…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.
Ha ha YES! Long overdue, but good things take time.
Hopefully they do a propper investigation and dig beyond where our chief claims to have called them to investigate.
You bring up a lot of good points that deserve attention and it’s good to see the department finally get scrutiny, but in this case you have the wrong employee. Ferrin is a rookie officer, take a look at his supervisors all the way up the chain.
The Salcido types have given ASU police command a free pass for anything and putting the blame on employees. Maybe the FBI can see through this smoke screen.
The chief is lying out his ass again if he expects anyone to believe he invited the FBI to came to Arizona State University and investigate. Chief John Pickens couldn’t even be honest enough to admit he had nothing to do with the 3% state mandated raise we received a year ago. Instead he concocted a story about the department only getting 1.5% and he “fought” for the other 1.5% because he felt we needed more. He brought everyone in to his office to tell them this lie.
I’m sick of the contempt for integrity our command has shown. If it’s a lie it shouldn’t be coming out of your mouth or in writing.
The chief is doing everything in his power to save a legacy already in disgrace. Why would he invite further scrutiny and increase the opportunity of found wrongdoing and prolong this incident in the news?
How long has Salcido been ignoring the problems brought to him about the police department? This is interesting because this spreads any liability further up the chain past the chief.
The department is long overdue for a thorough examination. Perhaps a greater focus will be on negligent supervision and training of officers.
They also need to look at the commanders, assistant chiefs, and the chief who allowed it to deteriorate to such a degree. Start naming people in civil litigation and they will change their tune. You are talking about people who believe they are untouchable because they have been getting away with business as usual for years.
How did the workplace deteriorate? Asupd command created a self-defeating toxic workplace where ethics are a joke, double standards are common, and nobody wants to stick around.
The biggest civil rights violators were some of the FTO’s of the new officers who were trained when the officer under scrutiny now was being trained. They are either ignorant of what they’re doing or count on the fact a homeless person, criminal, or young adult won’t fight for their rights or even know what they are. I’m still shocked by what some of our command and sergeants don’t know, the liabilities we barely dodge, because their experience is ONLY through the university.
You are right, blaming the little guy with no rank and little experience doesn’t cut the mustard and that is something even the uninitiated public can see through. I am glad the university jumped ahead of the media blitz and made a public statement clearing Officer Ferrin prior to pressure and the admin leave move.
Well it’s about time an outside agency started looking at this corrupt circus of a department. The ringmaster is running out of this burning circus tent over to athletics where he will have a comfortable seat to observe the carnage.
The remaining command is running around freaking out for their jobs because they see the accountability train coming and they can’t get off the tracks. The lazy do nothing days of the failed Pickens command are coming to an end and they don’t know what to do because it’s been so long since they worked.
The timing of this media blitz incident couldn’t be better. This will show the incompetent, disjointed, everyone out for themselves, back stabbing assholes we have for command to the whole world. There is no doubt among the troops that their removal and replacement will breathe new life into the department and eventually get it where it needs to be.
I feel bad Ferrin over-reacted, but he’s an officer just past his probational phase who was trained by fucking morons who go over the top all the time, but have never been called out on it. Negative supervision goes all the way up the chain.
This increased public attention to all things ASUPD is a good thing for the agency and the community. Calls, official emails, meetings, memos to fix the department have been played down and ignored time and time again! It’s all on record and the liability is building. More outside scrutiny could get this agency off it’s back and on it’s feet.
Quick call Tempe!, you mentioned Officer Ferrin is a new officer and there could be a negligent training, supervison component here. Let us know if the FBI ultimately knocks on their doors or if this is going to be a show investigation for publicity sake.
It’s good to see the federal authorities taking a very public look at ASU and our mismanaged police department. If university management took a serious look at what was happening here, key people would be losing their jobs and we wouldn’t be making the news so much over the last year.
Command needs to be held accountable for the deterioration and the chief sure as hell doesn’t deserve another job. There can only be positive changes for this agency if the investigation is thorough and looks beyond this one case into other areas.
The feds will be astounded by the low standards, double standards, or lack of discernible standards altogether. We had an assistant chief with a GED and now we have a commander with one. We are in such a desperate need for officers I can’t imagine what the chief signed waivers for this time to pass people through backgrounds or waive off ethical firing offenses in the police academy.
Command doesn’t have any fucking ethics, so why the hell should recruits? They hire disgraced command from other agencies who would have lost their AZPOST certs if information was forwarded to AZPOST. It makes us all look like shit and some house cleaning needs to be done to get the garbage out of the house and start over.
