Mesa Police Union Wages No-Confidence Vote Against Chief Ramon Batista

Looks like from reports in mainstream media that the powerful Mesa Police Union is waging an internal battle over office-involved use-of-force against the New Chief. It's going very public. It's a political issue where the Mayor and Mesa City Council say they support both sides at the same time.
as explained farther down, Batista was hired in a shake-up over a case where the City of Mesa is still facing a $100M dollar lawsuit over an incident in January 2016 that is still pending with no settlement to date in-court proceedings
Here's a report from ABC15 > https://www.abc15.com/news with a video

Union representing Mesa officers initiates 'no confidence' vote against Chief Ramon Batista

by Sonu Wasu

Posted: 4:48 PM, May 03, 2019 | Updated: 10:17 PM, May 03, 2019

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Union representing Mesa officers initiates 'no confidence' vote against ...

https://www.abc15.com/.../mesa/union-representing-mesa-officers-initiate-no-confidence...

▶ 2:55

15 hours ago

 

About Sona Wasu
Sonu Wasu joined ABC15 as a Multi Media Journalist in March 2016. In Tucson, where Ramon Batista was Chief of Police, Sonu won three Edward R. Murrow awards, two Associated Press awards and a Rocky Mountain Regional Emmy for hard news reporting and feature reporting

MESA, AZ — Two unions representing Mesa police officers have initiated a "no confidence" vote against Chief Ramon Batista.
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More than 500 Mesa police officers took a survey put out by the Mesa police association, rating trust in the chief and morale within the department is very low.
Here is a link to that survey.
ABC15 has removed five pages which list names and badge numbers of Mesa police officers to protect their privacy.
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"Ballots will cast until May 17 and then votes will be delivered to the Mesa City Council.
Union representatives tell ABC15, morale within the department is extremely low.
Some officers are upset with Chief Batista's response to a high-profile "use of force" case "condemning" the officers to the media before disciplinary investigations were completed.
On Friday afternoon, Chief Batista issued the following statement:
“We are aware that a labor organization — working with a marketing firm — has initiated a poll of our officers. It is important to remember that their agenda does not represent the entire Mesa Police Department. . .
Mesa Mayor John Giles also issued a statement Friday evening:
“The Mayor and Mesa City Council fully support the brave women and men of the Mesa Police Department, including Chief Batista and his leadership team. The tireless work of our officers has brought Mesa’s crime level to historic lows and made it one of the safest big cities in America.”

So how did the department get to this point?
When Batista was hired there was a cry to change the culture within the Mesa Police Department by members of the community.
Batista was the choice of city leaders and citizens who were part of the interview process. Community members were invited to meet and interview all four finalists for the job, before Batista got the vote, making him the third police chief in Mesa in the last nine years. His predecessor, John Meza, lasted two years. Mesa Police Association leaders were in support of two internal candidates who were also vying for the job.
Instead, the city hired the new guy from Tucson . .

His hire was right on the heels of a controversial officer-involved shooting involving a man visiting from Texas. Former Mesa police officer Philip Brailsford was charged with murder, for shooting Daniel Shaver on January 18th, 2016. Brailsford was acquitted of the crime.
For the last few months, many community leaders in the City of Mesa have been calling for a "change in the culture" of the Mesa Police Department.For the last few months, many community leaders in the City of Mesa have been calling for a "change in the culture" of the Mesa Police Department.
"This is a culture that has been accepted within the city of Mesa," said Pastor Andre Miller after a questionable use of force incident by Mesa police. Several excessive use of force complaints were followed by marches and protests outside the Mesa Police Department.
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