There’s another shakeup involving the Clark County School District. It turns out, the man responsible for investigating misconduct by school district police is being investigated.
A former CCSD Police lieutenant filed a complaint with supervisors within the CCSD Police Department alleging several occasions of misconduct by internal affairs detective Christopher Klemp. The former lieutenant was fired by the Clark County School District in 2015.
The purported transcripts of audio recordings with Detective Klemp, confirmed by the Clark County School District’s Police Union, reveal Klemp may have tried to influence investigations in his favor.
School Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky says he’s concerned about the allegations.
“Anytime we have allegations, we investigate the allegations, and because this is a personnel matter, we have to go in and look at it from all angles and determine the next course of action,” Skorkowsky said.
Along with the alleged partial transcript of a recorded conversation with Klemp, the complaint filed by the former CCSD Police lieutenant also contains allegations that Klemp openly discussed ongoing investigations.
It also states Klemp allegedly tried to intimidate officers under investigation. The complaint says Klemp boasted about being close to Dr. Mike Barton, a high-level administrator for the school district, along with other administrators.
8 News NOW reached out to Dr. Barton for a reaction to Klemp’s alleged use of his name.
“I’m not familiar with the case you’re talking about,” Dr. Barton said. “I’ve got to be honest.”
Dr. Barton is not named in any other way in the complaint, but the allegations raise some concerns about the integrity of other investigations Klemp had a role in.
8 News NOW spoke with Jack Campbell, the attorney for another officer by phone. Campbell’s client was investigated by Klemp in a use of force case.
Campbell said his client, James Lescinski, was initially cleared of any wrongdoing by his superiors, but a secondary investigation by Klemp led to charges against his client.
“If this case they filed against Jimmy is the result of Detective Klemp’s activity that he talks about on the tape, then this whole prosecution is entirely suspect.”
Klemp’s attorney says the case is scheduled to go to trial in July.
CCSD Police Captain Ken Young told 8 News NOW it may take several days to put together a list of the investigations in which Klemp has participated.
8 News NOW reached out to Detective Klemp to get his response to the accusations and the investigation, but he did not return our requests for comment as of 5 p.m. Thursday.
Detective Klemp has been reassigned ever since the complaints against him have been under investigation.
