Monthly Archives: July 2014

Where did we go? We are gearing up for the next round.

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We’ve received a few emails asking why there have been a lack of posts fairly recently. We have not been “muzzled” or won-over by the promises of “change” by ASUPD’s new leadership. The fact of the matter is that everyone who was in Command Staff during the era of Pickens is equally to blame for the department’s problems. Continuously using Pickens as a scapegoat after his departure is cheap; the fact of the matter is, you all were there working under Pickens and you failed to even attempt to do “the right thing”. Why should any department member trust ANY of the previous members of Command Staff that the circumstances have changed?

We want to present more hard factual information about the situation at ASU beyond citing media stories, and unfortunately that takes time.

We’ve been fighting with ASU behind the scenes to receive several FOIA requests we put in months ago. Apparently, we’re not alone in this battle either; our media contacts have also experienced the same stonewalling from ASU. There is information which exists that is obviously damaging , so much so that the university is willing to risk legal action if they don’t comply with the FOIA requests.

The problems at ASUPD didn’t happen overnight, nor were the changes started by The Integrity Report. Anything that is worth having takes time and patience.

As always….stand by, folks.

 

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Under increasing public and media scrutiny, ASU starts waffling in the case of Officer Ferrin

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As Assistant Professor Ore’s case continues to make its way from the headlines to the courtroom, ASU Police Officer Stuart Ferrin’s actions are under further scrutiny by an FBI and another ASU investigation! ASU has stepped away from its original investigation which cleared Officer Ferrin of any wrongdoing in the arrest of Ursula Ore, and instead decided to submit to the media/public pressure calling for Ferrin’s termination.

On June 28, 2014, ASU officials originally released a statement to 3TV and other news outlets that said,

“ASU authorities have reviewed the circumstances surrounding the arrest and have found no evidence of inappropriate actions by the ASUPD officers involved. Should such evidence be discovered, an additional, thorough inquiry will be conducted and appropriate actions taken. “Because the underlying criminal charges are pending, there is not much more we can say at this time. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has reviewed all available evidence, including the police report, witness statements, and audio and video recordings of the incident, and decided to press criminal charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, refusing to provide identification when requested to do so by an officer, and obstructing a highway or public thoroughfare.”

In response to the increasing media coverage and controversy over of the incident, ASUPD released a secondary statement to the Huffington Post one day after the original statement:

“The ASU Police Department is enlisting an outside law-enforcement agency to conduct an independent review on whether excessive force was used and if there was any racial motivation by the officers involved.

In addition, although no university protocols were violated, university police are conducting a review of whether the officer involved could have avoided the confrontation that ensued.

According to the police report, ASU Police initially spoke to Assistant Professor Ore because officers patrolling the area nearly hit her with their police vehicle as they turned the vehicle onto College Avenue to investigate a disabled vehicle.  Officer Stewart Ferrin had no intention of citing or arresting Ore, but for her safety, told her to walk on the sidewalk.  When Ore refused to comply and refused to provide identification after she was asked for it multiple times, she was subsequently arrested.”

Only AFTER ASU received a slew of negative media coverage (and AFTER ASUPD cleared Officer Ferrin) did the university place him on administrative leave, and subsequently initiate a SECOND investigation (based on no violations of law or policy).

 Following the carefully camouflaged terminations of Chief John Pickens and Assistant Chief James Hardina, Assistant Chief Michael Thompson assumed command as interim Chief of ASU Police. He issued a customary introduction letter via email and stated, “As you know there is an ongoing investigation into the contact between Officer Ferrin and Professor Ore. Therefore, I cannot go into detail about the incident beyond the following: No decision has been made within our department, or Arizona State University executive administration, with respect to the outcome of that incident. Once the investigation(s) are concluded, I expect those documents will be forwarded adjudicated based on all of the available facts.”

ASUPD interim positions during meltdown

How can Thompson state that no decision has been made within the department? What about the decision that was already made which cleared Officer Ferrin of any wrongdoing? Where is Officer Ferrin’s voice in this entire discussion?

