Former Phoenix police officer arrested in road rage incident

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- A retired Phoenix police officer has been arrested, accused of pointing a gun at another motorist in an apparent road rage incident.

The motorist was driving with his wife and two children just after 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday. As he was headed north on Cotton Lane, he tried to pass a dump truck and two other vehicles ahead of him.

The retired officer, 54-year-old Frank Marin, was driving his pickup truck just ahead of him. He also tried to pass the dump truck, but he apparently did not see the motorist’s car.

The motorist told police he honked his horn and braked to avoid hitting the pickup, and both vehicles ended up stopped at the intersection.

According to the police report, when the motorist looked over at the pickup, Marin was pointing a Glock 27 handgun at him.

Police say the motorist rolled down his window and yelled, "Go ahead, shoot me!" Marin then reportedly lowered his gun, put his truck in reverse, but then collided with another car.

When officers arrived, Marin at first denied that he had a gun. But he couldn't explain how the victim knew he had a gun and what it looked like, according to court documents. Upon further questioning, Marin admitted having a weapon in his vehicle.

An officer searched the car and reportedly found the gun under the seat. It had a fully loaded magazine inserted and a round in the chamber.

According to the police report, Marin told an officer he had thought that the other driver was going to be aggressive toward him. At that time, Marin was taken into custody. He faces charges of endangerment, misconduct involving a weapon and threats and intimidation.

Marin has since been released on bond. He’s due back in court on Tuesday.

Marin is a retired is a retired Phoenix police officer and is currently a reserve police officer.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/former-phoenix-police-officer-arrested-in-apparent-road-rage-incident-181556061.html

Phoenix police name new liaisons to the city's LGBT community, and anti-anarchist/protest unit

The replacements for disgraced Red Squad officer Chris Wilson has been announced. The chairman of the LGBT advisory board, who works with the police in mediating community rage, said very plainly what the reform institutions purpose is: “When we recognize a problem, we address it professionally and not by burning down half of the city because you have one officer who decided to be stupid.” 

As if the problem with the police is the one bad apple hired. The attitude of the police and those who justify their existence is extreme paranoia, even when hyperbolic. When was the last time anything was burned down because of the police in this city? How silly that this non-example is trotted out to justify the police presence in a community that routinely is subjected to homophobia/transphobia from police and has every reason to oppose police.

An older photo of the Phoenix PD's Red Squad, photo from prison abolitionist

  Top Row
Lt. Bryan Coley, Det. Rick Tamburo, Det. Dottie Conroy, Det. Al Ramirez, Det. Rick Flum, Det. Tony Davis

Bottom Row
Det. Jeff Wood, Sgt. Mark Schweikert, Det. Jerry Oliver, Det. Chris Wilson, Det. Chris Abril

 From the AZ Repulsive:

Two detectives recently took on roles as the Phoenix Police Department’s liaisons to the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Police Chief Daniel V. Garcia’s announcement in October came three months after the arrest of the previous liaison, Detective Christopher J. Wilson, on suspicion of sexual misconduct with two teenage boys.

Wilson, who handed in his badge immediately after his August arrest, met one of the boys through his duties with the LGBT community, according to court documents. Wilson sits in jail and faces an initial pretrial conference Nov.27.

Last week, the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, which oversees peace-officer training, conduct and certification, accepted Wilson’s voluntary relinquishment of his state certification without discussion.

On Oct.31, Garcia introduced Detectives Julie Smith and Dottie Conroy at department headquarters to representatives from various community groups, including the Phoenix Police LGBT Citizen Advisory Board.

Conroy, a 17-year veteran, said that as an openly gay woman, it’s an opportunity “to deal with the community that I love.”

Smith, who is heterosexual, said since joining the department nine years ago, she had always wanted to work with the various communities in Phoenix. The Phoenix native said she looks forward to her new assignment because “it is so diverse and so wonderful.”

In 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimated 6.4percent of Phoenix’s population identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. That’s about 63,222 people.

Garcia, who became chief in May, will assign two detectives to each of the department’s eight community advisory boards for minority groups, which include Muslims, Sikhs, Hispanics and African-Americans.

The move will enable the department to do more outreach, said Gerald Richard, assistant to the police chief.

Richard said community advisory boards foster dialog and build relationships between the department and minority groups to handle issues before they erupt into turmoil.

Don Hamill, a community activist who has served as a board member of Phoenix Pride, told Garcia officers still need more education.

“There is a problem in your force, and it affects everybody in this room,” Hamill said.

Hamill said he recently overheard uniformed officers use the words, “‘the gays,’ because they’ve been told not to use the ‘F’ word.”

“It’s wrong,” Hamill said. “I was shocked to hear it. I pay their salary (and) pension.”

He told the chief that there should be zero tolerance for inappropriate language, and officers should use no other adjective than citizen in talking about groups of people.

“I agree with you 100 percent,” Garcia said. “We are not at Shangri-La yet.”

Patrick Kelley, who co-chairs the LGBT Citizen Advisory Board, also commended the selection of Conroy and Smith.

Kelley said advisory groups help bring understanding between the community and police. He said about a year ago, a Phoenix police officer stopped a man dressed in drag going to a fundraising event and asked, “Why are you dressed like a freak?”

Kelley said the issue was brought up at an advisory-board meeting.

