In a revealing peek behind the curtain of local government discord, over 200 pages of emails and documents have become public, spotlighting a contentious relationship between former Henderson Police Chief Hollie Chadwick and City Manager Stephanie Garcia-Vause, just before Chadwick's firing. According to a FOX 5 Vegas report, the documents, spanning from December 9, 2024, to Chadwick's administrative leave on February 13, highlight a series of confrontations over department policies and incidents, leading up to her dismissal in February.
The tension appears to have started shortly after Garcia-Vause assumed the role of city manager on January 21. In one notable exchange, Garcia-Vause inquires about a series of internal concerns, including an instance where a deputy chief requested officers to contribute funds for a retirement gift, which came across as favoritism. Chadwick's response, assuring that no city purchasing power was used for the gift, was later overcast by her subsequent mayoral campaign. Her campaign characterized the email exchanges as "an orchestrated, planned, and timed destructive campaign against Chief Hollie Chadwick," News 3 reported.
Indeed, some of the more charged communications centered on specific incidents involving Henderson police officers. On one occasion, an email dated December 9 found Chadwick defending her decision to personally transport two officers involved in an officer-involved shooting to a fire station for a restroom break. On another, Chadwick discussed a detective found with cocaine in his desk, stating that he was not drug tested due to lack of evidence of him being under the influence, describing it as an "unfortunate oversight."
Garcia-Vause's approach seemed highly scrutinizing of the police department's practices, and her management style was described by Chadwick's campaign as fostering a "culture of fear." The emails obtained by FOX 5 Vegas included Garcia-Vause pressing Chadwick for answers about alleged favoritism, and incidents such as the one involving the gifted gun and the lack of protocol during the aforementioned police shooting, and another security incident at the Henderson Detention Center.
