Playing Politics? Officer-Involved Shootings Here in Mesa Rages On In The Media

Two recent episodes in the last couple of months with notices of claims in the millions of dollars filed against the City of Mesa continue to make international, national, state and local headlines.
Yesterday and today the incidents are taking on more attention with statements issued in the media by the Mesa chief of police terminating the employment of a policeman and attorneys representing officer Philip Brailsford accusing the city of "playing politics" in this report yesterday
"The Mesa Police Association said in an emailed statement Monday night that it was disappointed the city of Mesa "interfered with Officer Mitch Brailsford’s due process and allowed this case to be tried in the court of public opinion before being heard in the court of law."
More stories updated last night:
Craig Mehrens, the attorney for Brailsford, said the firing "represents pure politics." He said Meza called Brailsford four days after the shooting "and told him he had, with other senior officers, viewed the video; and they had all concluded that it was a `good shoot.' "
The Mesa Police Association said in a statement that firing Brailsford before his scheduled preliminary hearing Wednesday in the fatal shooting case "likely hurt his chances of receiving a fair trial. That is simply wrong."
Excerpts from this report by ABC 15 >>
http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/philip-brailsford-update-mesa-officer-facing-murder-charge-fired

So far no statements about all this from the City, but Mesa mayor John Giles posted another selfie of himself on Facebook over the weekend on May 20 with this caption: My ride along with @mesapolice last night was very educational. Car crashes, drunk drivers, domestic violence. I have a lot of respect for our great public safety personnel. Thank you!Facebook