He said officers at the precinct where the incident took place received cultural-sensitivity training.

“When we recognize a problem, we address it professionally and not by burning down half of the city because you have one officer who decided to be stupid.”

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/20121030phoenix-police-liaisons-lgbt.html

Phoenix Red Squad officer arrested for sex misconduct with teens

An officer assigned to the Phoenix PD's community relations division (aka The Red Squad) known for their political harassment of anarchist, anti-authoritarian, anti-cop, and Occupy Phoenix groups has been busted for sexual misconduct.  While the media makes a fuss over the charges that ended his career, his violent and abusive actions towards the valley's political rabble rousers remain unquestioned, as many more officers will fill the void left by Chris Wilson's abrupt retirement and arrest to continue the city's work of managing and attacking the space of social movements.  The above video shows officer Wilson in action, tackling a single protester who was giving senator John McCain a hard time a few years back.

A Phoenix police officer was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of sexual misconduct with two teenage boys, authorities announced Wednesday.

Officer Christopher J. Wilson, 43, was accused of 10 counts of sexual assault with a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old, said Phoenix Police Chief Daniel Garcia said at a press conference.

The 14-year-old informed his parents about the incidents. The parents called police Tuesday afternoon and detectives immediately sought more information, Garcia said.

The investigation began Tuesday afternoon and concluded at 8:15 p.m. with the 13-year veteran's arrest. He immediately resigned to escape termination, Garcia said.

Wilson admitted his involvement and charges imply that the actions were consensual, though law enforcement does not support the illegal engagements Wilson participated in, Garcia said.

"I'm extremely disturbed and disgusted by this conduct," Garcia said.

The sexual encounters occurred at several private locations, including Wilson's home, Garcia said.
Detectives found that Wilson had met the boys through community engagements that were undefined, Garcia said.

Garcia said he wants the community to know this is a transparent investigation.

Officials encourage anyone with additional information on this event or if there are other victims, to contact police, Garcia said.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2012/08/08/20120808phoenix-officer-arrested-sex-misconduct-teens.html

Hundreds of Arizona cops retire under scrutiny

Hundreds of officers across the Valley have handed in their badge - rather than face discipline.

CBS 5 Investigates found that in many cases, they took a full pension and benefits with them - seemingly retiring their troubles away.

"I served 23 years with absolutely no discipline," said former Phoenix Police Officer Philip Shores.

Shores is correct. Even though an internal audit found he mishandled nearly 80 percent of his child sex crime cases, he was never disciplined. Instead, he retired with a full pension.

"I've had no contact with the police department since I retired," Shores told CBS 5 News during an interview last week.

Shores is not alone.

"It's absolutely frustrating," said Chief Phoenix Police Chief Daniel Garcia.

He spoke candidly about the issue.

"We're in an atmosphere where we have to show transparency to our community and show accountability to our community," Garcia said.

The controversial practice of retiring to escape punishment extends across the state.

Take Goodyear Police Chief Mark Brown and commander Ralph McLaughlin - both were accused of covering up a hit-and-run that killed 18-year-old Jered Pendleton from Avondale. Both retired.

Lt. Col. Jack Hegerty with Arizona's Department of Public Safety accepted Arizona Diamondback tickets from an agency DPS regulates. Rather than face two days suspension for the conflict of interest violation, he retired.

This summer, Phoenix police Sgt. Arnold David got caught on surveillance allegedly pocketing several thousand dollars during a robbery call. He too, retired.

"I think the guy ought to go to prison," said Bill Louis, former Phoenix police assistant chief and IA investigator.

Louis spent years investigating officers that were accused of violating policies and even breaking the law.

These cases are not always a cut and dry situation.

State law requires that Arizona POST, which certifies police officers, be notified when an officer quits. And that officer can't get a another law enforcement job in-state - until the investigation is over. [Click here to read the Arizona POST report on all misconduct and criminal cases they've handled] 

Criminal cases have more clear-cut rules.

"We have pursued charges against an officer even after they quit," Louis said. "We've had goodness - we've had officers for bank robbery, for theft, for drugs, for stealing property - and they quit. And we still went after them criminally."

In the last decade, more than 1,700 police officers were investigated on criminal charges of: assault, drug use, sexual misconduct and the list goes on and on. Of those 1,700 officers, 617 lost their certification and will never be able to work as cops again in this state.

Even Chief Daniel Garcia said those criminal prosecutions are not good enough.

"We want to be able to hold our officers accountable from an administrative standpoint and criminal," Garcia said.

http://www.kpho.com/story/19193186/hundreds-of-arizona-cops-retire-under-scrutiny

Some Phoenix police officers upset with new chief's decision about uniforms

Boo-hoo...

PHOENIX -- Change is coming to the Phoenix Police Department, and some officers aren’t embracing it.

The change has to do with one of their uniforms.

The new Phoenix Police Chief Daniel Garcia is axing the polo shirts and cargo pants.
Starting this fall the utilitarian uniform is no longer allowed on the job.

“Emotions ran the gamut, from anger to disappointment to people saying why is this being done,” said Ken Crane, V.P. of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association or PLEA.

Crane disagrees with the chief's decision.

The top brass wants to cut down on officer impersonation.

Something the chief said has been a problem in the past.

“We kind of see that as frankly a bit as a straw-man argument. All of officers took a little offense to that,” said Crane.

