April 18, 2010
Ms. Janet Smith
Personnel Director City of Phoenix
Custodian of Records
135 N. 2nd Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85003
RE: Second Request: Public Records Request – Jack Harris
Ms. Smith:
Attached is a letter I recently received back from the Phoenix Police Department, on a Public Records Request of Phoenix Public Safety Manager Jack Harris.
Eric Edwards Response
This response was crafted so eloquently and deliberately by Jack’s friend and colleague Eric Edwards. We know that Eric has purposefully and maliciously removed our requested document from control of the Phoenix Police Department so a request could not be fulfilled; hence Mr. Edward’s careful wording.
We know this Letter of Reprimand exists and are certain where it is, so we are now requesting that you, assistant city manager Ed Zuercher and Phoenix city manager David Cavasos surrender this letter to us, or we will file a special action with the courts forcing the city to surrender this document and publically expose its subsequent cover-up by the Phoenix Police Department.
Under the provisions of A.R.S. 39-121, Public Records Law, we are again, requesting the following document:
A Letter of Reprimand given and placed in the human resource file of Phoenix Public Safety Manager Jack Harris, for inappropriate comments made at a recent training session by his friend and a retired FBI Agent. This letter should have been done in early March of 2010. Jack Harris not only allowed these comments to be made, but was also seen laughing at these comments, which prompted a letter from a private attorney to address these comments to City Manager David Cavazos and prompting an apology to Harris’ command staff.
This letter exists and can be found in the personal notes, either the personal and city file cabinets of; on the desk of and possibly in the desk of; the personal files or in a file labeled “Phoenix Police” or “Jack Harris” and/or in the possession of either or both Mr. Ed Zuercher and Mr. David Cavasos homes or offices. We would expect it could be found quite easily in any maintained Supervisory Notes of Mr. Ed Zuercher – wherever he may keep them.
I have enclosed the usual $3 fee to obtain this Letter of Reprimand.
Please mail this document to:
BadPhoenixCops
XXXXXXXXXXX
Phoenix, AZ 85086
I await your speedy reply,
Jeffrey P.
Cc: Jess Lorona – Counsel BadPhoenixcops.com
Cc: David Cavasos – City Manager, City of Phoenix
Cc: Ed Zuercher – Assistant City Manager, City of Phoenix
5 comments:
Using that picture is an insult to Wil Wheaton. For shame! A photo of Jack's face photoshopped onto a donkey would have sufficed. :)
FROM THE AZ REPUBLIC:
Charges dropped against blogger, former Phoenix detective
by Michael Ferraresi - Apr. 19, 2010 05:30 PM
The Arizona Attorney General's Office dropped criminal charges in the harassment case against a former Phoenix police homicide detective and a blogger critical of the police department.
Dave Barnes, a 14-year Phoenix police veteran, was indicted on charges of felony perjury and misdemeanor harassment for targeting a homicide sergeant and his wife - a fellow homicide detective - with an anonymous letter and e-mails. Phoenix police investigators accused Barnes of feeding information to Jeff Pataky, one of the minds behind the badphoenixcops.com blog.
Pataky was charged with perjury and false swearing. The perjury charges accused the pair of lying about the details of their relationship.
Craig Mehrens, the attorney who defended Barnes, said he was prepared to see the Attorney General's Office take the case back to a grand jury in attempt to charge the former officer with a crime. The Barnes family has also filed complaints about the police department after a search last year at the officer's Anthem home.
Mehrens added that that the prosecutors' decision to drop the charges highlighted one of the "most slanted, biased investigations" he'd ever seen.
"(Barnes) feels somewhat vindicated, but he feels . . . they'll just keep going back and back to bring him to his knees," Mehrens said.
"The brass at the police department does not want a Web site criticizing them," he said. "They don't believe the First Amendment applies to them."
Charges were dropped "in the interests of judicial economy, and the possible need to conduct a follow up investigation," according to the motion filed Friday in Maricopa County Superior Court.
The motion noted that Phoenix police Detective Theron Quaas, the lead investigator on the case, provided a county grand jury with incorrect information on a comment made by Pataky's 12-year-old son about Barnes being at his father's home.
Police officials fired Barnes earlier this year, though his attorney said he could appeal the termination. Pataky has filed lawsuits against the police department in U.S. District Court, citing illegal searches and violation of his constitutional rights.
"We're in a budget deficit, and it seems they have an endless amount of resources to investigate a blogger," said Pataky, who lives in Scottsdale.
A police spokesman declined comment, citing what he understood to be an ongoing investigation. An Attorney General's Office spokeswoman said officials familiar with the investigation could not be reached for comment.
PPD Brass had better be careful. My sources say a Grand Jury is being convened as we speak to review the manner in which they conducted this investigation, the detectives involved, possible misuse of government funds as well as the supervisors who supervised the mess. I also understand the GJ may have been briefed to expect calls from the same "Brass" trying to snoop and see what the GJ is all about. Don't know if it is a county, state or federal grand jury.
Blogger Jeff: Batman is your friend!
The Phx PD has a new friend in town, Rick Roley.
Just recently I was told by a PLEA union board member they are worried about Romley. Several months ago, Lt's Rob Handy, Eric Edwards and a few other choice people in Harris' circle, went to the City Attorney with a power point presentation. They presented, facts they believed, sufficient evidence to start a criminal investigation on PLEA for "operating a criminal syndicate". This was Harris' way to take down the union. The City Attorney laughed them out of the room. Last words from Eric Edwards and Rob Handy were stated that once Rick Romley is back in office, he is all ready willing to support this. Well, that time has come.
PLEA has tried to get a cope of the power point presentation presented to the City Attorney but the request has been denied citing attorney client privilege.
Things are only getting worse.
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