Henderson police chief drama sparks council infighting, accusations of secrecy

Amid the city’s refusal to shed light on the situation surrounding its sidelined police chief, one Henderson council member is speaking out about what she said is the secretive culture at City Hall and within the City Council.

The saga involving Police Chief Hollie Chadwick — multiple sources have told the Las Vegas Review-Journal she must decide whether to step down or be fired by Thursday — has also spurred infighting on the council.

The sources were granted anonymity by the Review-Journal to protect them from retaliation.

City officials have said nothing except that Chadwick is on leave, though she’s still a city employee. City leaders have said the situation is a personnel matter. City Manager Stephanie Garcia-Vause said in an email last month that she doesn’t comment on personnel matters.

Amid what has been mostly silence, though, Henderson Councilwoman Carrie Cox is speaking out about what she says is a “culture” of secrecy within the council.

Cox, who was elected to the council in 2022, has been vocal in her opposition to how Garcia-Vause presented her decision last month to place Chadwick on administrative leave.

“There needs to be a lot more transparency on the City Council,” Cox said during a recent interview with the Review-Journal. “Transparency is everything. If we don’t have it, it just makes our residents wonder what is going on.”

Tensions with union leaders

The story behind why Chadwick was placed on leave has been unclear. What is known is that Chadwick, who has been chief since 2023, has bumped heads with police union leaders.

Andrew Regenbaum, executive director of the Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers, said union leaders decided “months ago” that Chadwick needed to be replaced.

Regenbaum said Chadwick refused to find a full-time replacement for the leader of the Henderson Police Officers’ Association, the union for Henderson officers, when that person had to go on leave to deal with a family emergency.

According to union documents, Chadwick was accused of “union busting” activities that took place in 2024.

“As far as we’re concerned, there was a clear union-busting unfair labor practice,” Regenbaum alleged. “That was a huge bone of contention. There’s nothing that the chief could say to justify that.”

The Review-Journal attempted to reach Chadwick through city and police department public information officers, but was unsuccessful.

Last week, the state union, along with the Henderson Police Supervisors Association and the Henderson officers’ union, announced they had pulled their support of Cox.

In a joint statement, union leaders said said Cox “has not accurately represented to the media or public her prior knowledge about the issues related to the chief (Chadwick).”

‘Explain to residents why this happened’

For her part, Cox said she’s not against the police unions or her City Council counterparts. One of her gripes with how the Chadwick suspension was rolled out, she said, was that she learned of it through the media.

“The process was my biggest concern,” Cox said. “We need to work together as a team so that we can explain to residents why this happened.”

When reached by the Review-Journal, Henderson Councilwoman Monica Larson painted a different picture about why Cox has been speaking out. Sworn into office as Henderson’s Ward II council member in January, Larson pushed back on Cox’s claims.

“Carrie Cox likes to throw around the word ‘transparency,’ but she doesn’t adhere to it herself,” Larson said in a phone interview. “Chief Chadwick has until March 6 to make her decision. Why would we speak on personnel matters until she’s made a decision? This is a circus that has been created by Carrie Cox.”

Larson said the choice to place Chadwick on leave was “the city manager’s decision” and that council members didn’t “know anything” about it until rumors began flying Feb. 12.

In a statement sent to the Review-Journal, a Henderson spokesperson said Garcia-Vause had a meeting with Chadwick the afternoon of Feb. 13. After that meeting, the spokesperson said, Garcia-Vause “immediately” contacted Mayor Michelle Romero and the rest of the council by phone to “inform them” about the meeting.

The statement also noted that it is “the responsibility of the council members to be responsive.”

Cox actually helped Larson with her campaign last year, but their relationship eventually soured.

That’s partly because Cox encouraged her to “wear a wig” last year, Larson said, because Ward 2 is “about 65 percent Caucasian and that nobody would vote for an African American woman with short African American hair.”

When asked about the allegation, Cox called it a “lie.”

