5 current, former Tucson-area law officers disciplined by state
- Updated
Four former and one current Tucson-area law officers were disciplined by the state agency that certifies police officers, officials said.
In a Wednesday meeting of the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training board, members voted for disciplinary action against a Sierra Vista police officer, a Pima County sheriff's deputy, a former officer with the Tucson Police Department and a Pima County Sheriff's Department recruit, said board spokeswoman, Sandy Sierra.
The board also voted to initiate proceedings against an ex-Tucson police officer, who was fired for dozens of violations of department policies, records show.
In September, the board revoked former Sierra Vista police officer Alexander Roy's certification, after he was fired from the department in 2015 for having an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old girl, according to AZPOST records.
Roy appealed the board's decision, and on Wednesday it rejected the motion for reconsideration and stood by its decision to revoke his certification, Sierra said.
After receiving a termination report in October 2015 from Sierra Vista police, AZPOST began an investigation into the events leading up to Roy's firing and learned that earlier that year, a woman filed complaints with the Cochise County Sheriff's Office about her daughter's alleged relationship with Roy, records show.
The sheriff's office ruled his relationship with the girl was inappropriate and Roy was fired. He appealed the decision with the city and was reinstated after an 80-hour suspension with pay, according to the records.
Roy was placed on administrative duty with the department in April, after AZPOST initiated proceedings against him, pending the board's final determination, said Sierra Vista Police Chief Adam Thrasher.
The board voted to accept an agreement with Pima County sheriff's Deputy Randall D. Nice, to voluntarily relinquish his peace officer certification.
Nice was fired from the department in March 2015 over the alleged aggravated assault of a suspect but later reinstated to work by the Pima County Merit Board, according to AZPOST records.
In January 2015, Nice booked a suspect into jail but was called back because the man couldn't be medically cleared. According to jail staff, the man sustained a head injury in the confrontation that led to his arrest and was vomiting. While Nice was walking the handcuffed man out of the jail to be taken to a hospital, the man complained of numbness in his right leg and fell to the ground, AZPOST records show.
Records state Nice dragged the man across the parking lot, causing the man to suffer cuts and scrapes, which required medical attention."
Nice was fired by the department in March 2015, and the incident was investigated by an outside agency, the Sierra Vista Police Department. Nice's aggravated assault case was presented to a Cochise County grand jury, which voted not to indict.
Nice appealed his firing to the Pima County Law Enforcement Merit System council, which decided to reinstate Nice in June 2015, saying the three months he was out of work would serve as a suspension, according to records.
Without a valid peace officer certification, Nice is no longer employable as a deputy.
Former Tucson police Officer Scott Cushing will be facing proceedings in upcoming months, after the board investigates his July 2016 resignation from the department, after it was revealed he had violated department policies 67 times in a three-year period, according to AZPOST records.
Cushing, a nine-year veteran, was awarded a permanent special duty position at Flowing Wells High School in 2012. Records show it was there that Cushing reportedly arrived late and left early during some shifts in 2015.
Tucson Police Department's internal investigation revealed that on 27 occasions, Cushing was paid both by the city of Tucson and Flowing Wells High school for working the same hours. Detectives also learned that Cushing submitted 41 compensation forms for payment with forged signatures, to make it appear the payments were authorized, AZPOST records show.
"Cushing committed a willful act of forgery for the purpose of obtaining monetary compensation," AZPOST investigators wrote in the case summary. "By committing the forgery, he was also able to conceal his actions for a period of three years."
Cushing told investigators he didn't have a "good excuse" for committing forgery, but rather it was out of "negligence or laziness" on his part, according to the AZPOST documents.
The case was reviewed by the Pima County Attorney's Office for criminal prosecution, but the agency didn't feel the evidence was sufficient to prove criminal intent. The deputy city attorney also reviewed the case for proof of criminal intent, of which he found none, but said it was "clear" that Cushing was double-paid, AZPOST documents show.
Cushing will receive a formal letter from the board and have the option of a hearing with an administrative law judge, Sierra said.
The board voted to revoke fired Tucson police officer Virgilio Marshall's peace officer certification, after a department investigation revealed the probationary employee failed to meet department standards.
Marshall was hired by Tucson Police Department in December 2014 and fired last March, AZPOST records show.
Less than a year after his hiring, Marshall was investigated by the department for failing to adequately process a burglary scene, mishandling evidence, failing to document the victims' information and putting inaccurate information about a suspect vehicle into a police report, according to the AZPOST records.
While investigating the burglary, Marshall refused to take fingerprints from areas that the homeowner indicated had been disturbed, including a pamphlet and cigarette butts the burglar had dropped on the floor.
During the investigation, Marshall was reassigned to desk duty, where he fielded a call from a Department of Child Services employee wanting to file a police report regarding two children who had been taken into protective custody, according to AZPOST records.
Marshall refused to take the report over the phone, even after a DCS supervisor told him the report was necessary to prevent the parents from being reunited with their children. During his interview with internal affairs, Marshall lied to investigators, saying that he'd told both DCS employees he would take the report. He was also found to have lied to investigators during interviews about the burglary investigation.
The board voted to deny the certification of Pima County sheriff's recruit, Matthew Moon, who was found to have lied on previous TPD applications about a theft case against him and drug use, according to AZPOST records.