Professor Ore has been allowed to publicly defend herself and speak freely to the media, but Officer Ferrin–under order from the university– hasn’t been able to speak and defend his actions. This scenario perfectly illustrates the notion that ASU has very different rules for its employees depending on where they fall in the administrative food chain.

Retired Mesa police officer Bill Richardson decided to be Officer Ferrin’s “voice” in a recent article published in the East Valley Tribune. We wanted to repost this article in its entirety because it sheds light on a very one-sided media issue.

Reposted here in its entirety:

Who is Arizona State University Police Officer Stewart Ferrin, the officer who has been accused of abusing ASU Professor Ersula Ore?

On May 20, 2014, Officer Ferrin arrested ASU Professor Ore on multiple charges, including felony assault on a police officer, following her being stopped for walking down the middle of the road. Ore initially pled innocence and self-defense to the public and national media, but has now pled guilty to resisting arrest and faces up to six-months in the Maricopa County Jail’s “Tent City.”

ASU Police reportedly investigated Ferrin’s conduct following the arrest and no misconduct was found. Even with Ore’s guilty plea and ASU officials clearing Ferrin of any misconduct, as soon as Ore’s publicity machine took her plea of being abused nationwide, Ferrin became the target of another investigation and a request by university officials to have the FBI investigate Ferrin for civil rights violations.

In an email to ASU faculty, University Provost Rob Page praised Ore and pointed a veiled finger in Ferrin’s direction. For a man who is a trained scientist and “charged with the stewardship of Arizona State University,” you’d have thought his bias would’ve been kept in check and he’d have at least waited for the results of the FBI investigation before taking sides.

Talk about getting thrown under the bus.

ASU has yet to publicly announce if it is even going to investigate Ore’s criminal conduct and her reported alleged obscenity laced threats against the officer. I won’t hold my breath waiting.

The portrayal of Ore as the victim and Ferrin as a thug has been well orchestrated. No one has talked about Ferrin as a person.

The following information was obtained from those who know and work with him. Ferrin has been ordered to sit at home and been “gagged” by university officials from speaking for himself.

Ferrin grew up wanting to be a cop like his dad. At 12 he had his own lawn mowing business. He spent 10 years as a Boy Scout and earned the Eagle Scout Award. His Eagle Scout project was organizing and gathering together 50 volunteers to attack Tempe’s serious graffiti problem in a gang-ridden neighborhood. During his ten-years in the Scouts he also served four-years with the Mesa Police Explorers where he was presented with the Prudential Spirit of Service Award for his dedication and volunteerism.

In high school he worked at a local bank in an internship program. After high school he used his own savings to pay part of the costs for his Church of Latter-day Saints mission. He served two-years in Chile where he not only held a leadership position among his fellow missionaries, he was called upon to work with the U. S. Air Force as a translator in the massive 8.8 earthquake relief efforts in 2010.

Following his mission he worked full-time and volunteered at the Tempe Police Department where he was again recognized for his service and presented the Presidential Service Award.

He was hired by ASU Police in 2011 to work in communications. Six-months later after passing a series of examinations including a psychological evaluation, polygraph test and background investigation he was selected to attend the police academy. He attended the same five-month police academy officers from throughout the valley attend, including Tempe officers. He then completed an equally long field-training program before being assigned to patrol duties. Because of his Spanish speaking and cultural skills his fellow ASU officers and Tempe police called upon him often to assist in translations and investigations.

Since joining the ASU PD his volunteerism has continued with the W. Steven Martin Toy Drive at Christmas and the annual Scottsdale Police Department’s “Shop with a Cop” program. He has a wife, a child and a baby on the way.

Years of caring and service aren’t the character traits of a badge heavy police officer that abuses someone during an arrest.

The portrayal of Ferrin as a thug and out of control rogue cop is far cry from who he really is and his lengthy record of service and compassion as a Boy Scout, LDS Missionary, Tempe police volunteer, dedicated ASU police officer, husband and father.

I’d rather have Officer Ferrin responding to help my child who attends ASU than having her in a class with professor Ore.