Who the fuck is running that place? I noticed the chief is being reassigned. Do they think he’s the only management problem for the department?
Our recruit record at the ALEA police academy is shameful. Based on what we’ve sent there in the past it doesn’t set the bar very high for what we send there in the future. Hopefully this changes under the new chief, someone with at least a basic understanding and respect for ethics.
The chief writes, “As is customary in these circumstances…” Let’s make something clear…
There is nothing customary in these circumstances!
It’s not customary for people on the other side of the globe to be talking about what a university police department did. It’s not customary for people to be bombarding your dispatch and emails with rage for a solid week.
My god, why isn’t Pickens gone yet to go fuck around with security cameras at athletics in his new six figure job that was closed to the public? Any interim chief (other than the universally despised Hardina) would probably do wonders for the agency right now.
The chief is like the captain of the Titanic, full speed ahead into the iceberg isn’t a problem as long as he gets paid. The rest of command are willing accomplises. Maybe if the media and the FBI do their own investigations all the dirt we know exists will be headline news.
As is customary when the incident of an officer at a university police department makes international news…
Is there anything customary about the professor’s actions? Where is her punishment since the university is punishing the officer and broadcasting it to the world on their website?
You are right, nothing normal about a visit form the FBI to a university police department, unless your name is John L Pickens of the Arizona State University Police Department, former chief of the Northern Illinois University police department.
https://network23.org/theintegrityreport/2013/10/04/chief-pickens-mismanaging-evidence-personnel-before-asu/
The chief is no stranger to controversy, working outside the law, and encouraging subordinates who do so.
The FBI will be looking for a pattern of racism/racial profiling, excessive force, and civil rights violations. These things have happened at the Arizona State University Police Department, but not in this one case they are looking at. If the news wants a story about these issues, the people behind them, and the people who cover them up it’s there.
Drop some names, if officers are doing things they shouldn’t they should have to answer for it like nay citizen would. I noticed the name of Luqman Khalid for assaulting a prisoner and Mark Aston for racism, but are there others?
The chief is like the captain of the Titanic, full speed ahead into the iceberg isn’t a problem as long as he gets paid. The rest of command are willing accomplises.
I gotta say as a student, I am disappointed to see the issues going on within ASU PD. However I will say, until I am blue in the face, the officer involved in this incident did absolutely nothing wrong. Yes, his language was firm, maybe even harsh, but this is real life, not a classroom. She refused to comply multiple times and he explained what would happen if she continued to fail to comply in a very direct and literal manner. In my mind there is nothing wrong with that.
I have had encounters with law enforcement before, whether it be as the person with a complaint, a witness, or as the result of a traffic violation. Do you know how many times I have been arrested, taken to the ground, or detained? Zero, exactly zero times. I would it had quite a bit to do with me not being a dick.
I never an encounter turn out like this. It is likely because I didn’t act like an entitled prick and did what I was asked to do. It is possible to interact with law enforcement in a manner that is both mutually respectful and does not compromise ones freedom (as some people incorrectly perceive any sort of LE contact to be).
On the other side of the fence, as a medic attached to a law enforcement agency, I have seen things like this occur a number of times. And without fail it was because the person being contacted had a chip on their shoulder and refused to do what they were told. There is a mentality circulating that people have absolute freedom to do what they want, and there will be no consequences. It is great that people understand the liberties afforded to them in this country. But the critical failure of the culture of entitlement is not understanding the limits to these freedoms. When you are detained, there are things you need to do. When you fail to do them, you go to jail. When that happens, further resisting will only make your day worse.
Her continued attitude and unwillingness to cooperate escalated the contact. When you screw with the police trying to do their job you should expect to go to jail. Even though that’s true a warning could have easily put this to rest.
You had a clash of egos here and now it’s international news that will end up costing tax payers mega money by the time they are done debating the 20 minute situation.
Any student paying attention should be disappointed. Take a look at what the command of ASUPD is making. It’s a high price for failure. The book of all salaries for the university is available upon request at any ASU library.
Does anyone there believe for a moment the Chief of police for ASUPD called the FBI in to investigate? He can’t even seem to run his shrinking police department. What a joke. Officer Ferrin should be exonerated and he should file a lawsuit against this professor for defamation of character for all her media jabs against him.
He wants everyone to think this is a controlled descent as he’s falling off the mountain. Stay tuned for the next episode of ASUPD Survivor Island to see who’s next.