Crane said all of the uniforms can be impersonated, even the traditional uniform preferred by the chief.

The chief wouldn't go on camera with 3TV, but a department spokesman did.

Sergeant Trent Crump said the department made it too easy for people to impersonate the uniform with the black cargo pants and black t-shirt.

Crump said the traditional uniform unites the department and the polyester blend look is easier for community members to identify.

“As you know Arizona is known for its hot summers and when you're out there pounding a beat for 10 hours in 110-115 heat, personal comfort becomes a big deal,” argued Crane.

Crump said Phoenix police officers have worn the traditional uniform for decades and most of the officers at the South precinct chose to wear the uniform daily.

“I can't say that's an argument that's going to change his (the chief’s) decision on this,” said Crump.
The utilitarian uniform has been around for 15 years.

Crane said the cargo pants and the polo top offer comfort on the job.

“We have guys that part of their job is to chase bad guys down alleys, jump fences, sometimes get in fights with suspects, that's probably a better uniform to do that in,” said Crane.

According to Crump, uniformity is meant to boost morale.

“They're saying the morale is already been kind of low and this puts it even lower,” argued Crane.

The new uniform policy goes into affect beginning this October.

Union leaders hope the chief will change his decision and sit down with them to discuss different options.
http://www.azfamily.com/news/Some-Phoenix-police-officers-upset-with-new-chiefs-decision-about-uniforms--163785986.html

Phoenix Police Officer Arrested for Multiple Sex Assaults, Released to Attorney

CHANDLER - A Phoenix Police officer has been accused of sexually assaulting three women in Chandler. He turned himself in and was interviewed on Tuesday.

Wednesday, Chandler police confirm that Ricardo Orosco was arrested. At first Chandler police say they interviewed that officer and let him go. Now they're saying they technically arrested him.

They fingerprinted him, took a mug shot, and released him to his attorney.

Phoenix Police Officer Rick Orosco has been accused of sexually assaulting three different women in Chandler within the last six months.

Chandler police say they arrested him but didn't take him to jail -- instead releasing him to his attorney.

A police spokesperson said: "The public is now aware of who he is and what he has been accused of and he is not a flight risk, there is not a need to book.”

Chandler police saying it's not uncommon for them to refrain from booking someone into jail when they know where to find them and they have been cooperative with investigators.

Phoenix police put Orosco on paid leave last Thursday.

Officials confirm that on Thursday they launched their own criminal and internal investigation into whether Orosco harassed or stalked a female employee working in the South Mountain Precinct – unrelated to the sexual assault allegations.

“Certainly it was serious enough that we put him on leave at his home, assigned to his home so certainly we’re not taking this allegation lightly,” says Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump.

Two years ago, Orosco was arrested after allegedly assaulting a girlfriend while off-duty. She told police he beat her after she refused to have sex with him.

The county attorney's office dropped the case, saying they didn't feel there was enough evidence to prosecute.

“There was a turn down, because of statements made by the victims that involved text messages where she stated she had lied about the allegations,” says County Attorney Bill Montgomery.

Orosco has been a Phoenix police officer for the past five years.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/investigative/police-officer-arrested-released-to-attorney-3-7-2012

Phoenix officers back at work after photo inquiry

Six Phoenix police officers who were suspended for allegedly including photos of corpses that could have come from crime scenes in a holiday PowerPoint presentation have all been cleared of any criminal conduct and have returned to work, according to a Police Department spokesman.

The internal investigation that will determine whether the officers will be punished for violating department policies remains ongoing, said spokesman Sgt. Trent Crump.

The four detectives and two supervisors formerly worked in the investigations division but were reassigned to patrol duties while the internal investigation continues.

Police administrators suspended the officers after learning of the presentation, which was displayed at a holiday party late last year and allegedly included photos from crime scenes.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2012/02/29/20120229phoenix-officers-back-work-after-photo-inquiry.html

Phoenix officer arrested, charged with assaulting wife and discharging firearm

A Phoenix police officer who is also a Marine Reservist and recently back from a combat tour in Afghanistan has been arrested on charges of assaulting his wife and discharging a firearm.

A Casa Grande police spokesman said that Armando Ramirez was arrested Saturday and booked into the Pinal County Jail on one count of aggravated assault/domestic violence, one count of disorderly conduct with a weapon and one count of unlawful discharge of a weapon.

No one was injured by the gunshot, the spokesman said.

A Phoenix police spokesman, Sgt. Trent Crump, said Tuesday that Ramirez, 37, is a five-year member of the force. He also said Ramirez had previously served 10 years in the Marines and since joining the Phoenix police has done a combat tour in Iraq and a recent seven-month stint in Afghanistan.

Crump said Ramirez had resumed duties in the South Mountain Precinct on Dec. 5.

Ramirez has been placed on paid administrative leave and assigned to his home by the Professional Standards Bureau until an investigation is completed, the spokesman added.

Crump said he had spoken on the telephone with Ramirez.

"He said to me that he loves his family very much and is going to do everything possible to make this right,'' he said.

Crump said that "appropriate action'' will be taken by the Police Department, "when the facts of the case are known and have been reviewed.''

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/12/13/20111213phoenix-officer-accused-domestic-violence.html

Phoenix ex-officer Contreras sees fraud charges renewed

A one-time Phoenix police officer has been indicted for the second time in a year on fraud and racketeering charges.

