Arizona's law enforcement watchdog has opened misconduct investigations into 25 cops and punished 22 from around the state so far this year, including an officer who put the muzzle of his gun to a woman’s head and another who asked two high school girls when they had lost their virginity.
Violent, creepy cops:
22 Arizona police officers punished so far in 2024
The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board has investigated 25 cops for misconduct this year. Here's what it found.
Here are some of the most egregious police misconduct cases AZPOST has heard since January.
Mesa officer gets creepy
In March 2023, Mesa cop Clinton Bertola stopped a car he spotted doing doughnuts in the parking lot of a local park. Two people, both female high school students, were in the car. Bertola’s missteps started immediately, according to Assistant Attorney General Joe Dylo’s presentation to the board in January. Bertola was required to inform his dispatcher about the stop and turn on his body camera, but he did neither. Operating without supervision, Bertola got creepy.The driver gave Bertola her license, but the passenger lacked one and offered the officer a copy of her high school identification on her phone. Dylo said Bertola then took both back to his patrol vehicle, where he went through the girl’s phone without her consent. When he returned, he asked the passenger whether she was wearing a bra and asked both girls when they had lost their virginity. He told them they were dressed like 20-year-olds and scantily clad.
“As a mother of three girls, I can see no justification for that kind of conversation with high school girls,” Leesa Weisz, a civilian board member, said during the January meeting.
Bertola resigned in the wake of the incident. In February, the board unanimously accepted a consent agreement with Bertola and suspended Bertola’s license until June 2026, when it will expire. Bertola will be able to reapply for certification after the end of the suspension. . ."
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