LAS VEGAS - Big changes are happening to the fact-finding process for officer-involved deaths. The coroner's inquest is gone - replaced by a new police fatality review process that will be overseen by an appointed panel. Tuesday, the valley could find out who will sit on that panel.
The Clark County Commission is expected to select the panel members during its regular meeting today.
Previously with coroner's inquests, ordinary citizens determined if officers' actions during a police-involved death were justified. The new panel will be made up of people who have courtroom or judicial experience.
The coroner's inquest was stopped two years ago because of legal challenges. This new process was voted in earlier this month.
It will also allow a lead police detective to present all the facts of the case, and an ombudsman will represent the family of those killed.
The new process will not determine if a police officer's actions are justified, excusable or criminal as with the coroner's inquest. It is merely a fact-finding process.
It's unclear who has applied to sit on the police fatality review panel. Some say the new procedure is a biased process regardless of who sits on the panel. Attorney Maggie McLetchie, a longtime critic of the inquest system, says the process needs to be as transparent as possible.
"I think we really need somebody to make sure that information comes to light," she said. "For example, right now the way the ordinance is written, the (district attorney) has to hand information over, but we don't know if the police department is handing everything over to the D.A."
8 News NOW reached out to the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the union that represents Metro Police officers, but the union declined to comment about the selection process.
The first police fatality review hearing could occur as early as this spring. The process is retroactive. Approximately two dozen cases dating back to 2010 are up for review.
