Henderson mayor saddened by police beating

Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen expressed remorse Thursday over what happened to Adam Greene, the man who was in diabetic shock when city police beat and kicked him during a traffic stop in October 2010.

"What happened to Mr. Greene was wrong and we regret the pain and suffering that he and his family endured because of it," Hafen said in a statement.

It was the first public comment on the incident by anyone on the City Council since it approved a $158,000 settlement with Greene, 38, on Tuesday.

City Councilmen Sam Bateman and John Marz said they voted to approve the settlement in the best interest of the city. Councilwoman Gerri Schroder said she read Hafen's statement and agreed with his comments. Councilwoman Debra March did not return a call seeking comment.

The traffic stop was videotaped by a Nevada Highway Patrol dashboard camera. That tape, which was released by Greene's attorney on Tuesday, showed police Sgt. Brett Seekatz kicking Greene in the head five times and another officer kneeing the unresponsive Greene in the midsection four times. Highway Patrol troopers did not appear to hit or kick Greene.

Later police discovered that Greene was in diabetic shock and was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol as they had suspected.

Greene suffered broken ribs and bruises that didn't heal for two months. The city attorney approved a $99,000 settlement with Greene's wife. The sum was just under what would require the City Council's approval. The state agreed to pay Greene $35,000 for a total settlement of $292,500.

"As a council we voted to resolve our legal issues related to this incident with the settlement we approved this week," Hafen said. "We hope that it can provide some peace and closure to Mr. Greene and his family as a result."

Hafen said his "great concern" is that the city learns from the incident and reduces the risk of it happening again.

He said the Police Department modified its training and use-of-force policies after the incident, and "as a result, we have already seen the numbers of those types of incidents go down."

He said that the city's police officers respond to hundreds of calls every day and that the incident with Greene was isolated and does not represent "our entire police force."

Seekatz was disciplined and remains a sergeant.

Hafen said the mark of a good organization is the ability to learn from mistakes, own up to them and improve.

"We have tried to do that and will continue to do so in the future as we try to hold our officers and our department to the highest standards of accountability," he said.

Bateman, who is also a deputy district attorney, said settling with Greene was in the city's best interest. "I reviewed the videotape, and the settlement seemed appropriate," he said.

He said he thought the city attorney made the appropriate decision settling with Greene's wife for $99,000. He said offering similar settlements without City Council oversight was appropriate. "We have a $600 million-plus budget," he said. "At some point we have to draw the line. We have to trust our top staff to be responsible, and we do."

He also said that while he doesn't condone what happened to Greene, he understands emotions sometimes run high in police work. "I work with law enforcement all the time," Bateman said. "They (police) didn't know what they were dealing with, and sometimes they have to be aggressive to defuse a public threat."

But Bateman also said it was clear Seekatz's actions were unacceptable. "I think it's fair for the general public to watch the video and have serious concerns with that particular employee," he said.

Bateman questioned whether the discipline Seekatz received was appropriate, but because he was not on the council until June, eight months after the incident, he declined to comment.

Contact reporter Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@review journal.com or 702-224-5512.