At the same time that Phoenix - the Phoenix City Council and Mayor Kate Gallego - are open and transparent dealing with incidents of excessive use-of-force, unwarranted surveillance. and sexual harassment on-the-job by being accountable in the glare of public scrutiny and calls for civilian oversight and review, Mesa city officials have so far managed to avoid scrutiny or taking any action, except to change who is hired from the outside or promoted from within-the-ranks by slow-playing the news, carefully crafting the narrative they want.
Left to right: Tempe City Manager Andrew Ching, Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell, Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir.
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What you see in the opening image is probably something you won't see here in Mesa: the city manager, the mayor, and the police chief appearing all together
Tempe police chief on the defensive at first ever community issues meeting
"A year after the controversial police shooting of 14-year-old Antonio Arce and just weeks after prosecutors declined to charge the officer involved, Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir was on the defensive during a first-ever community meeting in the City of Tempe.
The event, dubbed Tempe Listens, was the first in what the city says will be quarterly meetings that will focus on a variety of issues. The inaugural meeting focused on policing.
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The meeting was moderated by Pastor Andre Miller of New Beginnings Christian Church in Mesa *. who has held similar community conversations between law enforcement and the people they police in other Arizona cities.
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Tuesday’s meeting at Tempe Christ Church became contentious as the evening went on, with some community members voicing frustrations with Moir’s answers – or lack thereof.
Things reached a head when Moir claimed that Tempe Police Department does not have a cell site simulator device, often referred to as a Stingray, after a resident asked if the department would be willing to get rid of its counter-terrorism unit and stop using its Stingray device.
Stingray devices are meant to mimic a cell phone tower in order to trick a target cell phone so law enforcement can track a subject or to gain access to their device.
Moir also said Tempe PD doesn’t have a counter-terrorism unit.
“I don’t really know what the point of a community conversation is if you’re going to lie to us,” said one member of the audience as Miller attempted to calm the crowd.
Moir spent most of the night playing defense, as community members asked repeatedly for more transparency from the department and changes to various policies. . .
> Multiple questions revolved around asking Tempe to adopt a policy similar to the one adopted recently by Phoenix to create a civilian review board for its police force that will have the power to investigate complaints against police and recommend policy directly to the chief.
Moir said that a civilian review board that Tempe created in 1999 that reviews incidents currently fills that gap.
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The only webpage that can be found for the board is for an older version of Tempe’s website, which has no information on the board.
> Another point of conflict was Tempe’s LRAD, an acoustic cannon that can be used at long ranges.
Tempe Police and Phoenix Police both previously told the Arizona Mirror that they have no policies on how they deploy their long range acoustic devices, which have been known to cause permanent hearing loss.
“It’s not a weapon,” Moir said in response to a question that phrased it as such.
“I would have to look at how it is used, if it is used in Tempe.”
Some audience members took offense to Moir’s statement, saying that they had seen the device used at protests. . .
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Tempe police chief on the defensive at first ever community issues meeting
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