Henderson police unions vote ‘no confidence’ in police chief

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - The Henderson Police Officers Association and Henderson Police Supervisors Association overwhelmingly voted “no confidence” in police chief Thedrick Andres, the unions announced. More than 95% of members that cast a vote said they had “no confidence” in the top cop.

Union leaders told FOX5 they didn’t want it to come to this, but there were too many internal issues with how Andres is running the department.

“A disappointing day for all of us that we’ve come to this point,” HPSA president Chris Aguiar said. “We never wanted to reach this point, but our officers and supervisors are frustrated with a number of issues throughout the department.”

Over 80% of the 464 members between the two unions voted “no confidence.”

“This vote does not change the City of Henderson leadership’s support for and confidence in Police Chief Thedrick Andres,” the city said in a statement.

Union leaders said there’s been a record number of grievances related to the chief’s unwillingness to follow the collective bargaining agreement and department policies.

The union said the newly released use of force policy was pushed through without union input, and the department put out the information publicly without training the officers on the new requirements.

“The City of Henderson rushed to hire a police chief who lacked proper qualifications for the job and who was from far outside our region,” a statement by the union read. “This outsider came to Henderson with a “mission” to fix and reform a department which was not broken. An outsider who sought to replace and redo policing policies which were already proper and effective. An outsider who sought to portray a new era of “transparency” by refusing to discuss policies or decisions with anyone outside his inner circle.”

Andres joined the department when ex-chief LaTesha Watson was hired in 2017. The pair worked together in Arlington Texas, and Watson named Andres deputy chief.

Watson was fired in 2019 over alleged harassment and clashing with the police unions. Watson filed a lawsuit against the city in September 2020 alleging she faced racial and gender discrimination.

Aguiar said Andres’ reign is too similar to his predecessor.

FOX5 obtained an internal email Andres sent to department employees Thursday night.

Part of the email read, “when others may attempt to divide us, we must come together as an organization and remain focused on our vision “to be one of the premier police agencies in America.”

The union said they are already one of the best in the country, and their vote of no confidence won’t change their work ethic.

“We didn’t become one of the safest cities in America just based on leadership,” Aguiar said. “It’s because of the hard work our officers and supervisors do every single day.”

The union vote does not mean there will be changes to the top of the department. The city manager makes the decision on who the police chief is.

Since 2006 there have been six different police chiefs in the city of Henderson.

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