 

Professor Ore has been afforded the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise, so why is ASU still waffling over whether or not Officer Ferrin is also afforded that right? Are our rights as police officers and also private citizens also subject to the aforementioned waffling?

 

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The media is reading the Integrity Report and they want YOUR stories!!

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The past few days at ASUPD have been very hectic; the administrative melt-down we’ve all been hoping for has finally happened at ASUPD (and it may be a sign of the times for the department).

On Thursday, we were the first to report that Chief John Pickens and Assistant Chief Jim Hardina were abruptly removed from their positions within the department. According to witnesses, both employees were given boxes and seen pushing carts full of their belongings out the door to their vehicles. The Phoenix New Times Valley Fever blog quickly picked up on our story, and cited us as a primary information source (see the story about Pickens here, and the follow up story about Pickens/Hardina here). New Times blogger Ray Stern contacted the university’s PR gurus (who confirmed the emails we posted were authentic) for a statement, and they were unable to provide a logical explanation for the abrupt nature of both Pickens’ and Hardina’s departures.

On a separate, but not totally unrelated note: another media source has contacted The Integrity Report in search of current and former ASUPD employees who are willing to share their stories. The source has stated that anyone wishing to share their ASUPD experiences CAN have their identities withheld! If you are interested in participating, send an email to:

firstamendmentftw@hushmail.com

We don’t need your name or your story; once we receive an email expressing interest, we will send you the contact information of the person with which you can share your story. We strongly encourage EVERY current and former ASUPD employee to speak up and allow their experiences to be shared with the WORLD! This is one more medium we can all collectively use to affect positive change and accountability at ASUPD.

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In this edition of ASUPD’s Hunger Games: Hardina and Pickens are immediately removed from their positions!

ASU Police chiefs fired

Everyday life at ASUPD has morphed from a job that somewhat resembled a watered-down version of  law enforcement to a real life version of The Hunger Games; if one can survive the work day in the presence of low morale and arbitrary enforcement of policies/law without going insane or killing/harming themselves or another employee, they will be safe until the following days reaping. Those that don’t make it to the end of the workday are thrown to the wolves (metaphorically, of course) and become another HR statistic on a piece of paper in Kevin Salcido’s office.

In today’s edition of ASUPD’s Hunger Games, the two employees that didn’t survive the workday today were Assistant Chief James Hardina, and Chief John Pickens.

This afternoon, ASU CFO Morgan Olsen sent the following email out to all ASUPD employees:

Chief out by Friday and Thompson is in

Hardena dont let the door hit your ass on the way out

The Assistant Chief (Thompson) over admin “ascends” to the position of acting Chief instead of the AC above patrol operations…odd. There is also no mention of Hardina vacating his position AT ALL in the above email; only after Hardina was seen packing up his desk and officially left the building was patrol notified about Hardina’s departure. We speculate that Hardina was forced out of his position by someone in the university, simply because Hardina doesn’t have another job waiting for him, nor is he remotely close to retirement.

The email also mentioned that Pickens will be vacating his position as Chief by this Friday, July 11th. This is a complete 180 from the email sent to all ASUPD employees barely a month ago, which stated that Pickens would remain in his position until his successor was hired. Pickens’ “leave” was probably forced upon him by the university who will most likely allow him to “retire” quietly, instead of rewarding his bad behavior with another cushy ASU job.

Someone at ASU finally wised up to the fact that the entire ASUPD Command staff was allowed to function relatively unchecked for decades. Command staff’s strategy of punishing those who speak out against them while allowing their “battle buddies” to do whatever they please FINALLY backfired; its hard to employ that tactic when your department is beyond critical staffing levels and the FBI/news media are sniffing around your dirty laundry.

Until the department has cleaned out “Chief” Thompson and  all of his Command staff, we expect to see ASUPD’s Hunger Games played out on a daily basis.