Moving forward

The City Council will convene Tuesday. In the Feb. 18 meeting, a sometimes boisterous group of several dozen attendees offered support for Chadwick. Some were former Henderson officers who had worked with Chadwick, while others said they knew her personally and said they wanted her to remain in her role as chief.

In all, about a dozen people voiced support for Chadwick during the meeting’s public comment period. Regenbaum said the turnout was “manufactured” by Cox, an accusation she denied.

“I couldn’t have manufactured that if I wanted to,” Cox said. “It’s sad (Regenbaum) doesn’t know me better than that. The situation created that. There are a lot of facts people don’t know.”

Cox didn’t elaborate on what those facts might be and, like Larson, said the city’s charter dictates that she can’t speak on personnel matters. But Cox said she’s ready to move forward. She said she believes her relationship with police union leaders can be mended.

“What happened was hurtful,” Cox said. “I feel like I’ve done everything I can to support the men and women in the police department. I’m supported by a lot of the rank and file. I believe there’s been a misunderstanding.”

‘Residents should know why their chief is no longer on the job’

The other members of the council — Romero, Councilman Jim Seebock, Councilman Dan Stewart and Larson — released a joint statement Thursday, which said, in part, that “the fact that private personnel information was recently leaked to the media was unfortunate, and embarrassing for those involved.”

What those council members described as a leak constituted “unacceptable behavior” and “does not represent our collective body,” the statement said.

Cox and Larson told the Review-Journal they agree with the city’s stance that the Chadwick situation is a private matter.

In a clear rebuttal to Cox’s remarks about a secretive culture within the council, the statement also said “transparency is very important to the Henderson City Council.”

But David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Center Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida and a longtime champion of government transparency, called the situation in Henderson “ridiculous.”

“It’s out of line with what happens in the rest of America,” Cuillier said. “If we’re talking about personnel records, that’s going to be really sensitive stuff. This is the police chief’s job we’re talking about, which is much different. There’s huge public interest here and the residents of Henderson should know why their chief is no longer on the job.”

If Chadwick departs, ninth chief search since 2005

Cox said she doesn’t know how the Chadwick situation will play out, but added that she’s ready to work with other council members.

“I want win-win situations,” Cox said. “I don’t feel ostracized now because I feel like that’s been going on for a long time. I’m here. I’m going to stand up and do my job.”

Larson said Romero and the other council members “get along great,” but didn’t mince words about Cox, who she said has “consistently caused chaos” and “loss of productivity” within the council.

In January, Romero threatened legal action against Cox, claiming the councilwoman had spread “spurious rumors” about a purported extramarital affair that Romero had been engaged in.

Larson said Cox made the allegation “personally to me on three occasions.”

Infighting or not, the matter of the police chief’s job will be settled soon. If Chadwick is fired — or if she resigns — Henderson will need to begin the search for its ninth chief since 2005.

‘We need to look at why we don’t have chiefs stay’

Danny Navarro, who spent about three decades working for the department before retiring earlier this year, lamented the fact that Chadwick has been, in his view, mistreated after working for the Henderson department since 2002.

“This is an officer who started her career here and climbed the ladder,” Navarro said. “She’s extremely well-educated and just so right for the position. She’s always concerned about officers. I can speak to that because I know her.”

Cox and Navarro believe Chadwick’s possible ouster will affect the Police Department in negative ways.

“Recruitment is a worry,” Cox said. “We need to stabilize our department. We have to put people before politics. I believe the Police Department should have a say in who they have as police chief. We need to look at why we don’t have chiefs stay for more than a couple of years at a time.”

Questions remain

Cuillier said not only should the city “bone up,” but that City Council members have a duty to tell their constituents what happened.

“There’s no gray area here,” Cuillier said. “Come clean and just tell people what happened because there was obviously a decision made.”

For now, Henderson Deputy Chief Itzhak Henn is in charge of the Police Department. Beyond that, questions remain.

“I want residents to make their voices heard,” Cox said. “This is your city. This is my city, and it’s a great place to live. I want to see us all work together.”

Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X. Review-Journal staff reporter Akiya Dillon contributed to this report. Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.