Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Spencer Defends Arpaio instead of the Members

There was a dust up a few weeks back where a security guard at the Hollocauste Museum in D.C. was killed by a neo-nazi idiot. Shortly after the incident Mayor Gordon put out a statement asking Sherriff Arpaio to denounce his relationships with neo-Nazi groups here in Arizona. I don't know any of the details about what caused the dust up, but I know what Spencer did in response.

Spencer put out a press release denouncing the Mayor and defending Sherriff Joe. Why? How does that help the members. Spencer has forgotten that he was elected to represent the members, not Sherriff Joe.

I've put the full press release below so you can read it for yourself. I've heard that the Mayor sent him a letter after the press release and one of the members says they are going to send it to me. If they do, I'll share it with all of you.

Here's Spencers press release:

To: All Media, for immediate releaseDEPUTES LAW EN FORCEMENT ASSOCIATION, MARICOPA COUNTY ASSOCIATION OFDETENTION OFFICERS, PHOENIX LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSOCIATION DECRY PHOENIX MAYORPHIL GORDON'S PERSONAL ATTACK AGAINST MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO INLIGHT OF THE MURDER AT THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM IN WASHINGTON, D.C.PHOENIX, AZ--On June 10, 2009, while serving his community, a Washington DC security guard wasmurdered at the hands of a neo-Nazi suspect with a psychotic history. Even before citizens throughoutthe country were allowed to bury and mourn the loss of this brave officer, it seems as if City of PhoenixMayor Phil Gordon used this tragedy as a platform to continue his personal attacks against MaricopaCounty Sherriff Joe Arpaio. Less than a year ago Gordon was quick to communicate his lack ofconfidence in Phoenix Police officers' ability to enforce the rule of law without engaging in racialprofiling. He was wrong then and Gordon is wrong now. For additional media information, pleasecontact the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) 602 246 7869 or visit LL'WW .azdea.org Deputies Law Enforcement Association (DLEA), Maricopa County Association of Detention Officers(MCADO) and PLEA poses the question if the lack of participation in Gordon's press conference by other community leaders will bring the mayors consternation beyond Sherriff Arpaio to them? PerhapsMayor Gordon could better serve his community by disengaging in this unhealthy, accusatory, rhetoric. Gordon's public comments appear to have little value in solving immediate and pressing problems within Phoenix, Maricopa County, and Arizona.

14 comments:

  1. Sheriff is spelled with one R.

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  2. So Gordon pointed out that Arpaio shares his platform and ideology with neo-Nazis? And somehow this is about phoenix police officers? WTF! All u have to do is read the New Times to see Arpaio mugging it up for the camera with every white supremacist in the Valley. Go to hell Spencer.

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  3. Bad enough that Spencer has tunred PLEA into a political action committee for Joe Arpaio, now he is turning it into a NEO-Nazi support group. All the while its members are not even aware of whats going on. Shame on Spencer. He has used the names of Phoenix Police officers to back Arpaio. Now he is even willing to use anti-semitism to support Arpaio. Lets get this guy out of power.

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  4. Note to PLEA members. MCSO hates Phx PD. They are trying to grow their force through state legislation and take jobs away from Phx PD so they can have more deputies. And one of our own is supporting them in their lobbying efforts. Yes, that'd be you Mark Spencer. Captain of the weasel patrol. More authority for MCSO to do immigration? Wonder why? So that a law enfocement agency that has a shrinking jurisdiction that in now only about 10 percent of maricopa county can grow when they should be downsized. We dont even need MCSO anymore. How many damn duputies does it take to patrol the renaiisance festival for 2 weeks every year. let them stick to transporting people to court and guarding county building. Real cops will call them when we need them. After we have made the arrest and need someone to bring them their meals in jail.

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  5. What is this crap!! Nobody in the Phoenix PD wants anything to do with Arpaio. . .except Spencer. What the hell is Spencer up to???

    This is a load!

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  6. WTF! Gordon has been nothing but good to officers. He was key in getting the public safety initiative passed, raised money to get the word out and was behind it every step of the way. Maybe that doesn't matter to Mark, but it does to me and all of the officers who have benefitted.

    Mark doesn't represent me -- never has, never will.

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  7. Ok, so it seems there isn't a lot of support here for Spencer (and for good reason), but what do we do now? Is there a way to get him out of office. This most recent PLEA election was a joke, no one heard anythng about it, so Spencer went un challanged. What recourse do we have. We can bitch about Specer NOT representing us, or I think we should do something about it. Do we contact the Board, drop PLEA, email all representatives? We need some ideas here people. Lets take PLEA back!

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  8. "Less than a year ago Gordon was quick to communicate his lack ofconfidence in Phoenix Police officers' ability to enforce the rule of law without engaging in racialprofiling."