A Maricopa County grand jury indicted former patrolman George Contreras on three counts of fraud and illegal control of an enterprise after investigators presented evidence suggesting Contreras and his employees were paid for hours of off-duty security work that they did not perform.

Contreras was originally indicted with three other Phoenix officers in 2010 on similar charges, but the case was sent back to a grand jury in July after a judge determined that testimony presented to the grand jury could have violated the officers' due-process rights.

Contreras was the only officer to be reindicted. Prosecutors dismissed charges against his former co-defendants, Steven Paul Peck, Benjamin Hugh Sywarungsymun and Aaron Lentz.

The new indictment alleges that Contreras committed fraud and operated an illegal enterprise by receiving payment from condominium complexes for security work that Contreras and his employees never performed.

Contreras' attorney, Cary Lackey, said that any wrongdoing on the part of his client was an oversight and that Contreras was the victim of a "witch hunt" orchestrated by Phoenix police administrators who disliked the former patrolman.

The new indictment handed up last week eliminates four theft counts that targeted the other three officers. Their charges were dismissed on Friday.

Lackey said state prosecutors cut deals with the other three officers in exchange for testimony against Contreras, but he said he was not concerned about what their testimony might reveal.

"There was really not a whole lot they could say that was that damaging anyway," Lackey said. "I don't hold it against them or any of their attorneys for what they did."

The case centers on whether Contreras and employees of his company, Raptor Services, performed security work they were paid for from 2005 through 2007 at a townhouse complex near 48th Street and Broadway Road.

The criminal case grew out of a three-year police administrative investigation that reviewed the work of nearly 30 officers, including 15 from the South Mountain Precinct where Contreras worked.

A spokeswoman for Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said the Phoenix Police Department will use administrative investigations to handle any remaining issues with the three officers whose charges were dismissed.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Karen O'Connor's July order sending the case back to a grand jury included instructions that state prosecutors had to tell the jurors a number of facts:

That there were no written agreements in place between the officers and the homeowners associations.

That none of the HOAs involved had documentation showing any financial loss.

That Contreras' business did not coordinate payments to the officers that came directly from the HOAs.

Lackey said the absence of Police Department guidelines prohibiting Contreras' business and the lack of any victims from the townhouses will continue to play a role in his defense, in addition to ensuring that prosecutors heed O'Connor's instructions about grand-jury testimony.

"I plan to go over that (grand jury) transcript with a fine-tooth comb and hold the state's feet to the fire," Lackey said. "We have an attorney general willing to sign off on this investigation on a 5-year-old overbilling of a condo complex when they can't even get their victims straight. There was no intent. They have to prove he intentionally or knowingly stole something from somebody."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/11/22/20111122phoenix-ex-officer-contreras-sees-fraud-charges-renewed.html

Family sues Phoenix over unarmed man's killing by police

PHOENIX - The mother of a 29-year-old Phoenix man who was unarmed when he was fatally shot is suing the city and the police officer who killed him.

The lawsuit against the city of Phoenix and Officer Richard Chrisman was filed on Aug. 31 in Maricopa County Superior Court. It seeks unspecified damages but KNXV reported that Elvira Fernandez originally sought $29 million in a notice of claim.

Chrisman has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault and animal cruelty. His trial set to begin in November.

On Oct. 5 last year, court records say that Chrisman pulled his pistol, put it against 29-year-old Danny Frank Rodriguez's head and told him he didn't need a warrant when Rodriguez ordered him out of his house.

Chrisman then shocked Rodriguez with a stun gun, fatally shot his pit bull and then fatally shot Rodriguez.

http://ktar.com/category/local-news-articles/20110906/Family-sues-Phoenix-over-unarmed-man%27s-killing/

Phoenix officer held in prostitution case

A Phoenix police officer was arrested in El Paso last week on suspicion of soliciting prostitution, officials said.
Sheldon Czegledi, 47, identified by the Phoenix Police Department as a Central City Precinct patrol officer, was arrested Friday night, El Paso County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Christina Acosta said.

Officials said Czegledi was arrested as part of a sting by sheriff's detectives in which a female deputy was working as "a decoy female prostitute."

In a Sheriff's Office report on the incident, Czegledi was alleged to have driven up to the female deputy standing on the street in front of a hotel parking lot and solicited her for "sexual intercourse for a fee of $45."

The report says Czegledi then gave the decoy officer "$5 for a deposit and stated he would return."
Shortly thereafter, deputies stopped Czegledi's car and he was arrested.

Czegledi was booked into a Sheriff's Office jail.

The report said the conversation between Czegledi and the female deputy was recorded.

Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Steve Martos said that once the Phoenix department receives an official report from El Paso, "We expect to conduct an administrative investigation into the matter."

Martos would not speculate on what sort of professional penalty an officer arrested and convicted of soliciting prostitution might receive but said it was not automatically a firing offense.

Martos said Czegledi was a 14-year veteran of the Phoenix force.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2011/08/30/20110830phoenix-officer-held-prostitution-case.html

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon's Son, Police Officer Jeff Gordon, Receives Four-Day Suspension for Sexual Acts Performed On-Duty, in Uniform

Phoenix Police Officer Jeff Gordon, son of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, received a four-day suspension after an internal affairs investigation revealed the junior Gordon was giving and getting oral sex and engaging in other sexual acts on several occasions in 2007 and 2010, while on duty.

