….and no, it wasn’t us; someone emailed us and brought the link to our attention. Out of respect for the officer (who actually didn’t do anything wrong), we won’t post the link. Looks like some angry ex-girlfriend decided to make a post to put the entire department on blast. Ouch!
The Integrity Report on the Arizona State University Police Department
a blog examining the gross mismanagement of the Arizona State University Police Department
Monthly Archives: November 2013
Firearms proficieny at ASUPD: why it’s a critical issue the Chief isn’t addressing.
One major issue we here at THR haven’t been able to address yet has been firearms proficiency; partially because of the sheer magnitude and depth of the issue, and partially due to the fact that so much of the problems with firearms training have been shrouded in so much secrecy.
There are laws/policies in place which very clearly state firearms qualification requirements.
Let’s do a quick recap of what ASUPD claims its standards are. According to ASUPD’s policy manual:
An Officer must:
- Qualify at scheduled range sessions.
- If the Officer fails on the first attempt, he or she will obtain immediate training from the Rangemaster, or designee, before making the second attempt.
A Rangemaster must, for any Officer who fails to qualify during the initial range session:
- Complete a memorandum and provide copies to the Officer, the Officer’s supervisor, and the Officer’s Commander.
- Indicate on the form that the first 30 days have been forfeited if this is the second required course during the calendar year on which the Officer has failed during the initial range session.
- Schedule remedial training of up to eight hours and a re-qualification shoot.
The Officer’s Commander:
- Reassign the Officer to an administrative position for up to 30 work days pending qualification.
- Inform the Officer that he or she is not to carry any firearm in a law enforcement capacity, is not eligible for overtime duty, and is not to perform any off-duty work in a law enforcement capacity for the duration of the administrative assignment.
Officer fails to qualify, and he or she has not previously failed in another course:
- Instruct the Officer to remain on administrative duty pending qualification for up to 60 work days from date of the original failure to qualify.
- Provide the Officer with a second remedial training session of up to eight hours and a qualification shoot.
If he or she has previously failed in another course that year or has failed to qualify again after the attempt as noted above:
- Forward a request for disciplinary action to the Chief of Police through the chain of command.
- The Chief of Police may impose suitable disciplinary action, most often termination for failure to maintain skills necessary to perform an essential job function.
- Probationary Officers will always be terminated for failure to qualify within the allotted time.
- Disciplinary actions other than termination will only be considered, if there are overwhelming mitigating circumstances affecting the failure to qualify.
First of all, WHY DO WE HAVE OFFICERS STRUGGLING TO QUALIFY WHEN WE HAVE 7+ RANGE “INSTRUCTORS”?! That’s about 10 officers to every ONE instructor (with such low numbers, the officer to instructor ratio is even lower). You’re such an “elite” bunch of instructors, so PROVE IT. Being a decent firearms instructor is measured by how many officers you can get to shoot well consistently, NOT how many AR-15s you have or how many classes you’ve taken, or how well you can shoot.
Secondly, there is a great disparity in how people are treated if they have problems qualifying. There are several people who consistently fail qualification and aren’t assigned to desk duty, but instead allowed to work patrol because of staffing problems (THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE!!! WHY IS THIS EVEN HAPPENING!?) Then are others who get put on admin leave and are threatened with the loss of their job while receiving virtually NO significant amount of training.
Thirdly, why is no one above the rank of Sergeant required to qualify in front of others at Gila River, but instead have their peers evaluate them at Tempe PD’s air conditioned range? This includes range instructors too! They are all miraculously expert shooters.
How can the Chief look at these issues and think this system has any sort of integrity, is safe, and seems to be working? When you have people consistently failing to qualify, maybe as a leader you should look at the systemic issue, instead of dismissing it on an individual level.
Maybe instill confidence in your officers through adequate training instead of holding their jobs over their heads every time they head to the range?! That would be a good place to start.
How ASU’s usage of comp time violates Federal labor law.
There’s been some discussion at ASUPD recently about the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and how it is applicable to law enforcement. We were doing some fact finding regarding a statement that mandatory firearms training is not considerable compensable time (ASUPD officers should be “grateful” they’re paid for training!), when we stumbled across some interesting info about compensatory time.
Compensatory—or comp time, as it is commonly referred to—is a way for a police department to pay its non-exempt employees for hours worked over 40 in a work week. For the purpose of this discussion, the FLSA considers “exempt” employees that make a minimum salary per year, among other requirements.[i],
Therefore, all of ASUPD’s line level officers and first tier supervisors would be considered “non-exempt”. According to the FLSA, under certain prescribed conditions, a State or local government agency may give compensatory time [to non-exempt employees], at a rate of not less than one and one-half hours for each overtime hour worked, in lieu of cash overtime compensation. Employees engaged in police and fire protection work may accrue up to 480 hours of compensatory time. An employee must be permitted to use compensatory time on the date requested unless doing so would “unduly disrupt” the operations of the agency[ii].
