Henderson officers who voided ticket as favor identified

A Henderson police officer and two supervisors who agreed to void a traffic ticket for a friend or relative of a police employee are still on the force, a newly released record shows.

The city turned over a document containing the officers’ names this week in response to a public records request by the Review-Journal.

The internal form shows officer Angela Walter requested a traffic ticket be voided five weeks after it was issued, writing as the reason “interest of justice family/friends of HPD.” It does not specify the person’s relationship to police.

Two supervisors, Sgt. Michael Gillis and Lt. Brandon Brooks, signed off on the request, and the ticket was voided.

“I can’t comment on that right now,” Brooks said, citing an ongoing internal investigation.

Gillis, a 21-year veteran, and Walter, who has been on the force for eight years, didn’t return email and phone messages. Brooks, a 17-year veteran, works in the Traffic Bureau, while Walter and Gillis work in patrol in western Henderson, according to a department roster.

Internal Affairs investigators are looking into how officers handled citations, City Manager Jacob Snow said. Separately, the Police Department is preparing a response to the city audit that brought the issue to light.

Snow said he did not know when the audit response or the internal investigation will be finished. A police spokeswoman has said the family or friends reason is “not acceptable under our policy.”

The audit, released in March, found police improperly had 96 citations thrown out of court between Oct. 1, 2012, and Sept. 30, 2014.

Under state law, only a judge can throw out a ticket once it’s been filed in court, but officers routinely had citations voided by filling out an internal form and filing it with Henderson Municipal Court staff.

The audit found officers might not have realized this was improper, since police policies didn’t make the law clear.

Police said they have already changed policies because of the audit’s findings. If police supervisors approve an officer’s request to void a ticket, the city attorney’s office will review it and decide whether to present the request to a judge.

On Jan. 24, 2014, Walter asked to void a citation that was issued Dec. 20, 2013, to Bethany Flores-Rubi, accusing her of failing to obey a “traffic control device.” That typically means running a red light or stop sign.

The form does not say how Flores-Rubi knew a police employee. She could not be reached for comment. A man who answered the door at her home in Henderson, who would not give his name, said he wasn’t aware of her knowing any city police officers.

Officers are allowed to ask that a ticket be voided for legitimate reasons, such as an error made in writing the citation or a speeding driver proving he was on his way to a family emergency.

But in the 96 cases highlighted by the auditor, officers listed the reason as “in the interest of justice.” There was no elaboration except on the form Walter filled out.

“Interest of justice,” a broad legal term, is one of the suggested reasons for voiding a ticket listed in Police Department policies. But the audit recommended that police require officers to give more detailed reasons from now on.

Under state law, dismissing a ticket for an unauthorized reason could constitute misconduct of a public officer, a felony punishable by a year in jail.

Snow said it would be wrong to assume any officer guilty before all the facts are known.

“I don’t think it’s fair for me to pass judgment because I wasn’t the officer,” he said. “I don’t know the circumstances.”

Contact Eric Hartley at ehartley@reviewjournal.com or 702-550-9229. Find him on Twitter: @ethartley