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AZCES raises relevant questions about ASUPD’s ability to train and investigate its officers

ASU Police Officer assaults prisoner

The Arizona Center for Ethnic Studies group raised some pretty interesting questions regarding ASUPD’s ability to train and investigate its officers. In the post, AZCES appeal to ASU’s administration with the following questions:

  • What policies and practices are in place at ASUPD regarding accountability for racial profiling and use of force?  How are complaints filed and investigated?  What is ASUPD’s record of complaints?  What kinds of training are in place to ensure police conduct that upholds the rights and dignity of all ASU community members?
  • What is the name of the outside law enforcement agency that will be reviewing this case?  What, specifically will they be reviewing?  What are the standards they will be using to evaluate officer conduct?  How many similar audits have they conducted in the past and what have been the outcomes of their investigations?

Although we strongly disagree with AZCES’s assertion that Officer Ferrin used force excessively and engaged in racial profiling, the points they raised are valid ones and are not just limited to the topics of use of force/racial profiling. AZCES’ blogpost has grazed the surface of the much larger issues raised on The Integrity Report involving training and supervision of ASUPD employees and transparency/fairness in internal affairs investigations

In any major investigation (such as the FBI’s probe of ASUPD), the actions of the individual involved is dissected, as well and the training and supervisor that the individual received. If the department acted negligently by not providing either adequate supervision or training, then the department (and also university) is also at fault. This could mean a litany of lawsuits against the university in circumstances where the arresting officer was trained by an FTO who wasn’t certified to be training, or supervised by an FTO or patrol Sergeant who wasn’t properly certified or trained to supervise others. Not only does this hold true for officers currently employed at ASUPD, but would also include officers who made arrests while employed at ASUPD that work for other departments or who have left LE completely.

Considering the amount of officers that have left ASUPD in the past 5-10 years, ASU could be facing a major class action lawsuit. 

Although this situation with Officer Ferrin is unfortunate (and again, we do believe he will be exonerated), it has brought a lot of attention and media scrutiny to a major problem that has been plaguing ASUPD for years. It will be interesting to watch the chain of events unfold in real-time.

Again…stand by, folks.

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The FBI is poking around at ASUPD!

…and the plot thickens.

Today an email was sent out to PD employees everyone that ASUPD has requested the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigate the allegations that Ursula Ore had her civil rights violated by Officer Ferrin. This is not surprising to any PD employee, because the issue of racially profiling was already brought up the Arizona Critical Ethnic Studies group, as well as the mainstream media.

Although Officer Ferrin was administratively cleared by ASUPD, he was crucified in the court of public opinion! Therefore, to remove themselves from any potential conflict of interest in the eyes of the public, ASUPD asked the FBI to investigate Ore’s arrest (which was a surprisingly smart move for ASUPD). However, what ASUPD does not realize is they also put an ENTIRE department’s actions under the microscope! This would include other officer’s arrests where force was used, the department’s IAs/”reviews” of other uses of force, as well as ANY allegations of biased policing against ANY officer at ASUPD.

We have previously mentioned several allegations of racially-charged comments and possible bias on behalf of Sgt. Mark Aston in a previous post (Aston was also mentioned at length in our post about ASUPD’s firearms training). Some of these situations were investigated  and “cleared” due to the fact the IA was conducted by a friend of Aston. Some other situations were never investigated and were subject to an “informal review” (thanks to a poster for mentioning specific dates and IA numbers)! These “informal reviews” allow the department to appear as though they are investigating a situation, but there is no paper trail available for an outside entity to FOIA–in other words, the “reviews” or “investigations” do not exist.

We have also mentioned allegations of excessive use of force by Corporal Luke Khalid against a student which was never initially investigated, then subject to an “informal review” months later. A FOIA request for this particular investigation was submitted to ASU’s General Council which turned up ZERO documentation or evidence of any IA.

We are more than confident Officer Ferrin will be cleared of any racial bias; he is an honest cop who has never engaged in any activity that could remotely be construed as racism or bias. We are also confident that the FBI’s investigation will turn up the true bad guys who routinely engage in illegal behavior at ASUPD.

Two birds, one stone.

The FBI investigates ASUPD

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