The coming of the FBI couldn’t have come at a worst time for the chief, but at a great time for the department. The chief is hoping to appear to be leaving the department intact with CALEA coming to evaluate the department. With how much money this private firm charges for their evaluation they will look for every way to give a gold star on JP’s report card despite the fact JP hasn’t followed a single recommendation or warning of CALEA. http://www.calea.org/ The chief and his despised command have ruined ASUPD and now they are frantically trying to save their jobs because this blog has made their failure public domain as the bad publicity continues to soar off the charts.
Command has been locked in nonstop meetings trying to figure out a way to keep their house of cards propped up until things stabilize. To everyone’s surprise within the agency they have been incredibly lucky in dodging potential issues for some time. The Ferrin/professor stop is a fluke and somewhat of a godsend for what command/university admin keep dismissing as a few disgruntled employees. This reference is amusing because if they knew what the average employee thought of them they would be ashamed to leave their offices.
Keep up the pressure on them, keeping citing the relevant issues, these are things they have swept under the rug for too long and they deserve some air time. The department needs to change because it is completely unable to function at it’s capacity and not at the necessary level of the growing university approaching 100,000 as new dorms pop up all around the Tempe campus. Tempe PD is going to get nailed by these private dorms. Hopefully they are using their tax dollars wisely to prepare for it.
All the issues are coming to a head and it’s mostly from neglect. None of this happened overnight. This is what happens when you have a throng of unqualified fools in charge of a police department that needed to grow and evolve alongside the university, but failed to do so.
They spent too much valuable time playing games instead of making the department work and function as a police department. The 2013-2014 media coverage for a university police department should be alarming to the university administration at ASU. Hopefully Michael Crow and company are ready to get the house in order prior to 2015.
Integrity Report, Thank you for using the information I provided. I want to make sure this doesn’t get overlooked by comments, so I’m posting again. Please don’t delete.
Recently there has been a lot of media attention given to the arrest and charges filed against ASU Professor, Ersula Ore. It’s reached the point where according to an email issued today by the departing ASUPD Chief Pickens, “At the request of ASUPD, the FBI has agreed to review the Ore stop and arrest to determine if there were any civil rights violations.” Knowing Pickens and his command to be very prideful, vain, and willing to stretch the truth or ignore it entirely this translates to the Federal Bureau of Investigation told the insignificant obscure state agency of ASUPD it’s coming, ready or not, to do an investigation. You may wish to investigate issues concerning this officer’s primary supervisor, Sergeant Mark Aston, for the year he has been on the road since graduating the academy. You will find plenty of racial issues there!
F.B.I. we are glad you’re coming to ASUPD, there’s more to investigate!
Excessive Use of Force/Assault by ASU Police Officers:
Take for example a case where a current ASU Police supervisor, friends with the current ASUPD chief who is being removed, assaulted a subject in handcuffs in front of another officer four times.
Corporal Luke Khalid and Officer Joe Montgomery were making an arrest of suspect “R”. Suspect “R” was in handcuffs. While in hand cuffs Corporal Luke Khalid tased Suspect “R” four times and committed the crime of aggravated assault, four counts. From the start this issue was crafted to go away and no Internal Affair Investigation or review of the use of force was done. The Taser also keeps an electronic record of the event in memory.
Keep in mind the ASU Police Department has a long history of initiating Internal Affairs for the most frivolous of issues, such as an officer not submitting a time card on time. This IA was initiated by Corporal Katie Fuchtman against then Officer Richardson who soon thereafter left the department for an officer position elsewhere. The IA stated Officer Richardson has violated the following Policies: SPP 801 Conduct (Failure to maintain prescribed records) and PSM 221-01 Accurately Report hours worked. As you can see the threshold for doing an Internal Affair Investigation at ASU Police is very low, but only applies to a specific group of people not protected by the command structure in power.
The Integrity Report on the ASU Police Department broke the story on the Taser cover-up, but did not have all the details. In response to the publicity, months after the initial incident, Chief Pickens charged former Commander Kevin Williams with doing what they call “an informal review” where no IA number is started and they can administratively make an issue go away. Williams conducted the review and never interviewed Officer Joe Montgomery. No IA was ever done. Shortly afterwards Kevin Williams left ASU Police to become Chief of Police for the University Of Michigan Dearborn. http://www.pressandguide.com/articles/2014/06/23/news/doc53a828952114c794534774.txt
The Integrity Report on the ASU Police Department has some information on this:
https://network23.org/theintegrityreport/2013/11/20/excessive-use-of-force-cases-who-watches-the-watchmen/
More information can be found here:
ASU Police Report Number (DR#13-81650)
Arresting Officer, Corporal Luqman “Luke” Khalid
Suspect “R”, tased four times while in hand cuffs.
