State forces UNR to rehire police officer
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008 @ 3:07 am
Lieutenant to come back after alleged threats to sergeant
A hearing officer ruled Tuesday that a fired University of Nevada, Reno Police Department lieutenant must be reinstated with the university police.
Lt. Kevin Youngflesh was fired in December after a UNRPD sergeant said Youngflesh drunkenly threatened him and another sergeant. The dismissal marked Youngflesh’s second alcohol-related incident at UNR.
Youngflesh must serve a 30-day suspension before returning to work. University officials have not decided whether they will appeal the ruling, said John Albrecht, the Nevada System of Higher Education lawyer.
UNR President Milton Glick said he couldn’t comment too much on the decision because it is a personnel issue.
“I can only say I was very surprised at the decision of the State Department of Personnel,” Glick said.
Bill Kockenmeister, a state-appointed hearing officer, said Youngflesh never put Sgt. Marc Conley, the complaining officer, in danger, despite the threats. Kockenmeister said he was more concerned with Youngflesh telling uninvolved officers about personnel issues.
Youngflesh called Conley, who was on duty, late Dec. 16, 2006 because he was drunk in Sparks and needed a ride home for himself, his girlfriend, a friend and her 7-year-old son. Conley took the group to Youngflesh’s home in Hidden Valley.
There, Conley said Youngflesh complained to him about being harassed by Sgt. Lane Grow. Conley said Youngflesh said he wanted to fire Grow at the first opportunity. Conley said he tried to leave but Youngflesh kept talking.
Conley said the conversation ended when Youngflesh threatened to “stab him in the fucking heart” if Conley told anyone about Youngflesh’s threats to fire Grow.
Kockenmeister closed the meeting for about 10 minutes before announcing his decision. The two parties, Youngflesh with his attorney and the Nevada System of Higher Education with UNRPD Chief Adam Garcia, remained in the room to discuss a possible settlement, Kockenmeister said.
Coming to none, Kockenmeister decided in favor of Youngflesh. He pointed to the eight-month lapse between the alleged threats and Conley filing a formal complaint with UNRPD Assistant Chief Todd Renwick.
“I think it (the complaint) was a little exaggerated,” Kockenmeister said.
In a prior hearing, another hearing officer also ruled that NSHE didn’t have the evidence to fire Youngflesh. According to the Nevada Personnel Department, Glick still ordered Youngflesh fired. Glick said he didn’t recall the moment exactly.
Glick said the decision to fire Youngflesh came from a meeting between himself, Garcia and interim provost Jannet Vreeland.
“I think we do expect a higher standard from the officers,” Glick said.
Youngflesh was demoted to patrol officer in 2004 after being arrested for driving drunk in a police vehicle. In October 2006, he was promoted to lieutenant.
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© 2008 The Nevada Sagebrush
February 26th, 2008 at 9:21 am
It’s time for him to go. He continues to be an embarrassment to himself and UNRPD