Last we checked, on a work week longer than 40 hours, ASUPD wasn’t paying out comp time at a rate of time and ½, and beyond that, we definitely didn’t have the ability to use it. The department itself is causing “the emergency that disrupts operations” by continuously allowing critical staffing shortages, so does that mean it is an acceptable reason to deny the usage of comp time? ASUPD command likes to utilize comp time like a carrot on the end of a stick; it looks appealing in theory, but in practice, it is elusive and creates low morale.
Halloween DUI Task Force…ASU doesn’t participate…again.
Tempe Police’s Halloween DUI task force to keep sharp eye on drinking, driving
Amid all the costume parties, bar hops and trick-or-treating Halloween has to offer, area police departments will be keeping a sharp eye on the public.
Tempe Police has strictly enforced out-of-control parties and alcohol-related crimes this year, with operations such as Safe and Sober at the beginning of the semester netting hundreds of arrests around Tempe for people driving under the influence.
This Halloween weekend will likely stay the course.
Tempe Police Public Information Officer Molly Enright said the department will be increasing patrol operations looking for DUIs and alcohol-related crimes.
“We have people celebrating, (and) we want them to come to Tempe and have a great time, but the statistics also demonstrate that impaired driving significantly rises during those times,” she said.
Enright said the department received a grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to increase the number of officers on the street and to bring in help from other departments around the Valley.
“Tempe Police is the lead agency, and we requested our partners to come in as we always do,” Enright said. “We’ll be multiagency … Mesa Police, Scottsdale Police and the (Department of Public Safety) will be assisting us.”
The department will have a command post set up at the Tempe Fire Training Facility on East University Drive from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. starting Thursday.
There, officers will take and process those arrested during the campaign, Enright said.
“Where we set up the command post is where we can do our processing,” she said. “It’s also a place for the officers to brief up prior to the task force starting.”
As with years past, Enright said the downtown area of Tempe is sure to be busy over the weekend.
“Typically there are about 10,000 people estimated to come down into the downtown area on Halloween,” she said.
Enright stressed that the operation is not just centered on the common hotspots of Tempe such as Mill Avenue but is a citywide effort.
“Our officers will be mobile. There will be officers in patrol vehicles, officers on bikes, mounted in the downtown area and then motor officers,” Enright said. “So you’ll see high visibility, especially in terms of the motorcycle officers as well as the patrol officers across the city.”
Enright said because this year’s Halloween falls on a Thursday, Tempe Police will continue DUI task force operations through Nov. 2.
“Any of the holidays which land on or around a weekend, the celebrations typically run through that weekend,” she said. “So Halloween being Thursday, people will be celebrating Thursday, Friday and Saturday as well.”
ASU Police will also be involved in increased patrols.
Assistant Police Chief Michael Thompson said the department will staff two additional officers on Halloween night, then on Friday and Saturday ASU officers will assist in Tempe Police’s party patrols.
“We’re increasing patrols,” Thompson said. “They will be out in the city of Tempe, around the University and assisting Tempe (Police).”
To help people stay safe, there are many different services available to students to help them avoid drinking and driving.
Metro Light Rail service will continue to run its normal schedule on Halloween.
Local taxi company Discount Cab also offers a free ride back program for people who have had too much to drink, spokeswoman Janelle Brannock said.
People can call the company for a ride home or to a friend’s house, the company gives them a redemption code and then the company will return them to their cars the next morning for free, she said.
“One of our Discount Cabs will drive you home safely, you pay for that ride,” Brannock said. “Then when you call to get your ride back to your car or wherever you left it. … You would give the dispatch number that code that was given to you, and you’d get the ride back to your car absolutely free.”
Enright said the DUI task force operation aims to keep the public safe during a time where there are enormous amounts of people walking around the streets of Tempe.
She said other ways to stay safe are to designate drivers, plan ahead and program taxi company numbers into cell phones ahead of time.
“A lot of families are trick-or-treating, people are excited (and) they’re out and about,” Enright said. “The main focus of this is for some additional resources … and we ask for pedestrians and bicyclists to watch out for cars.”
A few interesting points we’d like to make:
1. Notice how Tempe PD mentions how THEY have been enforcing alcohol crimes, NOT ASUPD.
2. Tempe PD is the lead agency in the DUI taskforce; Mesa, Scottsdale, and DPS are also participating. Noticeably absent? ASUPD.
3. ASUPD will staff an additional TWO officers, which still leaves them critically understaffed and unable to respond to other calls if something major happens.
4. ASU assigning officers to Tempe PD’s “party patrols” is nothing more than a façade; ASU wants the student and parent community to believe they’re proactively working “in partnership” with Tempe PD, when in reality, ASUPD is trying to take credit for work done by Tempe PD.