    That's not what I remember. Gordon didn't want to put police officers in the position where we were open to criticism for racial profiling, and we didn't want to be in that position. Still don't. Sadly op order 1.4 was changed and now we are being beaten up for not asking the immigration status of enough people. Nobody wanted the order changed but Mark, Arpaio and their buddies. The change wasn't good for officers.

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  9. I quit PLEA last week. Cannot have this buffoon representing me. I will go to COPMEA for my discount tickets. Arpaio is a MORON.

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  10. Heres a few ways, but since the board is involed in alot of this don't count on it they ar liable to fudge numbers just to stay buddy buddy with Mark especially the one year wonder at plea. Mark is only going to do what is right for him he doesn't care about members or their problems unless it is news for him. Now he is defending the guy at Pruitts who is taking photos of officers at home depot and causing problems in 500. But since he is friends with Arpaio no big shock

    ARTICLE XXII Section 2: The following shall constitute Malfeasance:
    A. Any wrongdoing or misconduct by an official or representative of the Association in the performance of his duties. or
    Section 10: Recall of Officers
    A. Any elected or appointed officer shall be subject to recall from office at any time by a majority vote of the membership.
    B. Any active member may submit a request for a recall petition to the secretary. The request must state the name of the officer to be recalled. The secretary will notify the affected officer within forty-eight (48) hours of the receipt of the request. In the event that the secretary is the affected officer, the vice president shall perform all duties of the secretary under this section.
    C. The recall petition shall state its purpose and require the member's signature, printed name, and serial number. In order to hold a recall election, the member seeking to recall the officer must submit signatures from at least one-third (1/3) of the active membership obtained within (90) days of the receipt of the petition. The secretary shall verify the validity of the signatures within five (5) days of receipt of the petitions.
    D. The secretary shall notify the requesting member whether the petitions have the required number of valid signatures. In the event that the petitions fail to meet that requirement, the requesting member shall have that time remaining, before the expiration of the ninety (90) days, to submit further petitions.
    E. If the required number of valid signatures are received by the secretary, a recall election shall be held within forty-five (45) days from the date of validation of the petitions. The recall ballots along with statements from the affected officer and requesting member will be mailed to the active membership. All statements will be reviewed by the association's legal counsel for liability issues prior to distribution.
    F. The association will employ the American Arbitration Association to count the ballots and provide the results to the requesting member, affected officer, and the PLEA Board of Trustees.
    30
    G. The association will announce the results to the membership. If the affected officer has been removed by a majority vote of the membership, the vacated position will be filled by the procedures outlined in Article X.

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  11. While I agree that Spencer needs to go and Arpaio is not someone PLEA needs to endorse, I don't agree with the MCSO deputy bashing. MCSO's Deputies' Association was killed off by Arpaio several years ago. Their President was hounded and put under so many investigations he could never crawl out from under. He ended up being yanked from a good detail (Lake Patrol)and stuck in a horrible detail (Court Detail) just for trying to do the right thing by his members. He had so much paper out on him (which all ended up going away) that he couldn't even lateral to PPD. He ended up quitting and going back home, back East. This is a huge reason why I don't understand the current PLEA Board being in bed with Arpaio. They even back the current Deputies' Association, which is fine except for the fact that Arpaio was the one who smashed the last one. Spencer and the current Board are always harping on the old Board being in bed with management. I guess its okay to be in bed with management if its not your Chief?
    Going back to the MCSO bashing: the Deputies and DOs do a great job with what they have to work with. They're stuck with their management tier just as we are. We're fortunate, I think, to have a good chain of command. I just don't think that we should ever denigrate our "brothers and sisters" in blue (or tan). They do the same job we do and put their lives on the line, just as we do. If I need a backup, I'll be happy to see a tan uniform just as well as a blue one.

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  12. If someone gets a recall petition going, I will rejoin PLEA so I can sign it!!

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  13. Is any one shocked by spencers leadership style? If it is even leadership. His entire career, even the manner in which he obtained his current position was a result of personal attacks, negativity and bringing those around him down in attempt to raise himeself. Do not be shocked by his style, it has been apparant for sometime. It would be so refreshing to see him step out of this fragile shell and bring forth real solutions to what HE percieves as the challeges in the Department. Until then we must hunker down, he will not be around forever, then we can start the rebuilding process moving toward a true labor management working partnership.

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  14. Here is a good one Mark Spencer is working with BADPHOENIXCOP.COM and writing letters well copy materila from letters in that web site to send to the FBI about LT. Knott. Just read the lastest PLEA website article about it then check out the web site one and you will see the simalrities in the post. I think we know where bad phoenix cop is getting the inside info from.

    Sincerley fed up with PLEAS crap

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