On the air

For the public to have confidence in the integrity of its law enforcement, taxpayers need to know police and prosecutors are capable of policing themselves.

In the wake of two separate, highly controversial, deadly shootings by Las Vegas police officers, Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak understands that justice demands transparency.

Although county officials held a public inquiry earlier this month into the police killing of unarmed, small-time marijuana dealer Trevon Cole in a nighttime raid on his apartment, access to the proceedings was limited.

So Mr. Sisolak has proposed televising the Sept. 22 coroner's inquest into officers' July killing of West Point graduate Erik Scott outside the Summerlin Costco. Mr. Sisolak wants the commission to vote Sept. 7 to cancel the broadcast of a zoning meeting and other programming on county-run Channel 4, and instead show the entire inquest in the Scott case -- which could last up to three days.

"I do not have a side in this," said Mr. Sisolak. "I just want people to see it if they want to tune in." He said his idea has the support of District Attorney David Roger and Sheriff Doug Gillespie.

This is a no-brainer. The vote should be unanimous.

The July 10 shooting of Mr. Scott has commanded the public's interest, not solely because it occurred in a part of town that has little violent crime, but because of conflicting witness accounts and the fact that Mr. Scott had a concealed weapons permit.

The inquest into Mr. Cole's death exposed many mistakes and poor judgment by police, the jury's "justified" verdict notwithstanding. The openness of the proceeding, and authorities' willingness to make a process long viewed as a rubber stamp more adversarial, was encouraging. The behavior of police, paid with our tax dollars to protect our rights and property, is a big deal. They have the power to revoke our liberty, or even end our lives, if they feel threatened.

A Mason-Dixon Polling & Research survey conducted for the Review-Journal and 8NewsNow last week shows 59 percent of Southern Nevadans view the performance of Las Vegas police as excellent or good, while 40 percent rate the department as fair or poor.

It's difficult to form a legitimate opinion without information. And right now, the public doesn't have enough information about the killing of Mr. Scott. Putting the inquest on TV will go a long way toward resolving that problem -- and ensuring the public can retain confidence in its police.