Chief Garcia still in the dark about Wilson's poor supervision.

The New Times' expands on Schweikert's memo from last week's news. In his own memo responding to all that on November 28, Chief Garcia sounds like he either really was clueless until Schweikert's memo hit Channel 5, or he's about to hang Mark Schweikert out to dry for writing it in the first place. Everyone seems to just be covering their asses now...

------------------------------------

Sex With Minors: Supervisor of Detective Accused of Sexually Assaulting Two Teenage Boys Claims Top City Officials Protected the Cop

By Monica Alonzo

Published Mon., Dec. 3 2012 at 6:00 AM                                             Councilman 

Tom Simplot

Assistant Police Chief Tracy Montgomery

Phoenix police Sergeant Mark Schweikert, supervisor of a now-former Phoenix police detective accused of having sex with two teenage boys, claims that two city officials meddled in his efforts to deal with the detective's work problems.

 In the 22-page memo, first obtained by CBS 5 reporter Donna Rossi, Schweikert alleges that Phoenix Councilman Tom Simplot and Assistant Police Chief Tracy Montgomery, both openly gay, interfered in his dealings with Wilson.

Schweikert reveals that he was "concerned" about Wilson's emotional state and knew that "Wilson [was] up to something" in the weeks leading up to his arrest.
Phoenix Police Department spokesman Trent Crump says department officials, including Montgomery, aren't commenting on the matter because it's under review.

However, Simplot's office provided New Times a copy of a memo written by Phoenix Police Chief Daniel Garcia on November 28 to City Manager David Cavazos to "address the question of Councilman Simplot's alleged involvement in influencing Sergeant Mark Schweikert's actions in the supervision of former Detective Chris Wilson."

Garica writes that he has "no information that would support the allegation, and I am not aware of any involvement by Councilman Simplot in attempting to influence Sergeant Mark Schweikert in supervising the police duties of former Detective Chris Wilson."
Police arrested Wilson, 43, on August 7 in connection with the alleged sexual assaults of a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old. Wilson served on the police department's Community Response Squad as outreach officer to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

 Schweikert says Wilson "would make his close relationship with Councilman Simplot known" and "would brag about being Councilman Simplot's workout partner."

Schweikert writes, "Mr. Wilson advised me on several occasions that he was invited to attend formal events with Councilman Simplot."

Simplot tells New Times that he has not read the memo but that he has never intervened in matters involving city employees.

The matter is under investigation by the city's Equal Opportunity Department, where Schweikert filed a formal complaint in late September over officials' allegedly creating a hostile work environment for him with their interference.
Schweikert apparently had complained to the EOD before September about Montgomery "interfering" with the management of his squad, but it went ignored, he says.

"As time passed, no one ever followed up on my complaint," Schweikert writes. "I felt my complaint was dismissed in a passive-aggressive manner."

Schweikert's claims are explosive because Wilson met the boys he is accused of sexually assaulting through his positions as a liaison officer. And there were complaints about Wilson from the community, according to Schweikert -- including that Wilson didn't communicate well with the community, was not connecting with gay churches or businesses, was arrogant, was unapproachable, and was "an asshole."

But Schweikert says he didn't feel -- given Wilson's political connections -- that he could act on those complaints or take any action against Wilson.

It's only speculation whether Wilson would have remained in his post and engaged in the alleged subsequent sexual assaults if Schweikert had addressed the problems with Wilson.

Wilson would "infer that his attendance at various LGBT functions was mandated by [Simplot] and would require the payment of overtime," Schweikert writes.

Simplot says Wilson clearly was "not the person any of us thought he was. He is a confessed pedophile. He manipulated the community. He manipulated the police department. He manipulated City Hall. I don't know what he said or didn't say, and I have to believe that Officer Wilson was manipulating his boss like he manipulated everybody else."

Simplot acknowledges that he and Wilson worked out at the same gym. He says Wilson's role as liaison officer required him to attend LGBT community events.
"That's his job description," Simplot explains, adding that Wilson apparently would take "a kernel of fact and blow it up into something much more than it ever was."

When issues arose involving Wilson, Schweikert claims, any actions he took were given special scrutiny by Montgomery. Schweikert also says his superiors would advise him "not to make an issue of it" and let them "do what they wanted to do."

In his memo, Schweikert recalls one instance in which Wilson was investigating a complaint of misconduct against another police officer. Schweikert was planning to forward the complaint to the police department's Professional Standards Bureau, which investigates such complaints, when, he claims, Montgomery told him to put things on hold.

