A Tucson police officer’s battle to keep her rank after being demoted for sharing provocative videos and a photo of herself with a subordinate officer ended Friday.
The city’s Civil Service Commission voted 3-2 to drop its appeal of a Pima County Superior Court judge’s ruling to reinstate Lt. Diana Lopez’s rank.
“This has been a long process. It has been a costly process to both sides and I’m glad that it’s done,” Lopez said after the meeting.
Lopez was demoted to sergeant in November 2012 after she took sexually explicit videos and a provocative photo of herself wearing her police uniform shirt.
She sent them on her personal cellphone to a subordinate officer who she had a personal relationship with at the time.
That officer, Charles Foley, then shared them with fellow officers.
The department determined Lopez violated several regulations, professional standards and its code of ethics when it demoted her.
TPD suspended Foley for 80 hours for violating TPD rules by sharing the images.
“This is a violation of policy that creates or poses the potential for a major adverse impact on the professional image of the department,” Deputy Chief Sharon Allen wrote when recommending Foley’s discipline.
Allen also chided Foley over his possible motives.
“Clearly this action would cause and has caused harm to Lieutenant Lopez’s reputation and discredits her as well,” Allen wrote. “His actions cause me to question his trustworthiness and judgment.”
In May, the commission asked Superior Court Judge Charles Harrington to reconsider his ruling reversing Lopez’s demotion. Harrington denied it.
Harrington ruled in favor of Lopez, citing the department’s lack of a clear policy warning staff members against making and sharing sexually explicit materials within the context of their private lives.
Lopez returned to her Lieutenant duties in August.
The three “yes” votes came from members who weren’t on the commission when it first heard Lopez’s case.
Commissioner Max Parks, who voted to drop the appeal, said a higher court ruling against the commission would limit their options even further when it comes to dealing with future employee issues.
The Tucson Police Officers Association applauded the decision, saying prolonging the process would succeed in wasting even more tax dollars.
“The right thing to do was to move on,” said Jason Winsky, TPOA director of government affairs. “And now the taxpayer won’t have to foot the bill any longer.”
The city has paid $60,332 for the commission’s legal costs accrued over the Lopez proceedings, city records show.
