LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Employees of the Henderson Police Department regularly made “intentional, discriminatory” comments aimed at one of its former black chiefs, documents obtained by the 8 News Now Investigators reveal.
In affidavits filed in federal court Friday, one current and one former HPD officer claims they heard racist, derogatory remarks made at and in the presence of LaTesha Watson, the department’s chief from 2017 until she was fired in April 2019. Watson is suing the city, the department, and a handful of individuals claiming, among other things, racial discrimination and a hostile work environment.
I-Team First on 8: Former Henderson police chief sues city
“During Chief Watson’s tenure, I heard a number of officers and patrolmen make disparaging comments not only regarding African American’s [sic] generally, but as to [Watson] specifically,” Hector Villa, an HPD officer since 2009, said in sworn and notarized affidavit. Recently, Villa has filed a separate discrimination claim against the city and says the department has retaliated against him as a result.