Schweikert agreed, and told Wilson to cease his investigation based on Montgomery's order.

Schweikert says he was later called into Montgomery's office and accused "of disobeying her directives." He says she was "angry and proceeded to berate me."
Montgomery had given a different order to Wilson regarding the investigation of this police officer, Schweikert says, and she "advised me that I had no right to order Mr. Wilson to stop his investigation."

Schweikert says he tried to explain that he was only doing what she asked. He says "she slowed her speech to ... indicate I was slow to understand."

He writes that Montgomery said to him: "Mark, I'm going to be direct with you. You may not know this but each chief is assigned to an advisory group. Chris [Wilson] answers to me. You are working in a very political position. Your performance has been fine. We are not at that point of having you removed."
He says he took those comments as a veiled threat against his job.

He told one police commander about "how difficult it was ... to supervise Mr. Wilson" and that "Wilson would report directly" to Simplot or Montgomery.
Schweikert also says he has an e-mail that "clearly states [Montgomery] was communicating directly to Mr. Wilson instead of communicating concerns via the chain of command."

When Wilson was "hostile toward a fellow teammate," Schweikert says, he brought Wilson into his office and told him "his behavior ... was inappropriate" and documented the incident in Wilson's file.

"During this time period, Assistant Chief Montgomery was questioning my team's tactics on a regular basis, and she seemed extra critical of my work since I had coached Mr. Wilson" about his behavior toward a fellow cop, Schweikert writes.
Schweikert says during the Pride Festival, Wilson "went against .. team protocol" and used "false pretenses" to get a fully-marked police car, with its lights flashing, into the festival's parade.

"We did not have a need for the vehicle," Schweikert writes, adding that his lieutenant told him "not to make and issue of it and let Mr. Wilson" do what he wanted to do.

Schweikert continues: "Mr. Wilson...failed to consult me" and was "untouchable because of the protection granted...by Assistant Chief Montgomery."

Schweikert says that when he attempted to address some of Wilson's performance issues, Wilson arranged for the two of them to meet with Megan Schmitz, Simplot's chief of staff.

Schmitz is also the chair of the board of directors for 1 n 10 Youth Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to building self-esteem and acceptance among LGBT youth, including those questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity.

While the three were in the meeting room, Schweikert says Schmitz told him that Simplot also wanted to attend the meeting.

"Ms. Schmitz focused the conversation on how great Mr. Wilson has been to her and Councilman Simplot. The accolades for Mr. Wilson, in my opinion, were in response to counter the negative feedback Mr. Wilson had received" from members of the LGBT community.

During the conversation, Schweikert says, Simplot walked into the room "thanked me for allowing Mr. Wilson to work with him, and he noted what a great job Mr. Wilson was doing" before leaving the room.

"I felt that Councilman Simplot was using his position to influence me not to take supervisory action toward Mr. Wilson and discount any negative feedback [about Wilson] from various community members," Schweikert writes in his memo. "I felt that Councilman Simplot was trying to intimidate me.

Simplot says he pops into meetings all the time and that occasion was no different -- he says he just made a few remarks and left.

"Clearly, Wilson is a master at manipulation," Simplot says.

Schweikert's memo also details noticeable changes in Wilson's behavior in the weeks before his arrest.

"I had observed that he had been distant at work, and he did not seem happy," Schweikert writes. "I was concerned about Mr. Wilson, but I did not have enough to articulate a request for a Work Fitness Evaluation...I felt that he could lose his temper at any moment."

In his memo, Schweikert also notes at least one occasion where Wilson took one of his now-alleged victims to the dentist.

"I did not think what Mr. Wilson was doing [was] appropriate, but it was not a violation of policy," he writes. "I did not question what Mr. Wilson did with his personal time."

Schweikert memo on Simplot hits the stands...

Sorry to just be catching this up - am out of town with a family emergency. Note the link embedded in the article to the full PHX PD memo by Sgt. Mark Schweikert.

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Memo claims ex cop accused of sex with minors was protected

Posted: Nov 27, 2012 7:01 PM MST

Updated: Nov 28, 2012 10:33 AM MST  

By Donna Rossi /PHOENIX (CBS) - 

 Maricopa County prosecutors want a court-ordered HIV test for a former police officer accused of having sex with two teens boys.

Former Phoenix police detective Chris Wilson appeared in court today. Wilson was arrested in August for having sex with a 14-year-old and 17-year-old that he met through his position as the liaison officer to the LGBT community.

The judge will hear arguments on the HIV testing at a future hearing. The defense is asking the accusers to submit to tests as well.