Gordon admitted to some incidents, but there are other allegations that remain unresolved, according to police reports.

Among them are that on December 1, 2010, he had non-consensual sexual contact with a city employee. The allegation is that he slipped his hands under the blouse of a Phoenix employee and actually touched her breasts as he was giving her a massage -- while he was on-duty, and also sent her two pornographic video texts.

Gordon told investigators that he and the female employee were talking about how stressed out she was, and he started giving her a massage. He admitted that his hands moved from her neck and shoulders to her "upper chest" around her "clavicles" because "he believes it feels good when done to him and would serve as a good de-stressor."

He denied grabbing her breasts, but he did tell detectives twice that he "possibly" might have touched the tops of her breasts while he was massaging her.

The female employee told a different version:

"And all of a sudden (Officer Gordon) just went down with his hands, uh, under my blouse and into the bra. And I said, 'Hey, hey, hey.' I said, 'Watch it there.'"

She told detectives that he immediately withdrew his hands and asked her, 'What am I watching?' as he pulled the neckline of her shirt away from her chest as if he was looking down her shirt.

After the incident, he called her and asked her if they were okay, and the woman told cops that he asked if she was going to report him and "mentioned not saying anything to his wife."

Jeff Gordon got married in September 2010, three months before the massaging incident.

Prior to that incident, in January 2010, Gordon had sent the employee two pornographic video texts. When he was questioned, he said that if he did send them, it was an accident.

He told investigators that "he may have intended to send the texts to a friend immediately above or below" the woman's contact information in his cell phone.

While cops were investigating the incident with the city employee, they came across information that indicated Gordon was also engaging in sexual activity in 2007 or 2008 with women who worked at an apartment complex on his beat.

He French-kissed one employee during that time in the rental office at the apartment complex while both were on-duty.

Gordon admitted to kissing her while he was on the job and in uniform, but said it only happen twice.

And, in what appears to be a third incident, Gordon was performing oral sex on another woman inside one of the apartment complex models, also while he was on-duty.

She also performed oral sex on Gordon, and even displayed a picture he sent her of his penis on her office computer at the apartment complex.

While that employee denied doing anything more than hugging Gordon, he admitted to investigators that the two "fooled around."

"He described the encounter as oral sex that he and [the woman] performed on each other while on-duty in a vacant apartment. Gordon said he touched her breasts, and made direct contact, by hand, with each others genitalia," according to the investigative report.

Gordon said he did send her a picture of his penis, but said he sent it to her personal e-mail account. He also said he took -- and sent -- the picture while he was off-duty. He couldn't remember if sending the photo of his business was his idea or the apartment employee's idea.

In another incident, while he was on-duty, he and the second apartment complex employee were French-kissing and touching each others dirty bits inside a complex office.

Gordon met these women when he responded to a call for service at the apartment complex.

Another allegation that remains unresolved is that Gordon used the police department's computer database on two occassions in 2007 to get information about one of the women he was sexing while at work.

He says he did access her personal information, but only because she asked him to.

Gordon, who has been with the Phoenix Police Department for six years and is assigned to the Estrella Mountain Precinct, will serve his suspension from September 27 to September 30. He has 14 days to appeal his discipline.

Gordon was placed on paid administrative leave in January after allegations against him surfaced.

Phoenix police officials started investigating the junior Gordon in late December or early January. The investigation was delayed after Jeff Gordon -- who was installing hardwood floors at his home while on leave in April -- accidentally severed some of his fingers with a saw.

Sergeant Tommy Thompson, a police spokesman, said that Gordon's discipline was determined by a seven-member panel that includes members of the public, police officers, police commanders and an assistant police chief.

Read the full Internal Investigation
Read the summarized Notice of Finding

Phoenix police apply for grant to buy on-officer video cameras

While the social and economic aid programs are defunded or shut down one by one, the Phoenix PD drop half a mil on control technology

Phoenix police officials have applied for a $500,000 grant that would allow them to buy on-officer video cameras for as many as 50 officers.

Officials expect to hear by early September whether they will receive the money through a partnership with Arizona State University and the U.S. Department of Justice called the Smart Policing Initiative grant.

Earlier this year, Phoenix officers tested the system, in which small video cameras are attached to an officer's uniform. The pilot program was conducted for free, with 18 officers split between the Cactus Park and South Mountain precincts.

"Talk about increasing transparency," Phoenix police Lt. Mike Kurtenbach said. "You don't get much more transparent than video."

The three-month trial that ended in June resulted in 860 hours of video. From that, footage is being used as court evidence in 62 cases, Kurtenbach said. Those cases are still working their way through the system. Attorneys have told Kurtenbach that having video footage is a powerful piece of evidence, he said.

The camera is worn like a Bluetooth device, around the head and over the ear. The officer controls when it is turned on and off through a remote control on his or her chest. A video monitor is attached to the belt.

"A unique feature is that once activated, an officer can't delete or edit the footage," Kurtenbach said. "So we have it all."

Arizona law requires that only one person be aware that they are being recorded, but officers answered questions when asked if they were recording.

"Some citizens keyed in on it right away and asked if the officer was wearing a camera," Kurtenbach said.

