Because Arizona State University is a public university–funded by tax payers–budget expenditures for the university are readily accessible (via web/hard copy). However, one budget that is noticeably absent from public view would be that of the ASUPD! When referenced in the context of the university’s budget as a whole, it is summarily tossed in to the “public service” sector tag with other departments. Therefore, seeing the actual operating costs and expenditures of ASUPD is impossible, short of a FOIA request.
Why is this important, you ask?
There has been a huge discrepancy in the amount of funds Chief Pickens repeatedly says the department doesn’t have (and then arbitrarily spends), and the amount of money the department has frivolously spent.
For a department that is so cash strapped, ASUPD seems to materialize funds when they are desperate to retain people. Prior to the indeed.com situation in the summer of 2013, the only raise ASUPD employees had received in five years came from the Governor’s office (in which state employees were given a 3% pay raise). This is coupled with the fact the 3% pay raise did NOT replace the lost wages accrued from a lack of cost of living raises, and a uniform allowance. [As an aside, the Chief and Command staff have been consistently receiving pay raises/incentives during the time period when the rest of the department was on a pay freeze! Chief Pickens’ is also one of the highest paid Chiefs in the valley!] .However, after the indeed.com scandal broke, Sergeants and Officers found themselves receiving a pay increase after being told previously there was no money in the department’s budget to do so. Additionally, several members of the department who were leaving for greener pastures were also offered small amounts of money to entice them to remain at ASUPD.
Frivolous spending throughout the department’s “tough financial situation”, however, remained at an all-time high.
Chief Pickens decided to replace ALL the sworn cotton uniforms with a cotton/wool blend that degraded faster and cost more to maintain. He also completely redid and replaced ALL of the department’s badges, despite the fact funds were desperately needed on the patrol side for new employees and new vehicles. Fairly soon, the Chief will also be revamping the departments’ patch, costing time and money to replace the preexisting patch.
Chief Pickens also routinely spends unknown amounts of money on other items such as regular lunches for himself and command staff, a take home vehicle for himself and several other members of the department, and possibly even traveling with the football team.(As an aside, several other Police Chiefs across the country have come under intense scrutiny for frivolous spending of tax payer money, such as Baltimore’s former Police Commissioner ,a St. Louis County Police Chief, and an Ohio Police Chief). Not surprisingly, in a 2011 assement, CALEA noted that the methodology utilized by ASUPD to track cash account activities made it difficult to keep track of how much was actually being spent.
The Integrity Report also did a cost analysis on ASUPD’s FTO program which showed the department had spent nearly a million dollars in two years on its failing FTO program; approximately 1/2 million dollars was spent on training employees who quit the department after less than a year of working there (with some only staying for MONTHS at a time!). This number is especially shocking when you consider it doesn’t include the salary of the Sergeant who had no qualification/training to run an FTO program (approximately $70k), or the salary of the FTO’s who were also not qualified to train new officers.
In summary, there has been an untold amount of tax-payer money being misappropriated by the Chief in various forms, which could be used to aid the underpaid, under trained, and unequipped employees who are still trying to hold the department together. The tax paying citizens of Arizona should be outraged enough to demand each requisition, receipt, and budget from ASUPD so that the many of these public officials–including Chief Pickens–are help accountable. Perhaps this blog post will prompt the mainstream media to undertake this challenge?
The budget is hidden for a reason. The Chief and command blow it everywhere, but where we need it. Just like there’s different standards for different people, there are different standards of accountability by rank. Make sure your officer turns in their fucking gas receipts for 30 bucks while we hide our receipts for 300,000.
You used to be able to see their wacky requisitions, no longer. Every time an officer works overtime they charge double the rate we pay an officer, about 60.00, pay the officer approximately half, then take the extra money and put it in a account. By the end of a fiscal year where did the money go, the hundreds of thousands?
How many years has the chief gone to his bosses asking for more money, more positions? Every year. He takes the salary savings money from the unfilled positions and spends it on what year after year? The accreditation people complained about the shady accounting, but it’s time for an outside state agency to investigate where the money went, probably make some arrests and firings.
You’re right on the money, 30.00 gas receipts VS a 300,000 indescretionary budget, what a joke. There is much more accountability on the ground floor for less money. It would be nice to see where all the money is going, we’re not seeing it.
The problem is you are dealing with people who really do think they are better than you because of their title, the money they make, or their insecurities I don’t know, don’t really care. They think they’re better than you and that makes them entitled to do whatever they want and justify it later IF they have to.
Corrupt and shitty politician models associated with cities like Chicago and Detroit have come here to Arizona. If DPS did a sting and arrested some of our command for snorting blow off a hooker’s ass I wouldn’t even flinch, just say I knew it.
Supposedly we have 11 million dollars in the budget, so where is it being spent? I read on here and on the U of A site that they have a budget half this size fielding twice as many patrol officers. They have drug dogs too, plenty of them!
We need people hitting the department hard with FOIA requests for all the information they aren’t willing to disclose. The complete budget including requisitions, discipline files, promotional processes, etc.
Chief and command have run this place like a house of prostitution, gambling, rod and reel firearms club instead of a state public safety department.
The truth is the truth, if these accusations are wrong then why all the secrecy when it comes to the budget. The chief freaked out when he found out employees checked out the public record book behind the library counter showing how much employees were making, this information made it back to him and he said, “If they want to know how much I make they can come and ask me!” What would happen to their career here if they did that?
Again, they don’t want you to see what’s in there. Even though this is a public government agency funded by tax dollars the welfare queens benefiting from having the purse strings won’t budge until pried off.
Nobody will see what they’re spending money on unless they write up a FOIA request to include requisitions. They will drag their feet, probably attempt to obstruct the process, and why? Public university, public police department, what would they hope to hide? It was never meant to be hidden.