In another development in the Wilson case, CBS 5 News has obtained a document that outlines concerns about Wilson's professional performance long before his arrest.  [Click here to read the full document (PDF)]

Shortly after Wilson was arrested there were rumblings that Wilson had been having problems as the LGBT liaison for a couple of years. It was rumored that his sergeant documented those problems but felt powerless to do anything.
CBS 5 News tried to get those documents but our public records request was denied. The city cited an ongoing investigation. But through a verified source, CBS 5 News obtained the documentation a few weeks ago.

In a 22-page memo written by Wilson's immediate supervisor, Sgt. Mark Schweikert tells the story of a rogue detective who should have been reigned in, perhaps even replaced as the LGBT liaison.

In the memo Schweikert writes that he told his commander it was difficult to supervise Wilson because of interference from openly gay City Councilman Tom Simplot and out Assistance Chief Tracy Montgomery.

Schweikert writes that Wilson made it known that Simplot was his work out buddy. At one point Schweikert writes that he felt Simplot was using his position to influence and intimidate him to not take supervisory action against Wilson, even though a host of citizen's in the LGBT community complained about Wilson. 

Throughout the document Schweikert details one example after another where Montgomery allegedly pulled rank and made decisions that protected Wilson even though she was not in his chain of command.

The document, if true, raises questions about whether, if managed properly, Wilson might have eventually been removed as the LGBT liaison and not have met the boys he's accused of victimizing.

It's important to point out that the memo is only the account as document by Schweikert.

The document is in the hands of city leaders and the accusations are being investigated by the city Equal Opportunity Department as part of a hostile work environment complaint filed by Schweikert.

The police department said they would not comment until that investigation is over.

Simplot's assistant said he would be happy to address the accusations but he is out of the country until late Tuesday night.

Friending the Phoenix Police...

The most helpful thing I have to offer my comrades here is the truth of my own experience with the Red Squad. Reserve your judgement, please, as this is going to come out in pieces, and I'm still figuring it all out as I go. 

Here's Part I:

I was actually really fucking with this guy, not flirting with him. 
At least I thought I was...

PUENTE March for Dignity and Justice

Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix

July 28, 2012

The first time I remember meeting Sgt. Mark Schweikert was in front of the Phoenix Police HQ on W. Washington Street the day after his colleague Sgt. Sean Drenth was murdered, back in October 2010. I had spent most of the preceding two weeks protesting the Phoenix Police over the brutal and unjustified killing of Danny Rodriguez by PPD officer Richard Chrisman, and was preparing for an upcoming Day Against Police Brutality action - I'd been hating the police a lot of late.

But the news about Sean Drenth saddened me, hitting kind of close to home. Whether or not one thinks he was crooked and about to turn state's evidence - and was thus murdered by his own brothers in blue - is a side issue. As news of his death spread through my Facebook community, I saw a handful of people outright celebrating another cop being taken off the beat. It didn't go over well with me, and I went on a rant of sorts.

I was pretty removed from radical politics at the time, trying harder to get others to join me in my fight with the DOC than to figure out what their things were and why they felt as they did. My reaction to the celebrations over that cop's death was intensely personal. My father, the man who taught me to be the radical I am today, was a military intelligence officer who wore the uniform of the state for most of my life. At one point he was the Director of Security at Fort Dix. He believed passionately in his mission to defend America and Democracy the world over, and spent a considerable amount of time overseas in combat with people I may have called my comrades in another time and place. 

I have had a great many problems with my Dad's devout patriotism, and still prefer not to wonder about the things he may have done in my name, as an American soldier in war. But I know my father to be a good man nonetheless, one who defies racism and promotes equality in his relationships and business dealings, despite his conservative politics. He expressly taught me to question authority, and to resist Power if the compromise demanded for reward or privilege was of my values - which it always seems to be. He lived to regret that, I think, because his was the first authority I challenged as I aged. But I owe much of who I am to that man, and I love him dearly. 

So, while I regard the police as enemies of the People, generally, I do not accept the premise that donning the uniform of the state turns one into a non-person and justifies an outright celebration of a cop's murder. I also live with the grief of survivors of homicide and suicide every day, and would not wish that on any officer's family, no matter what I may think of the victim themselves. I was furious with my Facebook friends who felt otherwise, and stormed out of the conversation and my home to work out my frustration in chalk. My drive to the Capitol, where I found most of my favorite targets, took me by the Police HQ, where I impulsively stopped and got out to leave a giant peace sign on their sidewalk - more for myself, I think, than for them.

