Amber Dixon
Email: adixon@mynews3.com
BOULDER CITY (KSNV MyNews3) -- The Boulder City Council voted Tuesday night for an independent investigation into its city's police chief.
Boulder City Police Chief Thomas Finn is accused of trying to destroy public records relating to the department’s treatment of the Mongols Motorcycle Group.
The motorcycle club has long accused some in the Boulder City Police Department of harassment.
An attorney for the motorcycle club said an email from Finn to his police officers intended to destroy public records by asking the officers to delete any emails they had that discussed the Police Department’s planned response to a Mongols event in their city.
The motorcycle group flooded Tuesday night’s meeting.
Earlier, their attorney had given a copy of Chief Finn's email to Boulder City Attorney Dave Olsen.
At the meeting, Olsen presented legal research he did along with an opinion from an outside source.
He recommended the City Council seek an outside organization to investigate record destroying allegations against the police chief.
“The bottom line here is, we're trying to treat the department heads, the same way that we would treat any other citizen,” Olsen said. “He probably did not commit the offense, but he did commit an attempt, and in Nevada for example, the offense of destroying these records is subject to penalties for a category C felony.”
The council voted for an investigative division under the Nevada Department of Public Safety to determine whether Finn broke any laws or attempted to break any laws.
The police chief was not at Tuesday’s meeting, and he did not return News 3’s call for comment.
Boulder City Police Chief Thomas Finn is accused of trying to destroy public records relating to the department’s treatment of the Mongols Motorcycle Group.
The motorcycle club has long accused some in the Boulder City Police Department of harassment.
An attorney for the motorcycle club said an email from Finn to his police officers intended to destroy public records by asking the officers to delete any emails they had that discussed the Police Department’s planned response to a Mongols event in their city.
The motorcycle group flooded Tuesday night’s meeting.
Earlier, their attorney had given a copy of Chief Finn's email to Boulder City Attorney Dave Olsen.
At the meeting, Olsen presented legal research he did along with an opinion from an outside source.
He recommended the City Council seek an outside organization to investigate record destroying allegations against the police chief.
“The bottom line here is, we're trying to treat the department heads, the same way that we would treat any other citizen,” Olsen said. “He probably did not commit the offense, but he did commit an attempt, and in Nevada for example, the offense of destroying these records is subject to penalties for a category C felony.”
The council voted for an investigative division under the Nevada Department of Public Safety to determine whether Finn broke any laws or attempted to break any laws.
The police chief was not at Tuesday’s meeting, and he did not return News 3’s call for comment.