Source: Henderson police chief told to take buyout or be fired

Henderson Police Chief Hollie Chadwick has been put on leave and told to take a buyout or be fired, a source said Thursday.

“The Henderson police chief was put on a three-week administrative leave where at the end of that leave, she can accept a buyout or be fired,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

A city spokesperson confirmed on Thursday night that Chadwick was on leave.

“Chief Hollie Chadwick is on leave,” Madeleine Skains said in an email Thursday night.

Deputy Chief Itzhak Henn is the acting chief, Skains said.

“We cannot comment further on personnel matters,” Skains said.

Chadwick, who joined the Henderson Police Department in 2002, was appointed chief of police on May 1, 2023, according to the City of Henderson website. Her biography page states that she was the first female commander to oversee a SWAT team in Nevada.

It wasn’t clear what led to Chadwick’s sidelining, but Henderson’s top police official has come under scrutiny since she became chief.

Months into Chadwick’s tenure as chief, the Henderson Police Department came under fire after a detective was accused of hurling a racial slur and urging the killing of Mexicans and Black Lives Matter protesters.

Colleagues accused the police detective, Kevin LaPeer, of using the N-word and calling Black, Latino and LGBTQ people derogatory terms, including “savages” and “garbage,” according to a 123-page investigative report obtained by the Review-Journal.

The department investigated LaPeer and in a memo about the case, Henn found that LaPeer broke department policies a dozen times, including those that ban workplace harassment or discrimination, untruthfulness, and prejudice, the Review-Journal previously reported.

In 2023, Chadwick cleared LaPeer’s disciplinary record after deciding that officers would not face punishment for multiple policy violations that stem from the same incident.

LaPeer, who is white, vehemently denied the accusations, the investigation report stated. Shortly after the findings of the internal investigation were disseminated, he filed a defamation lawsuit against the city, claiming the investigation was conducted in bad faith and resulted in a “complete assassination” of his character.

Chadwick had publicly said the department does not have racists within its ranks but, in 2023, refused repeated requests by the Review-Journal to discuss LaPeer’s discipline. She fled when a reporter tried to question her at a public event.

In February 2024, a Review-Journal investigation reported that Chadwick reversed recommendations to fire officers who were found to have conspired to cover up a suspected DUI car crash involving an off-duty co-worker, according to police investigative records. At a City Council meeting that month, Henderson’s elected officials including Mayor Michelle Romero expressed support for the police chief.

“I want to commend Chief Chadwick for the work that she’s done over the past year to resolve the outstanding issues and make some significant changes in the department,” Romero said.

Contact Traci Wilson at twilson@reviewjournal.com. Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com. Review-Journal Assistant City Editor Brett Clarkson contributed to this story.