RENO " An undisclosed number of police officers at the University of Nevada, Reno have been disciplined after admitting they recently sent pornographic e-mail at work.
The admission came in the wake of the university's decision to review police e-mails after a fired employee told the Board of Regents in June that pornographic material had been circulated within the department in 2002, UNR President Milton Glick said Tuesday.
"All of those were sent six years ago, and (UNR police Chief Adam Garcia) made it clear that was unacceptable behavior, and we have seen no mass e-mails since," Glick told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
"However, recently one or more officers self-reported that they had forwarded one or two such e-mails, not to the whole force, but to another individual on the force," he said.
Glick said the officers were disciplined but would not disclose their names or punishment because of confidentiality laws regarding personnel matters. He said the officers were not fired.
"From my perspective, we are not planning to do more," Glick said of the review of recent e-mail traffic within the department. "Chief Garcia has reinforced his position several times about the inappropriateness of such e-mails."
Bart Patterson, chief counsel for the Nevada System of Higher Education, said he "is comfortable the university has done what it needs to do with the scope of the issue."
Patterson said the issue is not the personal use of state property but whether the content is appropriate.
"State law allows the minimal use of (university) system resources for personal use," he said. "So the issue is not the use of state resources, but whether it is appropriate use from a sexual harassment standpoint or in a work environment."