Issues of racial biased policing by ASU Police Officers:
When it comes to charges of racism, racial biased profiling within the department those are nothing new either. Although the chief is African American he has covered for members under his command to keep questionable biased contact issues from coming to light and hurting his career. Do a freedom of information act request for the discipline files, especial the Internal Affairs, for ASU Police Sergeant Mark Aston. Look at how many of Sergeant Mark Aston’s field contacts and arrests were African American. Look at the complaint of former ASUPD officer Ray Kizee, where Sgt. Mark Aston said, “Nigger Please.” Kizee was run out of the department on FTO like many officers have been, probably in an attempt to protect Sgt. Aston.
Do a FOIA for the complete IA and recordings of Sgt M. Aston’s discipline file, check ASUPD Internal Affair Investigation Number 1302-07, the Allegation of racial profiling against Mark Aston. Supposedly Chief Pickens contacted the Maricopa head of the NAACP, Reverend Tillman, to head off any complaint by the complainant and Sgt. Aston’s closest friends within the PD were interviewed to protect him as character witnesses.
Clearly Sergeant Aston is a protected member under the current command at ASUPD. Sergeant Aston was the topic of “guest writer A.I.” here: https://network23.org/theintegrityreport/2013/12/01/internal-affairs-spotlight-a-look-at-the-numbers/
Sergeant Mark Aston
ACTUAL IA: Was accused of racial bias from a citizen. Although, he was cleared this time look at the majority of people he has targeted with IAs or bullshit write ups: Ray Kizee, Damion White, Matt Parker, Tony Momon, Luke Khalid, Rudy Freese (anyone noticing a “racial” pattern here).
Interview Ray Kizee, Damion White, Matt Parker, Tony Momon, Luke Khalid, and Rudy Freese. Coincidently all but Tony Momon and Luke Khalid are former employees and they worked at getting rid of Momon but thankfully have been unsuccessful because he is an honorable officer. The same can’t be said for Khalid.
Sergeant Aston is also the topic of poster “Yallmomsboyfriend” on http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/Arizona-State-University/Arizona-State-University-Police-Department-Review-employee/t471607
On the same forum the poster,”311” talks about a incident involving this individual here, “When a supervisor of police officers thinks it’s OK to chase another supervisor around a police station holding his own excrement and NO internal affair comes of it AND everyone knows about it?!?” In this case Sergeant Mark Aston chased Commander Lou Scichilone around the police station at 325 E Apache holding his excrement in a glove. Brilliant leadership!
Federal Bureau of Investigation, does anything here fit the investigation you are doing concerning violations of civil rights, racial profiling, and other issues? To be quite frank we the majority of employees of ASUPD, past and present, are sick of what has been tolerated at the Arizona State University Police Department because it runs contrary to the oaths we took as police officers of this state and nation. We have a lack of confidence in the state to investigate the state on these issues because there is a lack of transparency between ASUPD and AZDPS due to the extensive overtime the former gives the latter at football games, the influence of ABOR on state issues, and others.
We hope your investigation will get to the root causes of suspected excessive force and racism at ASUPD, the corrupt negative supervision who will do an IA for a late timecard, but not one for an officer who assaults a prisoner. We only ask for justice, that you hold the oath breakers responsible.
If it wasn’t for the tape and media hype surrounding it none of this woulde be going on. The professor title and doctor title are not what I associate with people who are confrontational with police. Doctor Ore clearly has issues.
Who teaches class in a short skirt with what I can only assume were no panties on? Classy. Her prior reviews were horrible, so why did ASU hire her? I saw the CNN interview where her smug make fun of the officer routine and story was torn apart and she began saying, “My lawyer advised me not to talk about that.”
The FBI will most likely only consider this case and ignore any other issues. There’s a terrible irony here where they are looking in the wrong place for issues that do exist. While looking into this I found that the Arizona Ethnic Studies Network did bring up some relevant questions concerning the investigation.
http://azethnicstudies.com/archives/610
Clearly they are interested in it being done thoroughly and not being just a formality. If they look at the whole department, especially what’s here, this story will expand.
It looks like there are more examples of shitty training and supervision going on at the ASU police department!
http://www.azfamily.com/news/Judge-rules-against-ASU-Police-in-second-controversial-arrest-case-266150931.html
Better have a pink slip party, the lawsuits and bad publicity is stacking up!
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