The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to suspend Officer Oscar Vasquez without pay for the remainder of his term, which ends at the end of the year.

Vasquez, who is serving his second term as an elected constable representing the Westside 4th Precinct, said he was disappointed with the board's decision.

“It's not fair because they haven't heard the whole story,” Vazquez said.

Vázquez asked his superiors to postpone the decision until a future meeting in order to gather the records he needs to defend himself against charges that he failed to perform his job from April of last year to September when he was injured in a traffic accident. was.

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Asked if he was healthy enough to carry out his work, Vazquez said: “He is slowly recovering. More surgeries are scheduled for later this year.”

Vazquez said he was targeted by other officers over office politics and a dispute over the position of chief constable.

Officers are tasked with delivering legal documents such as eviction notices and orders of protection.

The dangers of this job were made clear in 2022 when Officer Deborah Martinez-Garibay was killed while delivering an eviction notice.

The commission's decision to suspend Vasquez comes after the state Constable Ethics, Standards and Training Commission told county commissioners in a December letter that Vasquez would not report to work from April to September 2023. This was done after notifying the.

Vazquez, 65, told the Ethics Commission in December 2023 that she had suffered “considerable pain and suffering” since the “seemingly minor accident” and that the resulting complications and need for surgery meant she was unable to work. He said it had become impossible. She said she tried to return to her duties under pressure from Detective Sergeant Eric Kruznalich, but “it became clear that further surgery was required.”

“These injuries have forced me to reduce my mobility, impacting my ability to get in and out of cars, navigate stairs and uneven terrain, and refrain from working in dangerous nighttime environments. ” Vazquez wrote. “Given my deteriorating health, I am unable to adequately protect myself if the situation requires.”

Vasquez told the Officers' Ethics Standards and Training Commission that he “remains focused on meeting the emergency requirements of my position to support the department as staffing issues worsen.” The committee urged Vazquez to resign in a December letter. The conclusion of the investigation regarding his failure to perform his duties.

This staffing issue was at the root of an ethics complaint filed by Krznarich in September 2023, in which Krznarich said Vazquez's caseload had been “distributed among other officers, increasing his already high caseload.” It's increasing,” he said.

Mr. Krznaric said Mr. Vasquez refused to provide documentation about his medical problems, but Mr. Vasquez did not immediately do so because he did not think it was necessary.

Since he was first elected in 2016, Vasquez has been the subject of numerous complaints investigated by the Officers Ethics, Standards and Training Commission.

In 2023, he received a warning for sending “unwanted and inappropriate images” to women via Facebook Messenger.

The board also asked him to resign in 2021 for failing to evict apartment residents “despite complaints to officers that the defendants were causing problems at the complex.” As a result of the incident, the Pima County Board of Supervisors suspended Vasquez for six months without pay.

He has previously urinated in public on a voter's trailer while serving a legal notice, destroyed a county vehicle by driving at excessive speed, and was charged with mandatory urination after colliding with a motorist following a traffic accident. He was reprimanded for not taking the required anger management class.

As a result of these incidents, county supervisors voted in September 2020 to suspend Vazquez for the remainder of his first term, but he was elected unopposed to a second term later that year.

Vázquez is suspended until the end of the year, but could return to office if re-elected this year. Although he has expressed his interest in the race and the deadline for filing his nomination petition is April 1, he told the Sentinel that he does not know whether he will run.

“We will consider our options,” Vazquez said.

Democrat Tracy Etheridge Nielsen, who rose to the position of police chief during her 28 years with the Pascua Yaqui Police Department, is also running. She said she was encouraged to run by law enforcement officials who were dissatisfied with Vasquez's performance.

“In my opinion, he needs to go,” Ethridge-Nielsen said. “He's really trying to destroy law enforcement and the entire profession of constables.”