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Henderson mayor saddened by police beating
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Feb. 10, 2012 | 8:59 a.m.
Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen expressed remorse Thursday over what happened to Adam Greene, the man who was in diabetic shock when city police beat and kicked him during a traffic stop in October 2010.
"What happened to Mr. Greene was wrong and we regret the pain and suffering that he and his family endured because of it," Hafen said in a statement.
It was the first public comment on the incident by anyone on the City Council since it approved a $158,000 settlement with Greene, 38, on Tuesday.
City Councilmen Sam Bateman and John Marz said they voted to approve the settlement in the best interest of the city. Councilwoman Gerri Schroder said she read Hafen's statement and agreed with his comments. Councilwoman Debra March did not return a call seeking comment.
The traffic stop was videotaped by a Nevada Highway Patrol dashboard camera. That tape, which was released by Greene's attorney on Tuesday, showed police Sgt. Brett Seekatz kicking Greene in the head five times and another officer kneeing the unresponsive Greene in the midsection four times. Highway Patrol troopers did not appear to hit or kick Greene.
Later police discovered that Greene was in diabetic shock and was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol as they had suspected.
Greene suffered broken ribs and bruises that didn't heal for two months. The city attorney approved a $99,000 settlement with Greene's wife. The sum was just under what would require the City Council's approval. The state agreed to pay Greene $35,000 for a total settlement of $292,500.
"As a council we voted to resolve our legal issues related to this incident with the settlement we approved this week," Hafen said. "We hope that it can provide some peace and closure to Mr. Greene and his family as a result."
Hafen said his "great concern" is that the city learns from the incident and reduces the risk of it happening again.
He said the Police Department modified its training and use-of-force policies after the incident, and "as a result, we have already seen the numbers of those types of incidents go down."
He said that the city's police officers respond to hundreds of calls every day and that the incident with Greene was isolated and does not represent "our entire police force."
Seekatz was disciplined and remains a sergeant.
Hafen said the mark of a good organization is the ability to learn from mistakes, own up to them and improve.
"We have tried to do that and will continue to do so in the future as we try to hold our officers and our department to the highest standards of accountability," he said.
Bateman, who is also a deputy district attorney, said settling with Greene was in the city's best interest. "I reviewed the videotape, and the settlement seemed appropriate," he said.
He said he thought the city attorney made the appropriate decision settling with Greene's wife for $99,000. He said offering similar settlements without City Council oversight was appropriate. "We have a $600 million-plus budget," he said. "At some point we have to draw the line. We have to trust our top staff to be responsible, and we do."
He also said that while he doesn't condone what happened to Greene, he understands emotions sometimes run high in police work. "I work with law enforcement all the time," Bateman said. "They (police) didn't know what they were dealing with, and sometimes they have to be aggressive to defuse a public threat."
But Bateman also said it was clear Seekatz's actions were unacceptable. "I think it's fair for the general public to watch the video and have serious concerns with that particular employee," he said.
Bateman questioned whether the discipline Seekatz received was appropriate, but because he was not on the council until June, eight months after the incident, he declined to comment.
Contact reporter Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@review journal.com or 702-224-5512.
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sue3mom: it is horrible. 90 years old man, police should be able to distinguosh young people and older people. I will go to shopping center with my children. I am quite old. They may be sadistic. I can not distinguish which one is nice or which one is not. Thank you for your comment.
This is not the only incident! Ten years ago they beat a 90 year old man because he couldn't sit on the curb as they requested. Charlie was the sweetest man who never drank and he was beaten within an inch of his life, denied medical help, then thrown in a drunk tank. I saw him in a walker and the Henderson police broke his spirit. His crime was a traffic stop on the "street" behind the Rainbow casino. His son sued and lost. Corruption in Henderson has existed for a long time!!
Seekatz should have been fired. It is just a matter of time before he does it again.
Susan by focusing on the insulin you miss the point-that no one deserves to be kicked in the head and jammed in the back then called a m-----f----- by police. I cannot think of a time when it would be o.k. to kick someone in the head when they are down on the ground and their hand tied behind their back.
bghs1986: Aren't you the one who has been contributing very intelligent comments in other places? I clearly remember you. Nice to see you here again. There is a person I had heated discussion about something related to Station Casino. He and I tend to do discussions at Yucca Mountain articles and he/she is very intelligent like you so that this one, we have nothing to discuss over there. I hope Gerri-chan and Debra-chan will scold City manager and command he fire Police Chief. and tell him get a replacement who is not Bateman.
