A new website went up this week aimed squarely at former Henderson Police Chief Hollie Chadwick, and it’s paid for by the Committee to Elect Michelle Romero, the sitting Henderson mayor.
The site, thechadwickfiles.com, brands itself “Hol’Lie’ Chadwick” and lays out a list of controversies from Chadwick’s time running the department, backed by court records, city memos and reporting from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, FOX5 and other outlets.
Here’s what’s actually behind the headlines on that site.
The Detective Cleared After Racist Language Allegations
The most serious claim involves Henderson Detective Kevin LaPeer.
An outside investigation, paid for by the city and conducted by an outside law firm, found LaPeer most likely used offensive and derogatory language to describe Black, Latino and LGBTQ people while on the job.
Fellow detectives told investigators LaPeer used slurs and made comments supporting political violence, including saying he would kill Black Lives Matter protesters if he didn’t have a family.
A deputy chief initially found LaPeer violated department policy a dozen times.
Chadwick didn’t order that finding, but after she became chief in 2023, the department reversed most of those violations, and Chadwick personally dismissed the three that remained.
LaPeer had been on paid leave for about 17 months while the investigation played out, at a cost of more than $135,000 to Henderson taxpayers.
He has denied the allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit against the city.
The DUI Cover-Up That Cost Taxpayers Nearly $400,000
A separate internal affairs investigation centered on an off-duty officer, Katherine Cochran, suspected of crashing her car while intoxicated in 2021.
Investigators found that fellow officers Marissa Myers and Sgt. John Bellow helped cover for her, muting body camera footage and building a false story that a friend had been driving.
The prior police administration recommended firing all three officers for lying and falsifying reports.
Chadwick reversed those termination recommendations once she took over. Cochran and Myers received probation, and Bellow was recommended for demotion.
The three officers spent roughly a year and a half on paid leave while the case was investigated, costing taxpayers close to $400,000.
The Cocaine Found in a Detective’s Desk
In October 2024, cocaine turned up inside the desk of a Henderson narcotics detective.
Chadwick confirmed no drug test was ordered, saying the officer wasn’t tested because he wasn’t under the influence and there was no reason to.
She called it an “unfortunate oversight” and pointed to the detective’s long hours and clean record on past random testing as justification.
Six-Figure Settlements Piling Up
Henderson has paid out well over a million dollars in lawsuits tied to incidents during Chadwick’s tenure.
The city settled for $638,476 with a homeowner whose townhome was gutted by a SWAT team during a 37-hour standoff in 2024, even though the man wasn’t a suspect and had offered police the keys.
A separate $595,000 settlement went to a Navy veteran wrongfully arrested and held for eight days.
Two more lawsuits, one involving a police dog attack and another involving a death in custody, are still pending, meaning the final bill to Henderson taxpayers isn’t locked in yet.
Fired, Not Retired
Chadwick’s own campaign biography for her run for Henderson mayor says she retired in March 2025.
City records tell a different story.
City Manager Stephanie Garcia-Vause placed Chadwick on leave in February 2025 and told her that her job was ending.
Chadwick was offered a separation agreement and declined to sign it. Her employment was terminated days later.
A city memo bearing what’s described as her own signature acknowledges the termination, which undercuts her claim that she first learned about it from the media.
Why It Matters
Chadwick is running to be Henderson’s next mayor against the incumbent, Michelle Romero, whose campaign committee is behind this website.
That’s worth keeping in mind when reading it.
But the underlying records, court filings and news investigations cited on the site are real and predate the campaign.
Henderson voters weighing who should run their city, and their police department, now have a detailed record to work from on how Chadwick handled discipline, transparency and taxpayer money the last time she held power there.
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