Pinal sheriff fires four
May 16, 2009
Casa Grande Valley Newspapers
"We have so many fine deputies who
protect and serve our county. I will nott
allow the actions of a few to damage
the perishable trust we hold with the
public"
Photo and source:
Casa Grande Valley Newspapers staff Florence,
az - A plan to provide
faster service to citizens and the firing of four Pinal County Sheriff's Office
employees were announced Friday by Sheriff Paul Babeu.
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Babeu also
unveils plan to divide county into three regions for faster response times
The county is divided into three regions under the new plan rather than four, with
numerous beats in each region. That is intended to improve computerized dispatching
over shorter distances.
Two deputies, a detention officer and a dispatcher were fired for "severe violations
which shall not be tolerated," Babeu said at a press conference.
Sgt. Ron Ryan, an 18-year veteran, was terminated Tuesday. Babeu said Ryan was on
duty and in uniform when he showed up at the range to practice firing his weapon.
Range staff noticed an odor of alcohol on Ryan. Babeu said Ryan's blood alcohol
registered 0.12 percent. The legal limit for driving is 0.08 percent.
On Monday Deputy Cardest James was fired following a lengthy investigation by Internal
Affairs into numerous violations. James allegedly failed to maintain Intoxylizer
records for several months, which resulted in the dismissal of numerous DUI cases
in northern Pinal County.
Babeu said James in a separate incident handed a civilian observer a loaded shotgun
during an incident on Oct. 18. This exposed the civilian to a potentially dangerous
situation. James allegedly also made numerous false statements to investigators
throughout the investigation.
In addition, James was off-duty when he confronted a citizen, identifying himself
as a deputy.
Dispatcher Brittany Beauchamp was fired Thursday after an internal investigation
for failure to follow her supervisor's instructions. Babeu said it is believed that
she lied during the investigation.
Also on Thursday, Detention Officer Brian Hernandez was fired after an investigation
into an off-duty DUI arrest. Babeu said Hernandez had been dishonest multiple times
during the internal investigation as well as with Arizona Department of Public Safety
officers during his arrest.
"We have so many fine deputies who protect and serve our county - I will not allow
the actions of a few to damage the perishable trust we hold with the public. Officers
uphold the law and are held to a higher standard of personal and professional conduct,"
Babeu said.
Sheriff seeks faster responses, Pinal
County Sheriff
Paul Babeu has divided
the county into three regions -
A, B
and C. he said, “to best deploy our
deputies to
respond to emergencies
faster.” The sheriff said
response
time for a Priority No. 1 Emergency
Photo and source:
Casa Grande Valley Newspapers staff
He said there are not enough deputies to cover the new region plan with 18 beats.
At least four to five more deputies are needed.
Pinal County has applied for a federal grant that, if approved, would allow the
PCSO to hire more deputies. During the average shift there are 22 deputies on duty
including supervisors. During times when more help is needed, there could be up
to 36 deputies on overlapping shifts.
Chief Deputy Steve Henry said 33 patrol cars were involved in wrecks last year as
deputies rushed to respond to calls from citizens, sometimes over long distances.
Henry said deputies at times were driving at high speeds in order to keep up with
calls. Under this new plan, deputies should be closer to the call locations so they
can drive more reasonably.
Babeu said he wants to cut the response time to no more than 10 minutes from the
current average of 12 minutes.
Here are some other items reported:
-- Mobile Data Computers in patrol cars have increased to more than 90 from 20.
-- A new dispatch manager has been hired and there are now two radio channels with
24/7 coverage.
-- Staff at the jail has improved so that it will be under command supervision 24/7.
-- A total of 44 new patrol cars have been added to the fleet.
-- First aid training is under way as most employees are now trained or scheduled
for training.
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