Justice wasn’t fair and equitable when the perp was a cop

Paul Page, a former Las Vegas police officer who misappropriated money from a police union — and a nonprofit — gave the money back and wasn’t prosecuted.

Joseph Vance Planck, a former Clark County firefighter, took cash from a boot drive meant for Hurricane Katrina victims, his father reimbursed the $13,000, and yet Planck is prosecuted and charged with five felonies.

Equal justice? No way.

Page, an 18-year police veteran, and Planck, a firefighter for 10 years, violated the public trust and betrayed their co-workers. Even their friends say they don’t know why the men did what they did.

I confirmed Thursday what I had suspected. Page not only took from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Managers and Supervisors Association, he also misappropriated from the Police and Fire Emerald Society, a nonprofit he headed since it started in 2003. He had headed the police union since 2004.

Though Page retired from the Las Vegas police in 2010, an internal affairs investigation was launched and was concluded June 7, finding Page’s actions regarding the police union constituted conduct unbecoming of an officer. Yet the boards of the union and nonprofit opted not to file charges against him.

Retired police Capt. Dan Barry, who replaced Page as head of the Emerald Society, said Page reimbursed the nonprofit for questionable expenses, just as he did the PMSA. Barry said the settlement meant he couldn’t say how much money was reimbursed, but he described it as “a relatively small amount.”

The PMSA has originally asked to be reimbursed $51,200. The nonprofit reimbursement would be on top of that.

Barry said the Emerald Society has put new safeguards to protect the integrity of the nonprofit, whose members are both retired and active firefighters and police.

Planck’s case wasn’t handled with such forgiveness.

In 2006, he was indicted on charges that he stole from the Firefighters of Southern Nevada Burn Foundation, where he was vice president.

His case was resolved in November 2008 with scant notice by the news media. Just as the trial began, he pleaded guilty to felony charges of burglary and theft. He was placed on probation for five years by District Judge David Barker, who said Planck was banned from entering any gambling establishment, unless he was working there.

Planck started working as a Clark County firefighter in January 1996 and retired in November 2005. His attorney and friend Chris Rasmussen said Planck’s life fell apart after the charges were filed. His marriage to Tiffani, the daughter of former Sheriff Jerry Keller, ended in divorce. He went from being fit and healthy to gaining massive weight.

Planck died in his sleep June 18. He was 40.

Planck’s obituary under the name “Vance Planck” didn’t refer to his work as a firefighter, or any job, but talked about his love of family.

Planck insisted he was only doing what some other firefighters had done by putting donations into their own account, then writing a personal check for the sum to take a tax deduction.

The prosecution insisted no evidence was found proving that was a common practice for the Burn Foundation. Planck never wrote a reimbursement check, even after charges were filed. His father, retired firefighter Joe Planck, paid the $13,000.

The case against Planck developed from a bank teller, who thought it odd he brought in cash to deposit into his account and brought it to the attention of police.

Police had no trouble building a case against a firefighter when $13,000 was taken, but when one of their own was taking from a union and a nonprofit for more than $50,000, no charges were sought.

Special rules for special people shouldn’t be allowed. There’s a reason Lady Justice is blindfolded: To guarantee justice is fair and equitable. But apparently she can peek through that blindfold when the perp is a cop.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Email her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call her at (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Morrison