Metro Paying $300,000 In Settlement Lawyer Says Will Stop ‘Saturation Events'

By Dana Gentry, Nevada Current

February 28, 2022

A settlement stemming from a traffic stop involving Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and a van full of bikers will “fundamentally change how Metro operates,” according to the attorney who won a $300,000 award approved Monday by the Metro Fiscal Affairs Committee.

The settlement also calls for Metro to incorporate officer training on prohibitions against requiring identification from passengers absent reasonable suspicion.

“Metro can no longer use traffic stops to bully people of any race,” says attorney Stephen Stubbs, who challenged Metro’s practice of asking passengers for identification during traffic stops without reasonable suspicion of a crime.

“The fundamental changes that are in that attachment to the settlement agreements is that this shuts down saturation events that minorities, citizens of Clark County have been complaining about for decades,” says Stubbs. “All these saturation events where they go into poor areas and pull people over and try to find crimes – this settlement agreement should end that.”

Police camera video from April 2017 provided by Stubbs shows an officer learning the van that he pulled over for not having its lights on was carrying 15 passengers on their way to a fundraising event for an injured biker that was taking place across the street from the traffic stop.

“You guys have ID on you?” the officer asks the passengers within seconds of approaching the van.

“You coming to this event over here?” the officer asks, referencing the biker fundraiser.

The passengers respond affirmatively.

“How many people we got back here?” the officer asks “Fifteen? Everybody got IDs? Alright, start moving them up front.”

Passengers in Nevada are required to identify themselves only if there is reasonable suspicion they have committed a crime, are in the process of committing a crime, or will commit a crime.

“I’ve got videos of them doing it to Black people, Hispanic people, bikers, to where they pull someone over for a minor traffic ticket and then they bully them and try to figure something out,” says Stubbs.

A video provided by Stubbs of another stop shows officers forcibly remove a passenger who asserts his rights and refuses to provide identification.

The video shows police searching for marijuana after forcibly removing the passenger from the front seat.

“When they couldn’t find it, one of the officers turns to the other and says ‘Do what you’ve got to do because we’ve got to find something, right?’” Stubbs says.

The settlement on behalf of a passenger in the van, James Iiams, is the result of a federal court order signed by Judge Richard Boulware. Iiams has since passed away as a result of unrelated circumstances.

The Metro officers named as defendants are Justin Bryers, Jonathan Carrington,

Lukas Ferris, and Richard Nelson. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The settlement calls for Metro to train officers for the next five years on procedures for traffic stops detailed in a publication called Constitutional Corner.

“Although passengers are detained inside of the vehicle during a traffic stop, careful consideration should be given when addressing passengers during a stop for a traffic violation,” says the Constitutional Corner article from 2021, warning against prolonging a traffic stop.

“When there is no individualized RS (reasonable suspicion) of a crime apart from the traffic violation that justified the stop, a traffic stop MAY NOT be prolonged,” the article says. “A passenger is NOT required to identify themselves during a traffic stop UNLESS the officer has individualized RS. The failure of a passenger to identify themselves is NOT considered reasonable suspicion of a crime.”

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