have to check with Labor to see if it is OK. That, to us, is not OK. pressed to find a situation where an AOC has said, “While the Matrix says this The positive side is that, while I have had issues with disciplinary decisions offense starts at a Written Reprimand, we have applied some mitigating factors to being made, Sheriff Lombardo and Undersheriff McMahill have been extremely reduce to a Supervisory Intervention.” P# 16055 open to conversation and have helped me try to get a better outcome in Now, I can’t put it all in the lap of Labor. Although it is a challenging process to some of the serious issues we have. I wasn’t sure I would ever be saying this back go against Labor’s decision, supervisors need to step up and say, “I appreciate the when I took over as president, but those two have been far more helpful than decision of Labor; however, I am going to make my decision on discipline, and I hurtful. I don’t expect them to have their thumbs on every single issue going on at LVMPD, nor could I be expected to know every little thing the rest of the staff at the PPA does.