LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Channel 13 has extensively been covering the case of suspended Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sergeant Kevin Menon, accused of possessing child sex abuse material and setting up bogus arrests on the Las Vegas Strip.
In a recent story, our investigation uncovered Metro officers and a lieutenant communicating with each other about arrest tactics using an app called Signal, known to make messages disappear.
Now, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, Nevada's largest police union, are demanding accountability from Metro.
Chris Peterson, the legal director at the ACLU of Nevada, said the nonprofit has requested all bodycam footage from Menon and his squad's arrests. We've previously seen some of it because it was presented as evidence to a Clark County grand jury in Menon's case.
When you consider how many incidents were referenced in that report and how many officers were involved in those incidents, it does raise questions about why other people haven't been disciplined.
Peterson said the ACLU of Nevada decided to conduct their own investigation.
"We're requesting any other records that are available," said Peterson.
From grand jury testimony, we know that Menon's investigation came to light when several officers came forward to LVPPA, the police union.
"That's a highly unusual circumstance," said Peterson. "That you'd need an outside entity to be flagging this on behalf of its members rather than having a culture inside the department where officers feel comfortable."
That culture was also the topic of a recent Op-Ed article by LVPPA treasurer Daniel Coyne titled, "The Toxic Leaders Within Our Ranks."
In it, Coyne said he believes Menon fits perfectly into "the category of toxic leadership" and believes the rest of his chain of command "are toxic leaders as well."
Coyne questions if others will be held accountable.
Past practices have shown that they will not, and that’s why I believe instances like this are occurring and will continue to occur until the Department gets serious about addressing its toxic leaders.
At the last Metro fiscal affairs committee meeting, Sheriff Kevin McMahill did not elaborate on holding other officers accountable.
"I'm holding Mr. Menon accountable in a lot of different ways," McMahill told Channel 13.
The sheriff seemed to hold Menon only responsible. The ACLU of Nevada is concerned about the questionable precedent that could be set in our state.
"If this kind of bad behavior is allowed and this sort of culture is allowed, it's a bad sign for the rest of this state," said Peterson. "Hopefully, we can get to the bottom of this and sort of tear this out before it continues to fester in our community."
Menon's next court date is Wednesday morning.