There were instances when the cameras were turned off: for example, during interviews with children or during bathroom breaks.

Phoenix police tested Scottsdale-based Taser International's Axon cameras, but there are other companies who sell similar versions.

The grant doesn't specify what brand of cameras would be purchased, but an Axon camera costs about $1,700, plus an annual $1,200 each to store the footage. The federal Smart Policing grant requires police agencies to enlist a research partner - in Phoenix's case, it's ASU - to collect and analyze the data and measure the effectiveness of their efforts.

The on-officer video-camera pilot program was one of 34 Phoenix-wide recommendations developed by a city task force in January to improve relations between the Police Department and community. Kurtenbach was a member of the task force.

The City Manager's Community Engagement and Outreach Task Force was established in April 2010 after several police incidents angered residents, including a March 2010 incident in which City Councilman Michael Johnson, who is African-American, was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed by a White officer.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/2011/08/07/20110807phoenix-police-video-cameras.html

Judge tosses case against 4 Phoenix police officers

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Karen O'Connor ruled this week that the due-process rights of four Phoenix police officers may have been violated by a biased grand-jury presentation that resulted in their indictments in a case involving off-duty work assignments.

In documents released Friday, O'Connor explained why she tossed out the case against the four officers.

The indictments obtained by the Arizona Attorney General's Office stemmed from an investigation by the Phoenix Police Department of allegations that some officers did not work off-duty hours they claimed to have worked and for which they were paid. Charges included theft and fraud.

The officers were accused of "submitting hours prior to the scheduled shift and then only working a portion of the hours," according to investigative records.

One officer left the force, but the other three were placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of their case.

In tossing the case, the judge said in a court document released Friday: "The defendants are entitled to due process. Due process requires a fair and impartial grand-jury presentation. This was not done here."

The document lists several missteps the prosecution made in its presentation to the grand jury, including prosecutors' failure to reveal that there is no Police Department policy or requirement for off-duty service agreements to be in writing.

Also, the court document says, the department has no policy requiring the defendants to document their hours on the days they actually worked, and there is no policy requiring the start and stop time to begin and end on the work site.

"The judge has granted the defendants' motion to vacate all future court dates," said Phoenix attorney Craig Mehrens, who represents one officer. "There are no pending court dates. Now it remains for Arizona Attorney General's Office to return the case to the grand jury if they so desire, or drop it."

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said Friday that his staff had not yet digested O'Connor's ruling, but he expected that a decision would be made by Tuesday on whether to take the case back to the grand jury or to drop it.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2011/07/30/20110730phoenix-police-case-tossed.html

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Faces New Lawsuits Over Last Year's Arrest of Demonstrators at Jail; One Protester Claims He was Beaten by Guards

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is being sued again -- this time by four immigration activists arrested last summer during a protest at the 4th Avenue Jail.

Two of the plaintiffs are lawyers who acted as legal observers during the protest; one demonstrator claims he was beaten by guards.

Their allegations stem from a July 29, 2010 demonstration near the "sally port" driveway entrance to the jail, where some activists chained themselves together to protest the state's hotly contested anti-illegal-immigrant law, SB1070, and the state's "climate of hate." Dozens of protesters were arrested by Phoenix police and sheriff's deputies, including local activists Salvador Reza and Alfredo Gutierrez.

Two of the lawsuits were filed in federal court and two in Superior Court.

Gustavo Ramirez, a California resident, claims he wasn't blocking the sally port entrance before being arrested and thrown headfirst on the concrete of an "isolated" part of the jail's garage. As one deputy pressed his head to the ground, according to Ramirez's lawsuit, others "made sport out of kicking him in the back, legs, abdomen and other parts of his body, including his hands."

Image: Stephen Lemons

The scene was tense on July 29, 2010, as police and anti-SB1070 protesters squared off near the 4th Avenue Jail.

​
Ramirez describes how he was traumatized and bruised by the alleged beating and 20 hours of incarceration, but it's unclear if he required medical treatment.

Audrey Williams, 57, of Santa Barbara, California, claims in her lawsuit that she was among those protesting SB 1070 at the jail when she was arrested. She says she was detained for 26 hours and denied the medication she uses to control the pain from her fibromyalgia and arthritis, resulting in extreme discomfort and humiliation.

The lawyers, Sunita Patel and Roxanna Orrell, claim they were supporting the protesters as clearly identified legal observers, but weren't themselves protesting.

Patel, an immigration activist and staff attorney for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, states in her federal complaint she'd been photographing and videotaping the protesters on the sally port entrance before her arrest.

She admits that she walked onto the driveway after jail staff warned that anyone doing so would be arrested, describing how she'd just intended to the names of protesters she felt were about to be hauled off. Though she'd moved back onto the sidewalk, deputies singled her out and arrested her, she states.

During her 15 hours in jail, Patel claims, deputies grilled her about her place of birth. She refused to answer their question, at first. A judge later ordered her to be released on her own recognizance, but jail staff told her she couldn't leave until they determined her immigration status, "at which she point she relented and responded to their questions," the lawsuit says.

In the fourth lawsuit, Roxanna Orrell notes that she's a licensed attorney in Texas and Minnesota, and says she was working as legal observer on July 29, 2010, photographing the demonstrators. Orrell states that she was careful to obey all of the orders given by deputies at the scene, but was arrested anyway as she stood on a public sidewalk near the jail's entrance. Besides abusing her civil rights with the arrest, the jail staff kept her detained too long and kept losing her paperwork, she claims.

