ACLU repeats request for Justice Department investigation of police department

A civil rights group on Monday again asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Las Vegas police shootings.

The letter by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada is in response to a February letter by officials of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division stating that they would not be opening a investigation into how Las Vegas police officers use deadly force.

Instead, the division will wait to see the results of a study of the subject by a nonprofit organization. Choosing to wait for the study "will further erode public confidence," Monday's letter by ACLU officials said.

"It is quite disheartening to learn that no such independent investigation of the LVMPD by the (Civil Rights Division's) Special Litigation Section is being contemplated," they wrote.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment.

The study by CNA, a Virginia-based nonprofit hired by a separate Justice Department arm, has begun and is expected to last up to six months. The study will include recommendations for police, but police will not be required to implement them.

Allen Lichtenstein, ACLU of Nevada's general counsel, said his organization wants a more thorough investigation than what CNA will provide.

"I think that what we have is a community that wants to see some real changes being made, not just rhetoric and not just management suggestions," Lichtenstein said.

In January, the ACLU of Nevada and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed a joint petition requesting an investigation in the wake of a Review-Journal series on police shootings and the shooting death of an unarmed, disabled war veteran late last year.

Their call for a civil rights investigation was echoed last week by retired Las Vegas police homicide Lt. Lew Roberts, who was tasked with overseeing the investigations into more than 100 officer-involved shootings. Roberts told the Review-Journal that the department has had "probably far too many incidents, and far too many questionable ones, to sit back and say that doesn't need to happen."

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.