Gerri-chan and Debra-chan: I forgot to mention important things. Please read all comments. Like here, about all comment contributed have been written intelligently. Please read all, here and there. Sayonara.
Council Ladies, I knew you were kept blind. I read Sun's article. You two came out when Police Chief and City Manager are still hiding. So, may I call you "Gerri-chan' and 'Debra-chan'? Chan is friendly. San is formal. I knew you are shocked to see video. I did not believe you are for 'kick face 5 times while a suspect is held on the ground with 5 more cops' procedure Bateman seems to agree with this procedure. Council supervises City Manager. Who supervise the Police Chief? Bateman states that he didn't think the officer's action rose to the level of criminal offense. So, if Gerri-chan and Debra-chan get attacked by Henderson police with proper procedure of sadistic attack, I will use my several of Marshal Acts including Ninja female' method. I learned that from several female Ninja (Kunoichi) descendants. My samurai art might kill him. I don't want to go that much far but I will defend you. Gerri-chan and Debra-chan, if you people are not allowed to interfere City business, why Bateman is discussing Police procedure change? Don't be afraid. I thought American females are more courageous than Japanese women. Is he breaking the city codes? I wonder why Chief still keep Sgt with same $10,900 years pay. Must be $11,900 last year. $10,900 was a 2010 figure. is it because Sgt. know something Chief did in past, or Chief want to keep this sadistic policy? 1 criminal with 5 co-defendants for not stopping. I viewed video several times. CH Police place his foot on the door. He did not break the door. The door was opened. Do you think I am wrong in thinking Green Lantern came to help CHP, or maybe Pica-chu and Poke-mon? Arigatou for reading this big mouth JapaneseLady. Sayonara Gerri-chan and Debra-Chan. This is first time I used 'chan' in my entire American Life :)
@criminals.suck....In your never ending quest to avoid anything resembling a fact you have chosen to create your own reality where you are somehow literate, I apparently attended a high school here in Las Vegas and hummingbirds tell you their secrets. I admire your consistency. Most people with your lack of knowledge would have accidentally stumbled upon a fact once or twice in there lives. But not you. You keep on shoveling out errata as if perfection in ignorance is something to be proud of. Everyone needs to set a goal for themselves, guess. Even if it is one as pathetic as your desire to avoid the truth like it was the plague/e
Mayor, are you serious to create the sport arena? The guy you people are depending on is the one who wanted to make a major league team in Las Vegas, along with Ron F who was an anchorman. Las Vegas decided not to be a sucker and rejected his scheme, I heard. Wow! invite 50,000 seats using Dodgers! Rich Angels with 50,000 sears stadium will move here! We probably place 4 or 5 people on one seat in case a major league team comes here and curious tourists pay tickets.
MRONOITALL: Sorry I bother you. This is my lunch time. They are still sleeping. Didn't you know I Las Vegas is 24 hour city? They wondered why I skipped to watch Blue Man Group. They want exact percentage changes of crime rate dropping in Las Vegas. It is easy but I wanted to get out for my lunch. They had old fashioned computer. So, I typed in Dim x(20), Y(20), T(20),ACT(20) n=20 for i=1 to 20 t(i) = x(i)/y(i) * 100 NEXT I ' ANNUAL % CHANGE FOR I=2 TO 20 APC(I) = T(I) -T (I-1) NEXT I Many of you know this easy way. i just used old old QB45. I did not forget print routine. So, I got out. By the way Rosetta Stone on Las Vegas Blvd S is only distribution and sale business. Amazpn is a good customer. I don't have business associates in Las Vegas. I have two advisors, though. One Republican, One Democrat. They mastered my broken English and make sure I don't bad mouth to local politicians. These people I meet, they have perfect English speaking but broken Japanese. These big shots trust my broken English than their gentle employees. OK, I will have to go. Today is Saturday. I don't know which show we will watch? I hope it is not a strip Show.