All of the criminal charges levied against the four protesters, including failure to obey a police officer and obstructing a governmental operation, were later dismissed in court.

They're seeking punitive damages and other remedies for their troubles.

Taxpayers ought to hope the county's kept its insurance premiums paid.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/08/sheriff_joe_arpaio_faces_new_l.php#more

Phoenix Cop Jeff Gordon, Son of Mayor Phil Gordon, Faces Discipline for "Inappropriate Contact" While On Duty; Details Pending

The Phoenix Police Department's Professional Standards Bureau has completed an internal investigation into allegations that Phoenix Police Officer Jeff Gordon engaged in "inappropriate contact" while on duty.

But the reports detailing what got Gordon, who is the son of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, in trouble won't be available until early next week, a police spokesman tells New Times.

Police have not released details of who Gordon engaged in inappropriate contact with, or what discipline the cop faces.

The mayor's son, a six-year veteran of the PPD, was placed on paid administrative leave after allegations of "inappropriate contact" (read sexual activity) with someone while he was on duty.

Back in January, Mayor Gordon released this statement:

"As Mayor, I cannot comment on a pending Police Department personnel matter. I can comment as Jeff's father. I love my son very much. I've always been proud of his unblemished record and his 6 years service to our community. I have and will continue to support him through these allegations, as any dad would do for his son."

Phoenix police officials started investigating the junior Gordon in late December or early January. The investigation was delayed after Jeff Gordon -- who was installing hardwood floors at his home while on leave -- accidentally severed some of his fingers.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/07/jeff_gordon_a_phoenix_police_o.php

Mistaken Identity Leads to Police Beat Down of Phoenix Man, Complaint Alleges

A Phoenix man is suing the City of Phoenix, former Phoenix police Chief Jack Harris, and several others over a beating he says he received from two Phoenix police officers who initially mistook him for a drug dealer they'd previously arrested.

According to the suit, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday, Phoenix resident Terry Daniels was riding his bike north on 11th Avenue approaching West Grand Street about 9:30 p.m. on July 1 of last year.

Two Phoenix police officers, Corey Shibata and Jason Hamernick, were driving down 11th Avenue when they noticed Daniels.

The two officers mistook Daniels for Todd Richardson Sr., a suspected drug dealer the two had arrested the previous year.

The officers stopped to talk with the man they thought was Richardson, realized it wasn't him, and that's where things get a little confusing.

In a police report the officers filed after arresting Daniels, they claim that when they confronted him, his arms were "shaking uncontrollably" and they suspected he was having a drug overdose.

When the officers exited their cruiser to talk with Daniels, they say he pulled a six-inch knife out of his pocket. The officers pulled their guns as the knife-wielding Daniels tried to hide a telephone pole, the officers wrote in their report.

After a brief standoff, the officers note that Daniels dropped the knife and went to his knees. When Hammernick kicked the knife away, the officers say Daniels got up and tried to run.

He was tackled by the cops and roughed up a little bit -- the officers note four to six "knee strikes" to Daniels's upper thigh by Hammernick, while Shibata delivered an additional six to eight "knee strikes."

However, a witness to the beating gives a much different account.

Richard Pinkney watched the beating as he was waiting for a bus at the corner of Grand Street and 11th Avenue. He signed a statement stating the following:

"The officers approached the black man [Daniels] from behind near the center of 11th Avenue, near the north curb line of Grant. The two officers began striking the black man while he was still standing. The black man went to the roadway and assumed a fetal position. The two officers continued striking him and kicking him. Though I could not see what, if anything, was in the hands of the officers, they appeared to be striking him with something other than their fists based on the movement of their arms.

In addition, they were striking him with their fists and kicking him. The officers then drug the black man to the northeast corner of l lth Avenue and Grant where they remained until emergency medical personnel arrived."

In his lawsuit, Daniels claims the officers covered up the details of the attack on Daniels and conspired to present a false description of events in order to evade responsibility for the attack.

Daniels' injuries don't exactly reflect a few "knee strikes" to the thigh, either.

Daniels was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage, a fracture to his left eye socket, six fractured ribs, fractures in his lower back, and bruises along his head, face, arrns, sides and stomach. His left eye was swollen shut.

Daniels is requesting a jury trial where he "respectfully prays" for general and specific damages in an amount to be proven at trial, punitive damages, and other relief the court deems appropriate.

See a copy of the complaint here.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/06/mistaken_identity_leads_to_pol.php

Paralyzed Man Beaten by Phoenix Cops After Officers Say He Ran From Police

A Phoenix man who claims Polio caused severe paralysis on one side of his body is suing the Phoenix Police Department because three officers severely beat him after they claimed he ran from authorities.

In a complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, Refugio Rodriquez says the officers' claim that he ran from police is impossible because of his paralysis.

"He walks with a cane," his attorney, Jimmy Borunda, tells New Times, "but they still beat him up pretty bad."

According to the complaint, Rodriquez was in a church parking lot when he was approached by the three officers.

"It was late at night, and they said they thought he was damaging the building," Borunda says.

