The APA Rallies Support for Chandler Police Officer John Carboun

On October 9th 2002, the Arizona Police Association held a Press Conference on the Plaza of the Chandler Police Department at 250 E. Chicago Street, Chandler Arizona. The purpose of the press conference was to rally public support against the proposed and in our opinion, unlawful and retaliatory termination of Chandler Police Officer John Carboun. It is the APA’s Opinion that the proposed termination is in direct response to Officer Carboun’s current and past leadership roles within the Chandler Law Enforcement Association, an APA member group.

The press conference was well attended by both the press and supporters of Officer Carboun. The APA would like to thank every member who took the time out of their busy schedules to attend the press conference and show the state of Arizona that John is not alone and is in fact supported by his fellow officers across the entire valley and state.

Below you will find the text of the verbal presentation that APA Executive Director, Sam Wooldridge, gave to the press during the conference. In addition to the attached text, the press was provided with a complete packet of documents supporting everything contained in the verbal presentation.

Text of Verbal Presentation

Good afternoon. My name is Sam Wooldridge and I am the Executive Director of the Arizona Police Association (APA). The APA is statewide law enforcement employee association representing the legislative and everyday working rights of over 4,000 Arizona law officers. The Chandler Law Enforcement Association (CLEA) and its 140 members are a significant part of our group. The APA also includes the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA), the Associated Highway Patrolmen of Arizona (AHPA), the Mesa Police Association (MPA), the Deputies Law Enforcement Association (DLEA), the Tempe Officers Association (TOA), the Glendale Law Enforcement Association (GLEA), the Goodyear Police Officers Association (GPOA), and two locals of the National Border Patrol Council (AFGE #2544 and 2595). Leaders from most of these groups along with several members of the Chandler Law Enforcement Association are present with me today.

We are all here today to protest what is in our opinion the illegal and clearly retaliatory personnel action that the City of Chandler Police Department has indicated they are about to conclude in reference to Officer John Carboun, the most recent past President of the Chandler Law Enforcement Association. Before we get into the proposed action, we would like to first tell you a little bit about Officer Carboun. John has been a productive, highly respected, and valued member of Chandler Police Department for over thirteen years. As with most other public safety employees, John has continually placed his life on the line for the service of his community and the state of Arizona. John is also a married father of six children who rely greatly upon his income to survive. That is one of the reasons that makes the proposed action so despicable.

On or about October 4, 2002, John was issued a Pre-Dismissal Notice signed by Chandler Police Chief Bobby Joe Harris. The notice informed John that it was the intention of the police department to dismiss him from his position as a Chandler police officer. The notice cited, as cause for this dismissal, a letter that John had written to Chandler City Manager Donna Dreska on or about July 15, 2002. John wrote and signed this letter as the legally recognized President of the Chandler Law Enforcement Association, not as a Chandler police officer. In this letter John highlighted four officer safety issues that he believed the department had been “less than enthusiastic” about correcting. John had been working inside the department for over four years on these and other safety issues, but received little or no assistance from the department in making what he believed to be the required safety changes. John believed that for the safety of his members he had to inform the City Manager about these safety concerns. They included:

1) A lack of fire extinguishers in patrol vehicles
2) Inadequate support for an enhanced ballistic vest policy
3) Reluctance to provide safer firearm holsters
4) Failure to pursue anything other than minimal improvements to the dangerous Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor patrol vehicle

From the City Manager’s office this letter found it way to Chief of Police Bobby Joe Harris. Instead of looking into the safety concerns in the spirit in which they were given, the Chief chose to turn John’s letter into an opportune event to instigate a misconduct investigation. The conclusion of this “misconduct” investigation indicated that John had lied in his letter and thereby brought discredit upon the department. This is the basis for the proposed termination.

First of all we submit that John never lied in the letter nor in the subsequent trumped up Internal Affairs investigation. However, the accuracy of John’s allegations have no bearing on the issue of misconduct. John clearly has a right to his opinions and when necessary an obligation to express them through the proper channels. John has committed no misconduct. John has simply notified the city, through a discreet internal letter, of several safety problems that he believed were occurring within the Chandler Police Department. John did not make this issue public; he did not hold a press conference, nor did he put the letter on his association web page on in his newsletter. He simply communicated the problems in writing to one of his superiors.

Arizona Revised Statutes 23-425 clearly states that “No person shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this article or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding or because of the exercise by such employee on behalf of himself or others of any right afforded by this article.” The article under section 23-411 goes on to say “Public safety employees serving any city, town, county or fire district in this state have the right to join employee associations which comply with the laws of this state and have freedom to present proposals and testimony to the governing body of any city, town, county or fire district and their representatives.” We submit this is exactly what John did in this instance; nothing more and nothing less.

Finally, we would like to tell you why we believe that Chief Harris is taking this clearly illegal action. The reason is simple, retaliation. On December 28, 2001, John Carboun, through the law firm of Michael Napier P.C., notified the Chandler City Attorney that Chief Harris, through his subordinate, Assistant Police Chief Joseph Gaylord, unlawfully harassed three CLEA members. This harassment was in the form of the Assistant Chief questioning the wisdom of the employee’s membership in the Chandler Law Enforcement Association, because of an alleged negative article printed in the association newsletter about department management. As this complaint alleged violation of Arizona state law, an investigation was properly instituted in the City Manager’s office. The City Manager concluded that both Chief Harris and Assistant Chief Gaylord violated city policy. For these violations both Harris and Gaylord were issued formal letters of Reprimand.

In the letter of Reprimand to Chief Harris, City Manger Dreska admonishes Chief Gaylord for several of his actions and Chief Harris for failing to properly supervise him. One of Chief Gaylord’s actions included his insistence that the investigators tell him who brought the complaint forward. After stating that Chief Gaylord “fails to acknowledge an understanding of the ‘Whistleblowers’ law where individuals are protected when they draw attention to potential wrongdoing”, she goes on to inform Chief Harris that “It is our professional obligation to pursue the allegation, not the person making the allegation.” Apparently Chief Harris learned little from that event as he is clearly repeating the same misconduct now, only to a much greater extent.

In conclusion, we are demanding that any and all punitive personnel action contemplated against Officer John Carboun in reference to any of the actions described in the improperly and illegally instituted Pre-Dismissal Notice be ceased immediately and John be placed back on active duty. Furthermore, we request that Chandler City Attorney Dennis O’Neill and City Manager Donna Dreska institute an immediate internal investigation into the apparent illegal and retaliatory acts on the part of Chief Bobby Joe Harris that have resulted in the Pre-Dismissal Notice being issued to Officer John Carboun.