McCoy ordered an audit of cases in which TPD forensic technicians may have testified to determine if issues or errors may exist in latent print analysis. No cases were found to be impacted."
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GIST: "An independent consultant will review Tempe Police Department’s Analytics Bureau units in the wake of uncovered shortcomings in policy, procedure and leadership that held them back from performing their jobs using industry-standard, high-tech equipment and training.
Applications closed May 23 on Tempe’s request for proposal for a consultant to evaluate the Forensic Services Unit and Technical Services Unit – both within the Police Analytics Bureau.
Those proposals were sought following incidents that occurred since 2015 under former police chiefs Sylvia Moir, who resigned Sept. 15, 2020, and Jeff Glover, who left Jan. 17, 2023, to become director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
A statement from the city said the problems have been rectified and hiring a consultant is a step toward ensuring that they do not recur.
The leader of the Police Analytics Bureau, Wil Price, retired in March; Forensic Services Unit supervisor Laura Somershoe retired in December 2021; and Technical Services Bureau supervisor Angelique Beltran resigned in April 22 amid an investigation.
In Forensic Services, a 2021 investigation revealed insufficient training of technicians, expired chemicals used in the crime lab, procedure busts in storage of evidence, and outdated and insufficient equipment – despite unused money in the budget.
Forensic Services technicians process crime scenes ranging from homicides, to sexual assaults, to officer-involved shootings.
In Technical Services, the entire unit left en masse within weeks last August over a series of problems.
Boxes of laptops sat unused. They had been using out-of-date technology, handwriting reports when computer apps are the standard. Fiscal mismanagement and tech projects lingered unfinished for years.
A May 24 statement from the city said the problems have been addressed since Chief Kenneth McCoy took over the Police Department on June 5, 2023
“While we cannot speak to the decisions, discussions and actions that occurred under previous police chiefs years ago, we can share what Chief Kenneth McCoy has been doing to improve the Tempe Police Department since he took over last June,” the city statement reads.
The statement continued, “One of those actions is to engage an experienced independent consultant to provide a thorough evaluation of the Technical Services Unit, Forensic Services Unit and Crime and Data Analysis Unit that make up the Police Analytics Bureau.
“We believe that another set of eyes will help ensure these units are equipped with the tools, standards, and training they need to best serve the community.”
Tempe’s request calls for the selected firm to “assess the efficacy of current strategies and pinpoint areas for enhancement. . . . By tapping into the expertise of a qualified external partner, Police leadership seeks to ensure alignment with industry-leading practices and equip these units to adeptly navigate evolving challenges.”
Last September, McCoy essentially pulled the forensics unit off the street.
“While Tempe FSU techs continue to handle evidence gathering and photography work, all major crime scene forensic work and fingerprint IDs have been outsourced to Mesa’s forensics lab,” McCoy said in a statement.
“Tempe Police Department will also send its FSU team through Mesa’s Crime Scene Academy to ensure shared practices. . . . We believe this will achieve our goal of offering the highest level of service to our residents.”
McCoy ordered an audit of cases in which TPD forensic technicians may have testified to determine if issues or errors may exist in latent print analysis. No cases were found to be impacted.
Tempe spent $170,000 on an inter-governmental agreement with Mesa to assist in evaluation of prior incidents, train personnel consistent with contemporary standards, and provide support with major scene processing and latent print analysis.
All FSU staff members are attending or have attended a 16-week academy to learn contemporary forensic standards driven by defensible operating procedures.
“We are not here to second-guess decisions made months or years ago by the unit’s former supervisor – who no longer works for Tempe PD – or the decisions made by the since-departed City Manager or Police Chief. We are here to evolve this unit to ensure Tempe residents have the high-quality public safety services they demand and deserve,” a city statement read.
A new forensics supervisor took over in January 2023.
Somershoe, who was not a sworn officer and became FSU supervisor in 2015, said she was the target of a “witch hunt” and was so overwhelmed with responsibilities that she was “just trying to stay afloat.”
TPD forensic technicians told investigators a mop handle from a 2016 homicide case was left in a temporary locker for two years.
Somershoe acknowledged that the mop handle was to be processed by her, but she instead spent time on hiring, training, navigating COVID-19 and other management responsibilities.
Another tech told investigators the department did not conduct annual latent print comparison testing, nor competency testing on how to swab for DNA, nor packaging of physical evidence, nor how to test for blood at a crime scene, how to search for biological fluids, nor how to take crime-scene photographs.
An FSU technician provided an example of an approximately 15-year-old polychromatic light in the crime lab, that over the years experienced reduced output, not allowing for proper examination of latent fingerprints.
The TPD Professional Standards Bureau investigation yielded a 44-page report, concluding that Somershoe “was more probable than not” to have violated city personnel rules and standards of performance of her duty.
Employees told investigators they were unable to maintain their skllls and knowledge at crime scenes at the necessary level due to lack of training, and officers confirmed it.
A Tempe employee who requested training was denied by Somershoe, even though the employee offered to pay for the training.
Somershoe told investigators she preferred “spot checks” to evaluate the technicians’ work instead of proficiency testing.
After conducting a test of blood found on the floor at a homicide scene, a forensic technician told an investigating TPD sergeant he was not sure if the results would be accurate because the kit he used was “expired.”
At another crime scene, a TPD officer told investigators, a Mesa Police Crime Lab tech was observing a Tempe forensic tech and saw incorrect chemicals being used. The Mesa tech drove to Mesa PD and then returned with the correct chemicals.
At another scene, a forensic technician had to use the flashlight from her cellphone because the flash on her department-issued camera did not work.
At yet another scene, a Tempe sergeant observed a Tempe forensic technician reading directions from new equipment, with which the tech clearly was not proficient.
There were no training records found for each Tempe tech.
Somershoe evidently did not know she had a folder dating to 2015 containing reports “just sitting there” with no final disposition.
Soon after the Forensic Services Unit investigation was finished, Tempe Police in January 2022 launched an internal investigation into the Technical Services Unit. Beltran, the manager, resigned before the investigation was completed.
Tech services unit fell years behind industry standards, the internal investigation concluded, and Beltran likely would have been terminated due to “a lack of sufficient competency or efficiency” over failing to provide technicians with proper equipment and wasting taxpayer money.
Her supervisor, Price, retired after investigators concluded that he failed to address concerns within the unit.
Technical Services assists officers with laptops, body cameras and other electronic equipment, as well as updating computers and programs.
The internal investigation found that hundreds of laptops from an order of 431, worth about $4,000 each, sat unused in storage for two years.
Tempe paid $83,000 for data plans for those laptops for two years, according to the internal report. And 135 printers purchased in 2015, worth about $520 each, were not put into service for years.
“To be extremely clear, there is no room for this kind of incompetence in the Tempe Police Department or in our city’s government,” a statement from the city reads. “Today’s leadership will not tolerate these kinds of inadequacies.”
Among the projects delayed was implementation of electronic reports and electronic ticketing. The investigation also revealed that officers’ laptops missed three major updates over a period of seven years.
Tempe now is implementing electronic accident reports and electronic ticketing.
Officers are being phased in on VMobile, a cellphone app that could aid them in the field with such safety elements as tracking if they’re away from their vehicles.
McCoy is adding experienced IT professionals, the city says.
“Conditions that caused the issues with TSU no longer exist in Tempe Police Department,” the city said in a statement.
The new consultant will continue to monitor that. "
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.tempenews.com/news/consultant-to-review-tempe-police-analytics-units/article_7a146b0e-1fa1-11ef-903f-83fa9cf09f7e.htmlPUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
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SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
---------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
————————————————————————————
YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
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