City of Las Vegas denies request for fire department records
The city of Las Vegas denied a Review-Journal records request this week for disciplinary actions for four Fire Department employees named in a complaint about alleged sexual misconduct at a Las Vegas fire station in August. The complaint also claims there was a subsequent cover-up attempt. The fire department, the city manager’s office and human resources are investigating the allegations. The city’s response says no completed disciplinary actions against any of the employees in question exist, but even if they did, the city would likely deny the records request.
“We are currently conducting an investigation into a complaint of an unauthorized visit by a civilian to one of our fire stations,” the city wrote in its response. “That investigation is ongoing, and to date no disciplinary action has been proposed or initiated, and certainly no disciplinary actions have been completed. As a result, there are no documents responsive to your request. While no responsive documents currently exist, by way of courtesy, the city of Las Vegas does take the position that personnel files, including but not limited to disciplinary actions, are private and confidential; and if any responsive documents had existed, we would have likely denied your request on that basis.”
Separate Review-Journal records requests for surveillance footage and visitor logs from Station 9, the site of the alleged sexual activity in August, yielded no information because no such footage or logs exist, the city’s response said.
Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.