Based on the board's decision, Moon is barred from working in law enforcement agencies in Arizona, Sierra said.
In a Wednesday meeting of the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training board, members voted for disciplinary action against a Sierra Vista police officer, a Pima County sheriff's deputy, a former officer with the Tucson Police Department and a Pima County Sheriff's Department recruit, said board spokeswoman, Sandy Sierra.
The board also voted to initiate proceedings against an ex-Tucson police officer, who was fired for dozens of violations of department policies, records show.
In September, the board revoked former Sierra Vista police officer Alexander Roy's certification, after he was fired from the department in 2015 for having an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old girl, according to AZPOST records.
Roy appealed the board's decision, and on Wednesday it rejected the motion for reconsideration and stood by its decision to revoke his certification, Sierra said.
After receiving a termination report in October 2015 from Sierra Vista police, AZPOST began an investigation into the events leading up to Roy's firing and learned that earlier that year, a woman filed complaints with the Cochise County Sheriff's Office about her daughter's alleged relationship with Roy, records show.
The sheriff's office ruled his relationship with the girl was inappropriate and Roy was fired. He appealed the decision with the city and was reinstated after an 80-hour suspension with pay, according to the records.
Roy was placed on administrative duty with the department in April, after AZPOST initiated proceedings against him, pending the board's final determination, said Sierra Vista Police Chief Adam Thrasher.
The board voted to accept an agreement with Pima County sheriff's Deputy Randall D. Nice, to voluntarily relinquish his peace officer certification.
Nice was fired from the department in March 2015 over the alleged aggravated assault of a suspect but later reinstated to work by the Pima County Merit Board, according to AZPOST records.
In January 2015, Nice booked a suspect into jail but was called back because the man couldn't be medically cleared. According to jail staff, the man sustained a head injury in the confrontation that led to his arrest and was vomiting. While Nice was walking the handcuffed man out of the jail to be taken to a hospital, the man complained of numbness in his right leg and fell to the ground, AZPOST records show.
Records state Nice dragged the man across the parking lot, causing the man to suffer cuts and scrapes, which required medical attention."
Nice was fired by the department in March 2015, and the incident was investigated by an outside agency, the Sierra Vista Police Department. Nice's aggravated assault case was presented to a Cochise County grand jury, which voted not to indict.
Nice appealed his firing to the Pima County Law Enforcement Merit System council, which decided to reinstate Nice in June 2015, saying the three months he was out of work would serve as a suspension, according to records.
Without a valid peace officer certification, Nice is no longer employable as a deputy.
Former Tucson police Officer Scott Cushing will be facing proceedings in upcoming months, after the board investigates his July 2016 resignation from the department, after it was revealed he had violated department policies 67 times in a three-year period, according to AZPOST records.
Cushing, a nine-year veteran, was awarded a permanent special duty position at Flowing Wells High School in 2012. Records show it was there that Cushing reportedly arrived late and left early during some shifts in 2015.
Tucson Police Department's internal investigation revealed that on 27 occasions, Cushing was paid both by the city of Tucson and Flowing Wells High school for working the same hours. Detectives also learned that Cushing submitted 41 compensation forms for payment with forged signatures, to make it appear the payments were authorized, AZPOST records show.
"Cushing committed a willful act of forgery for the purpose of obtaining monetary compensation," AZPOST investigators wrote in the case summary. "By committing the forgery, he was also able to conceal his actions for a period of three years."
Cushing told investigators he didn't have a "good excuse" for committing forgery, but rather it was out of "negligence or laziness" on his part, according to the AZPOST documents.
The case was reviewed by the Pima County Attorney's Office for criminal prosecution, but the agency didn't feel the evidence was sufficient to prove criminal intent. The deputy city attorney also reviewed the case for proof of criminal intent, of which he found none, but said it was "clear" that Cushing was double-paid, AZPOST documents show.
Cushing will receive a formal letter from the board and have the option of a hearing with an administrative law judge, Sierra said.
The board voted to revoke fired Tucson police officer Virgilio Marshall's peace officer certification, after a department investigation revealed the probationary employee failed to meet department standards.
Marshall was hired by Tucson Police Department in December 2014 and fired last March, AZPOST records show.
Less than a year after his hiring, Marshall was investigated by the department for failing to adequately process a burglary scene, mishandling evidence, failing to document the victims' information and putting inaccurate information about a suspect vehicle into a police report, according to the AZPOST records.
While investigating the burglary, Marshall refused to take fingerprints from areas that the homeowner indicated had been disturbed, including a pamphlet and cigarette butts the burglar had dropped on the floor.
During the investigation, Marshall was reassigned to desk duty, where he fielded a call from a Department of Child Services employee wanting to file a police report regarding two children who had been taken into protective custody, according to AZPOST records.
Marshall refused to take the report over the phone, even after a DCS supervisor told him the report was necessary to prevent the parents from being reunited with their children. During his interview with internal affairs, Marshall lied to investigators, saying that he'd told both DCS employees he would take the report. He was also found to have lied to investigators during interviews about the burglary investigation.
The board voted to deny the certification of Pima County sheriff's recruit, Matthew Moon, who was found to have lied on previous TPD applications about a theft case against him and drug use, according to AZPOST records.
Based on the board's decision, Moon is barred from working in law enforcement agencies in Arizona, Sierra said.
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