When they approached him, Rodriguez claims the officers said "you better not run you fucking wetback." They then slammed him onto the concrete driveway "in a manner which obviously exceeded the minimal amount of force necessary to accomplish a lawful purpose and continued to brutally assault plaintiff Refugio in the driveway," the complaint states.

The officers then hit Rodriquez with a Taser and beat him "with their police-issued long flashlights."

Rodriquez was taken to the Maryvale Precinct, where he claims one of the officers asked him "what's the matter, you can't take an ass-whipping?"

Rodriguez was then taken to the Fourth Avenue Jail, where an intake nurse told him she was going to have him taken by ambulance to the hospital because of the severity of his injuries. However, Rodriquez claims, the nurse came back a few minutes later and told him "if she sent him to the hospital emergency, she was told she would lose her job."

After he was released on bail, Rodriquez was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where the emergency doctor told him "he could have died because a blood clot near his brain was beginning to develop,"

The problem with Rodriquez's lawsuit, his attorney points out, is that he already pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer, which will definitely be brought up should the case go to trial.

"He only pled to [assaulting an officer] so he could get out of jail," Borunda claims.

Rodriguez is seeking punitive damages and medical expenses for assault, battery, negligence, and civil rights violations. The city of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Maricopa County Correctional Health Services, and the three Phoenix police officers are all named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The Phoenix Police Department did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/05/complaint_paralyzed_man_beaten.php

Sergeant Sean Drenth Death Investigation: "Significant Evidence Someone Was at the Scene"

The Phoenix Police Department held a press conference this afternoon to discuss the findings of the soon-to-be-released report on the investigation into the death of Sergeant Sean Drenth, who was found shot to death near the State Capitol last October.

The report, as Phoenix police officials explain, offers a lot of questions, but few answers as to who shot Drenth -- and it's still unclear whether his death was a suicide or murder.

One thing, however, seems clear: Drenth wasn't the only person at the scene in the 29-minute window from when he got there to when his body was discovered by a State Capitol Police officer.

Detectives were able to track Drenth's movements for the two hours prior to when his body was discovered via-a GPS device in his squad car. According to Lieutenant Joe Knott, head of the P.P.D.'s homicide unit, Drenth was doing routine patrol in the areas between 7th Avenue to the I-17, and Buckeye Road and Jefferson Street during the two hours before his death.

About 10:26 p.m., Drenth's vehicle pulled into a parking lot near railroad tracks across from the state capitol. The spot is popular amongst cops who often park there to do paperwork. Drenth activated a computer device in his cruiser that indicates when he's stopped someone, which suggests he'd encountered someone near the parking lot.

About 30 minutes later, his body was discovered next to the open passenger door of his squad car with a shotgun wound under his chin and his shotgun resting on his chest as he lay on his back.

"The biggest question is the position of the shotgun," Knott says. He notes, it's very possible someone staged the crime scene and placed the shotgun on Drenth's dead body, so finding the gun on his chest isn't the smoking gun (pardon the pun) that he killed himself.

Adding to the mystery is that Drenth's service weapon was found on the other side of a fence on the west side of the parking lot where his body was found. Another of Drenth's weapons was found next to his body. One bullet had been fired in the direction of where the other gun was found.

If Drenth killed himself, it seems he made the scene as confusing as possible for investigators -- unless someone found his body in the 29 minutes between when he got to the parking lot and when his body was discovered and moved evidence around; a scenario police aren't ruling out.

"We have significant evidence to suggest someone was at the scene," Knott says. Finding out who that person was is the problem investigators continue to face.

Based on police interviews with friends and family, it doesn't seem as though Drenth was the kind of guy who wanted to kill himself.

"Absolutely nobody thinks Sean Drenth would have killed himself for any reason," Knott says of those close to the dead sergeant.

In his own opinion of whether Drenth was murdered or committed suicide, Knott doesn't know what to think.

"I started at 50/50 [in terms of whether it was murder or suicide]," he says. "Throughout the investigation, that's shifted in both directions...it's extremely frustrating."

Knott says we may never know exactly what happened to Drenth, but the case remains open and the department will continue to investigate.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/05/sergeant_sean_drenth_death_inv.php

Phoenix police officer investigated over shove captured on video

A 6½-year veteran of the Phoenix Police Department is the subject of a criminal and internal investigation after a video surfaced on YouTube that shows him roughly shoving a girl during a police call, authorities said.

The officer, Patrick Larrison, has been put on administrative leave pending the investigations, Phoenix police officials said in a press release.

Sgt. Trent Crump, a department spokesman, said the incident occurred in January but that it did not come to police attention until Tuesday night when a department employee spotted the video on the Internet and notified a police supervisor.

The incident purportedly involved the girl in an altercation with a woman in a parking lot. The woman, apparently a parent, and the girl are seen on the ground for some time; the girl managed to get free and was walking away when an officer responding to the scene approaches her from behind and knocks her off her feet.

She's seen lying on the ground motionless for a short while; the officer then handcuffs her and walks her back toward a police vehicle.

The incident reportedly occurred near Ombudsman Charter School near 40th Street and Thomas Road.

"The video at face value is of great concern to the Department and we are taking the matter very seriously," Crump wrote in the press release.

Authorities said that in addition to the criminal and internal probes, Larrison was immediately placed on administrative leave and the juvenile division of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office was notified.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/05/04/20110504phoenix-police-officer-youtube-shove-brk04-ON.html