I wasn't expecting media to be there, and was interrupted to explain my offering: the Peace was just for the day for them to bury their dead, I basically said - the war would be back on again  tomorrow.

That was when I met Mark Schweikert; formally, anyway. He and Chris Wilson were heading out of the PD and stopped to see what I was chalking. Schweikert was touched - he said that Drenth was not only a colleague but a friend of his. I could identify. My ex-lover sat down in front of a train a few years back, so I knew how devastating news of such a sudden and violent death could be to a close-knit community, which I assumed the PHX PD was - and at the time no one really knew how Drenth died. I guess we still don't. 

In any case, I had a moment of sympathy for the police that day. My right to express myself on their sidewalk even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear was affirmed, though they were visibly relieved to see what I was leaving, considering my messages of the preceding two weeks. We chatted for a minute about the legality of my chalking. Mark told me to have cops or security guards who give me trouble over what I do on the public sidewalk call their squad if I need to; Chris Wilson gave me his business card since Mark didn't have one. 

It didn't seem to be any big deal to me to accept the Red Squad's protection, so to speak. I felt they were doing the job they were supposed to - which was to defend my free speech rights. I handed the card a few times to bank guards and beat cops who would enthusiastically call the Red Squad to come arrest me, then wish me a good day and back off every time. Basically, until the rest of the town learned they would just have to put up with me, Schweikert and the PPD Red Squad had my back. For awhile, at least, I appreciated that.

That was the beginning of my long slow dance with the Red Squad and their Sargent, Mark Schweikert. I didn't do much critical analysis of their role as the protest police back then - I took it at face value that Mark and Al and their buddies really did just want to help make sure we all had a safe, pleasant protest experience. The long time peace activists seemed to trust that much as well - the Red Squad was a familiar, even reassuring part of the protest landscape in Phoenix. And most of the PHX Police were beginning to recognize me and wish me well in my sidewalk activity...which admittedly took the fun out of some of it, and certainly added to my sense of complacency. No one was beating our heads in at the actions I was going to, at least, so as protest police go, I must have thought, Phoenix was relatively okay.

Yes, I'm a middle class white woman, by the way, and that was my privilege speaking up there. It wore off real quick, once I got into the trenches here.

I am not the only one in the activist community who has been so seduced. Fortunately, the anarchists I hang with have never hesitated to question the role of Phoenix police in suppressing liberation movements. The cops never tried to engage them in friendly relationships, of course, which protected them from the kind of corruption people like me are vulnerable to. Smiling at me is as close as Phoenix cops get to being nice to anarchists, I think, and I don't really count since I can't articulate anarchist theory well enough to really say I can represent any kind of anarchy, even anarcho-feminism. I just know that many of the people I love and trust the most are sworn anarchists, I am in sympathy with their politics, I draw power and inspiration from their movement, and I appreciate the diversity of tactics they bring to the struggle.

Those folks I was so angry at on Facebook about Sean Drenth's death are really the ones who have taught me the most about critiquing the police - they were far more astute about state power than I was at the time, and helped me rein in my sentimentality about my old man before it got me into trouble. That's not to say I think we need to dehumanize our enemies in order to fight them effectively - not at all. It's just to say that we need to be sure to recognize the enemy when we see them, and call them what they are...and whether we like to admit it or not, they are human beings, not pigs.


Human or not, though, their objective is to keep not only our direct actions but our liberation movements from making any real impact on the status quo. Not only is that not something I would tolerate among my friends, it's a sure indicator that you're talking about an enemy soldier. They wear the trusted uniform of the state instead of white hoods but they are in the employ of an institution which exists to oppress, repress, and suppress the masses to the well-being of a privileged few: a white supremacy is what the whole "justice" system in this state supports. The standard MO of the police is also to exploit our communities' fears, prejudices, and vulnerabilities in order to maintain their own positions of privilege and power as our "protectors" - or rather, our keepers.

I am tired of being kept, frankly, and I can't think of any institution more contemptible to work for than those which make up the Prison Industrial Complex...and for their role, I must assert again that while police officers are indeed human beings, they are also the enemies of freedom. If you are a community activist committed to a liberation movement and you trust a cop, beware. 

Rule number 1: Do not "friend" the police. Any of them. Trusting you with their vulnerable or "human" side - or offering special privilege - is part of the seduction. Make it clear to them that you can only be trusted to turn their weaknesses against them because they are the enemy, and refuse to accept any of the privilege they may offer, no matter how small.

Peggy Plews

The Phoenix Police "Red Squad" Detectives.

