A viral TikTok video of a state police officer. A small town police chief who drove drunk. And the Phoenix cop who kept the evidence in the closet.
These are just a few of the law enforcement misconduct currently under investigation by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission. The Board meets monthly and serves as an overseer of state law enforcement agencies.
AZPOST has reviewed 17 new cases in 2023, according to records obtained by Phoenix New Times. The incident provides a glimpse into the National Police Agency’s misconduct and internal investigations, which are often hidden from the public.
The Board may revoke or suspend a person’s ability to work with law enforcement in Arizona if it determines that an officer has violated AZPOST rules (for example, in the case of dishonesty or excessive force). But the cases heard by the commission only scratch the surface of law enforcement misconduct in the state.
Institutions should only report misconduct to AZPOST if an officer is terminated. As such, most allegations of misconduct that do not result in the dismissal of a police officer do not come to AZPOST’s attention. The rare exception is when misconduct makes headlines or the board receives an independent complaint.
Still, the board has a lot of lawsuits this year.
AZPOST recently met in Phoenix on March 15th. New board members have been put in place, including Attorney General Chris Mays, who took office in January, and Ryan Thornell. who was appointed Chief of Arizona’s Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Re-entry on Jan. 17.
TikTok and DUI
One new AZPOST investigation involved former Public Safety Trooper Justin Flores and his TikTok account.
In a case brief presented by AZPOST at its January 18 meeting, investigator Arlene Heckel showed clips of Flores’ account after the DPS received complaints about Flores’ social media use.
When the board reviewed his TikTok account, it found dozens of problematic videos, including one containing footage of a traffic stop that Flores said was staged. In another video, Flores claimed he became a cop because he was “going to beat some trooper shit one night,” but he decided to become a trooper instead.
Flores’ social media posts also led investigators to discover that he did not disclose his past arrests in Texas. Additionally, Flores posted a video about working as a commercial truck driver — a side job he didn’t tell his DPS, Heckel said.
AZPOST is currently considering what action to take against Flores’ law enforcement license. new times Flores could not be reached for comment.
However, most of the new cases under investigation by AZPOST involved excessive force or driving problems. So far in 2023, four centered around excessive force, two drunk driving and three other reckless driving incidents. Two of his additional cases involved domestic violence.
Other misconduct included allegations of fraud and an employee of the Tucson Airport Authority Police Department who had hundreds of dollars in counterfeit currency and 13 cell phones.
One of the DUIs (often one of the most common crimes that bring cops in before AZPOST) involved Keith Thompson, Miami Police Chief of Gila County. Thompson has been the small town police chief since 2019 and quietly resigned in October, about a month after the incident, after AZPOST suspended his law enforcement license for 12 months until October 2023. Did.
The commission also launched an investigation into Phoenix police officer David Rodriguez, who had failed to seize evidence and kept drugs and security camera footage in a bag in his home closet. is working as a detainee, investigators said.
Sergeant Phoenix Police spokesperson Brian Bower declined to speak about Rodriguez’s case and sent the question to AZPOST.
Tucson Police Department Robert Selewski detained two women while another filmed the 2021 incident.
Victim mobile video
Board reviews high-profile military use cases
AZPOST has refused to take action in two high-profile cases of the use of force.
In July 2021, two Avondale Police Department officers encountered a disorienting man, James Holland, wandering in the middle of the road near Van Buren Street and 110th Street. According to AZPOST’s investigation, when officers tried to detain Holland, he was tasted seven times by Officer Dulce Maeda.
Holland died at the scene. Investigators later found that he had methamphetamine in his system. Taser maker Axon explicitly warns against “repeated, continuous, simultaneous exposures.” in their safety documentsThe company also warns against deploying tasers to individuals who are in a state of psychosis or agitated delirium.
After Holland died His family’s attorney claimed he was “tasted and suffocated.”lawsuit against him Wrongful death settled for $2 millionAn internal investigation by Avondale Police concluded that Maeda had “violated Avondale Police Department policy,” but the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office refused to charge her with the crime. He received a half-term suspension.
It did not respond to inquiries from Mr. Maeda. New Times. In an internal interview, she said she was “concerned about her safety” at the time of the incident, according to AZPOST investigators.
The board has decided that no further action will be taken against Maeda or her police certification. She remains employed by the Avondale Police Department.
Mojave County Sheriff Doug Schuster, a board member of AZPOST, said in explaining his decision, “I think the officers involved were facing a very immediate threat.” We applaud the behavior, with the exception of policy violations, of course.”
The board also considered the bizarre case of a Tucson cop. I wrestled two women and knocked them to the ground in the parking lot.He was off duty at the time and one of his women According to AZPOST investigator Cathy Hawes, he was “bumped in the chest.”
Mobile phone video of the incident does not show the first meeting between Officer Robert Selevsky and the three women who confronted him about his reckless driving.But it shows Szelewski pining two women A third woman shouted at him and let her go. At the time, the women didn’t know he was an off-duty police officer.
The video sparked protests, and the Tucson Police Department suspended Szelewski for 20 hours.
