Bar owners call for end to harassment

Group says police have been chasing customers out of town

FRED COUZENS/VIEWAl Stevens, owner of the Coffee Cup and the adjacent bar The Other Side, said he turned over to Police Chief Tom Finn and Deputy Police Chief John Chase during a Jan. 4 meeting among downtown bar owners "full documentation of times and dates" that "overzealous" police officers harassed customers. Advertisement

Downtown's once-lucrative bar business is expected to make a slow recovery this year following Police Chief Tom Finn's meeting with bar owners Jan. 4.

Owners claimed police officers were harassing customers, drunk or not.

Owners said officers park in parking lots or on the street surveilling customers, and when those customers got in their cars, the police would go after them, either pulling drivers over for suspected DUI violations or a variety of petty moving and nonmoving violations that, in most cases, were unwarranted.

The owners also charged that officers would speed up from behind and tailgate customers until they reached the border with Henderson.

A group of bar owners, led by Chris Matteo of Matteo's Restaurant and Underground Lounge -- the lounge has been an establishment under intense police observation for its young, unconventional clientele -- penned a Dec. 17 letter addressed to Finn under the name of "Boulder City Solutions," which pointed out the policing problem and its impact on local business.

"We understand and appreciate the role of the police is to protect and serve the community," the letter stated. "When the police stake out and follow patrons out of restaurant and bar parking lots and pull them over without probable cause, it is going (too) far. Customers are being tailgated by (BCPD) from the downtown business district all the way to Henderson in an intimidating fashion.

"We are losing our customer base, both local and outside, because of this behavior. It is affecting the lives of business owners, as well as employees who are struggling to make a living and attempting to create something special for our community."

Attending the early morning meeting three weeks ago were Finn and Deputy Police Chief John Chase; John Kaposta of Tony's Lounge; Dave Rivera of Milo's Best Cellars; Todd Cook of the Boulder Dam Brewing Co.; Paul Westbrook of the Big Horn Restaurant; Evan Lathouris of Evan's Old Town Grille; Matteo; Varinder "Erik" Singh of Central Market; and Lindsay and Al Stevens of The Other Side.

"All of us, we 100 percent agree, that all of our out-of-town customers have said they're not coming to Boulder City any more to eat or drink," said Al Stevens, owner of the surfing-themed bar adjoining his Coffee Cup diner in the 500 block of Nevada Way. "To an owner, everybody has had a customer tailed and pulled over. Sometimes it's been because a turn indicator is out or a taillight is out, and it's not only customers, but owners and employees getting off work.

"It's happened to Chris (Matteo) three or four times and Paul (Westbrook) twice in his truck. I've even had an employee pulled over four times."

Westbrook tells a story of how one night after he got off work he was heading home and noticed a police car was following him. He turned down Avenue I, and as soon as he did, as he puts it, "the red lights came on." Angered because he knew nothing was wrong with his truck and that he abstains from drinking alcohol, he stopped, and when the female officer noticed who he was after approaching him, merely said "Have a good night, Mr. Westbrook."

The letter by Boulder City Solutions also derided the police department for its practice of chasing customers out of town.

"It has been reported to most business owners that the (BCPD) are tailgating, meaning that motorists are sped up upon from behind at a dangerous rate of speed with no flashing lights and tracked all the way out of town at a dangerous close proximity; many times to be pulled over for no valid reason," it stated. "This is very intimidating and can be perceived as the (BCPD) chasing customers out of town. (There are) also accusations of the police profiling cars in restaurant and bar parking lots. Waiting for patrons to leave such establishments and pulling them over on speculation of being intoxicated.

"This behavior has become such a deterrent that the majority of our customer base in which we worked so hard to attract will no longer come back."

Al Stevens said the officers who are "young and aggressive" are "creating a monster here" by stepping up and intensifying their heavy-handed tactics that have gone on since the summer, adding, "People won't park in the Old Town district. I know of two customers who park four blocks away at Bob's Restaurant, that's how severe it's got with the pullovers."

Westbrook agreed with Al Stevens' assessment of how business has dropped off because of the police department's increased presence on the streets at night.

"We advertise for people to come to Boulder City, and they say they won't come back," the Big Horn Restaurant owner said, while relating comments from customers who have seen police cars parked in the North Hotel Plaza parking lot or have been blinded by flashing red lights on patrol cars making stops on Arizona Street in front of the restaurant. "Sure, my business has been affected. All of Boulder City has been affected."

Bar owners aren't the only residents with complaints. According to Al Stevens, chamber president Larry Hogan headed over to Milo's Best Cellars after the First Night celebration Dec. 31 and had a cup of coffee.

"He got in his car, and right there at Wyoming (Street) the police pulled him over and told him he had rolled (through) the stop," Stevens said. "Larry argued that he hadn't rolled the stop and that he had come to a complete stop, and then said, 'You pulled me over because I came out of Milo's.' So, you see, he got the story firsthand."

Matteo called Finn to explain the situation on Dec. 10.

The same day, one week before the Boulder City Solutions letter was written, the police chief issued a memo to his officers that clarified and redefined some of the department's DUI enforcement policies.

"I have received several complaints from a few bar owners in the city who are convinced that we are parking in or near their parking lots and following every patron who leaves their bars and drives away," said the memo from Finn . "My position on that practice is that although we should be giving some extra attention to the businesses that serve liquor, we should not be parking in their lots all night. Frequent patrols of their parking lots is certainly justified and defensible; establishing a fixed post in the lots is not."

The next day he sent out another memo commending his officers for being diligent in the area of DUI enforcement, but with a caveat.

"Although the members of our department do a good job of DUI enforcement overall, there is room for improvement," the chief wrote. "There is no quicker way to earn my respect and admiration than by making DUI enforcement one of your top priorities. My only concern is that there may be a temptation to take short cuts to acquire an impressive number of DUI arrests, and that of course is not acceptable."

Finn said Chase was to have a meeting with the department's supervisors last week, where he was to have told them "flying up on cars and intimidating them and pulling cars over for some ridiculous reason like a taillight being out" is not appropriate police conduct.

"I feel we have to do things at times to make the city safe," Finn said, "but I also don't want this to be a police state, so every time you frequent a restaurant that serves alcohol, you get pulled over. That's not right either."

Both sides claimed the meeting did wonders to clear the air over the problem and Finn asked the owners to report back -- with documentation -- by early February to see if they noted any changes, good or bad.

One change Al Stevens would like to see is a return to the way it used to be.

"There used to be an officer, officer Brown, he was known as Downtown Brown, and he'd stop in the Backstop and ask if everybody was OK or did anybody need a ride home," Stevens recalled. "The police used to be friendly and try to handle situations peaceably. That's the way it should be, but it's different now. Now they throw you up against the wall and say "Hey you ... don't you move."