(REPOSTED from The Diary of a Prison Abolitionist)

June 29, 2011

Top Row
Lt. Bryan Coley, Det. Rick Tamburo, Det. Dottie Conroy, Det. Al Ramirez, 

Det. Rick Flum, Det. Tony Davis

Bottom Row
Det. Jeff Wood, Sgt. Mark Schweikert, Det. Jerry Oliver, 

Det. Chris Wilson, Det. Chris Abril

For those of you not quite so familiar with Phoenix and political protest, I wanted to introduce you to the Phoenix Police Protest Detectives from the Red Squad (also know as the Community Response Team).

I found their photo on-line with a memo from the Secret Service thanking them for assuring that everything went smoothly with George Bush's last visit to town (I believe a bunch of people were planning to arrest him for crimes against humanity). Get to know their faces now, so you recognize them casually chatting it up with our less-alert buddies in the street.

These are the folks who are supposed to convince the rabble that the cops really aren't so bad after all - I mean, look at Al. Everyone loves Al. He just wants us to have a safe protest experience - he's really there to protect our first amendment rights, not inhibit them....right? In fact, he was the first Phoenix Cop to give me the okay to chalk the sidewalks ("just keep it clean, off private property, and on the ground" were the parameters I got).

Thanks for that, Al. I probably wouldn't be facing felony charges for graffiti today if you hadn't nurtured my blossoming artist within when I still thought of you as one of "the good guys"...hmm.

Anyway, this is to remind folks that the real job of every cop - no matter how sweet their smile or gentle their touch when they cuff you - is to maintain order - and that's the same order that has so many people hurting and dying at the bottom with a few living at the top in the luxury they stole from our labor (which we thank them incessantly for the opportunity to provide them at cut rates as we clean their toilets, wipe their asses, and tend their rock gardens...)

That's the order that even the nicest cops maintain for society, and they'll do their duty and haul you off to jail if you disrupt it. A little chalking and chanting from 11am-1pm is okay; channel our energy that way and it helps keep us from launching any meaningful resistance. These guys will almost always police us with a smile (don't be mistaken that that's precisely what they're doing), but that doesn't mean they wouldn't use every other weapon at their disposal, if they have to. In fact, I think they pull them all out for the Anarchists when the Nazis come to town just to keep their training current.

It's been increasingly my observation that - as a rule of thumb - if you're a community organizer and have a "friendly" relationship with your own Red Squad, it's probably a sign you've been co-opted, and your resistance is only enough to make both you and the cops look like you're doing your jobs. In fact, if that's the relationship, then they're keeping you and your people down more effectively than anyone is rising up. If you're really posing a threat to the status quo, even good old Al will come after you and try to take you out - so be heartened if he ever does. Overt tension with the protest detectives seems to worry some folks across progressive and even some more radical movements, but trust me, hearing an occasional "fuck the police" fly through the air - followed by a canister of tear gas being returned to the owner - is a really good sign of resistance.

In Phoenix, for the most part, the Left is much too friendly with the Red Squad, which is employed in the service of the Right (the so-called "People" here - not the real human beings). The cops define the boundaries of what's acceptable and what's too extreme for good citizen protest, it seems - and most progressive cause protestors are really just trying to be good citizens, in the end (listen to the language they use). The cops show us where free speech is and isn't allowed, and remind us when it gets to be a little too obnoxious. We politely police ourselves, even, so they don't have to.

Here's an example of diminished resistance. One day, Al actually convinced some protesters who had chalked outside the PLEA Union Hall to clean up after themselves when the action was over. They complied. Now, I flipped out when he asked me to do that, frankly. What's the point of screaming the truth at them across the sidewalk if you're just going to take it back when you get it all out of your system and pack up to go home? (actually, I apologized for screaming about that at Al that day, but that's different...)

They keep us corralled in invisibly-marked "free speech zones" where we can "safely" let off steam and think we fought a good battle before we all pack up for our parties that night and go back to our daily lives the next week, where we may or may not have the time or energy or means to resist until the Nazis march again in Phoenix...and in that way they have been winning - subduing the restless masses with their paternalism and smiles...maintaining the illusion that we are a real democracy because the people can protest...

Tell me, though, Red Squad - what if Americans, like the young and old alike across the Middle East - seriously demanded more democracy, more equality, more freedom, more justice - and threatened to kick our government out by force if we didn't get it in this election cycle? What would our police state look like then? Would it not look much like theirs?

See, I think that's precisely what we need to be doing, as too many of us have grown too numb to the growing human rights and civil liberties crises around us - much like some of us have stopped actively resisting the fact that we are still at war...too many wars.