The firings of two Tucson police officers have been upheld by the Civil Service Commission, while another officer was reinstated to the force, records show.
The commission, a citizen panel that reviews the appeals of terminated city employees, has heard three cases involving Tucson police officers in the first half of 2016.
Firing upheld
On April 7, the panel reviewed the case of Jaime Gutierrez, who was fired from the Tucson Police Department in January, after an internal-affairs probe determined that he lied to superiors and violated a number of other department policies, according to the cityโs record of minutes from the meeting.
In May 2015, Gutierrez was called to investigate a domestic violence assault case that started at a business, records show.
Gutierrez located a pair matching the description provided by the 911 caller, and โapplied forceโ on the man while detaining him, according to the records.
TPD policy dictates that after applying force using โhard hand control,โ an officer must report it to a superior, according to the department handbook.
Gutierrez didnโt contact his supervisor within the allotted 30 minutes and waited until the man was released without being charged, city records show.
The other officers at the scene discussed charging the man with trespassing, disorderly conduct and failure to identify himself, but Gutierrez released him without consulting anyone else.
During internal-affairs interviews, Gutierrez contradicted himself and lied about reporting the incident to his sergeant and why the man was released.
โGutierrez maintains he would have taken him to jail, but that it was (another officerโs) case, she was in charge, she made the decision and had told him to release the male from custody,โ records show.
The patrol carโs audio and video system recorded the incident and found that Gutierrez had not been truthful about his involvement in the investigation and what took place at the scene.
The internal-affairs investigation found Gutierrez had violated five department policies, and he was fired in January.
After more than five hours of hearing testimony and reviewing evidence, the Civil Service Commission voted 2-1 to uphold Gutierrezโs termination.
Firing overturned
On May 4, the commission overruled the firing of Officer Jose Olivares and reinstated him to the department with an 80-hour suspension, city records show.
Last month the Arizona Peace Officers Standard and Training Board voted to initiate proceedings to suspend or revoke his certification, said Sandy Sierra, a board spokeswoman.
Olivares was fired in February for failing to pay for a burrito during an October visit to a local Mexican restaurant, according to board documents.
Olivares ordered a burrito and drink from a Viva Burrito, took his food and left the restaurant without paying for his meal, documents show.
The next day, one of the employees told a Tucson police lieutenant about the incident, when the officer came in to order food, leading to the opening of an internal investigation.
Security footage from the restaurant disproved Olivaresโ claims that heโd forgotten to pay, as the footage shows him reaching toward his pocket at least four times, board documents show.
โWith a determination that Officer Olivares committed theft under Arizona law while in uniform and on duty, I believe there is a critical adverse impact on the professional image of the department,โ Assistant Police Chief Mark Timpf wrote in his review of the case.
Although an internal-affairs probe determined that Olivares violated four department policies, the Civil Service Commission ruled there โwas not just cause for the discipline that was imposed.โ
Olivares was allowed to return to work after serving his suspension, but Tucson police did not respond to questions regarding his position in the department.
Firing upheld
On June 29, the commission voted to uphold Daniel Atkinsonโs firing in April for disobedience, misconduct, insubordination and failure to follow an order, according to city records.
Atkinson was placed on a โconditions of continued employmentโ program in November 2014 and ordered not to perform any special duty jobs, records show.
The conditions dictate that any violations of its conditions can result in firing, but Atkinson still performed two special duty jobs โ both of which paid overtime โ and signed up for a third, scheduled for last November.
Days before, a sergeant discovered he had signed up for the job and ordered him to cancel it. Atkinson refused but ultimately canceled the job after a lieutenant insisted he do so, city records show.
He was fired in April after an internal-affairs investigation found he violated multiple policies.
The Civil Service Commissionโs decision to uphold his firing was unanimous, records show.
Any time an officer is fired, Tucson police must report it to the Arizona Peace Officers Standard and Training Board.
The board will vote in upcoming months on whether to initiate proceedings against Atkinson and Gutierrez.
