Phoenix Police Department
Encyclopedia
The Phoenix Police Department is the law enforcement agency
Law enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...

 responsible for the city of Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

.

Today, the Phoenix Police Department comprises more than 3,500 officers and 700 support personnel who protect a population of more than 1.6 million and patrol almost 516 square miles (1,336.4 km²) of the sixth largest city in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

History

Phoenix was incorporated as a city on February 25, 1881. Law enforcement was handled by Phoenix city marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...

s and later by Phoenix police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...

s. Henry Garfias, the first city marshal, was elected by residents in 1881 in the first elections of the newly incorporated city. For six years, he served as the primary law enforcement officer.

In the early 1900s, the Phoenix Police Department used Old Nelly, the horse, to pull the patrol wagon for officers. Most patrolling, however, was done on foot. The city at this time was only 3.1 square miles (8 km²) with a population of 11,134 people. Call boxes were used to notify an officer that headquarters wanted him. These were supplemented by a system of horns and flashing lights.

The first Phoenix police officer killed in the line of duty in Phoenix occurred on February 5, 1925. Officer Haze Burch was shot and killed by two brothers on the run from authorities. The men were later arrested when they were found hiding at the Tempe Buttes.

In 1929, patrolmen worked six days a week and were paid $100 a month. The police department moved into the west section of the new city-county building at 17 South 2nd Avenue. The building included jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...

 cells on the top two floors. In 1933, Ruth Meicher joined the police department as the first female jail matron. The city at this time was only 6.4 square miles (16.6 km²), with a population of 48,200. In the year prior, the first police radio system in Arizona was installed for the department with the call letters KGZJ.

The department reorganized in 1950 with four divisions, Traffic, Detectives, Patrol and Service Divisions. Officers worked 44 hours per week for $288 per month. In 1974, the Air patrol unit was established initially consisting of one helicopter. A few months later, a fixed wing aircraft and two additional helicopters were added.

®‡¿½

Controversies

  • On October 5th 2010, Phoenix police officer Richard Chrisman, responding to a Domestic dispute call entered the mobile home in which Danny Rodriguez lived. Witnesses say that after Rodriguez confronted Officer Chrisman stating that he needed a warrant to enter the home, Officer Chrisman put his service handgun to Rodriguez head and yelled "I don't need no warrant, motherf**ker". Court papers say that an argument ensued, at some point officers used both a tazer and pepper spray on Rodriguez. Some time after this Officer Chrisman shot the family's dog and in a scuffle over a bike fatally shot an unarmed Rodriguez. Officer Chrisman, initially arrested on aggravated assault has since been charged with Second Degree murder in Danny Rodriguez death.

Fallen officers

Since 1925, the Phoenix Police Department has suffered a total of 34 deaths in the line of duty.
Officer End of Watch Details
Officer Haze Burch
Thursday, February 5, 1925
Gunfire
Officer Walter H. Stewart
Tuesday, February 19, 1952
Vehicular Assault
Officer Dale C. Stone
Monday, December 28, 1970
Motorcycle Accident
Officer Clay Quincy Haywood
Monday, November 22, 1971
Motorcycle Accident
Officer Michael D. Hemschmeyer
Friday, November 2, 1973
Automobile Accident
Officer Gilbert R. Chavez
Monday, June 16, 1975
Gunfire
Police Guard John Franklin MacInnis
Sunday, February 22, 1976
Heart Attack
Officer Arthur Del Gaudio Jr.
Thursday, April 22, 1976
Vehicle Pursuit
Officer Ignacio Gonzales Conchos
Thursday, July 1, 1982
Gunfire
Officer John R. Davis Sr.
Friday, August 6, 1982
Gunfire
Officer Kenneth E. Campbell
Sunday, January 29, 1984
Vehicle Pursuit
Officer Errol C. Hawkins
Tuesday, April 24, 1984
Struck by Vehicle
Officer Robert L. Polmanteer
Friday, May 4, 1984
Motorcycle Accident
Officer Kevin W. Forsythe
Friday, September 7, 1984
Struck by Vehicle
Officer John A. Robertson
Monday, November 19, 1984
Gunfire
Officer Robert T. Fike
Wednesday, January 8, 1986
Gunfire
Officer Kenneth L. Collings
Friday, May 27, 1988
Gunfire
Officer Patrick O. Briggs
Wednesday, June 20, 1990
Vehicle Pursuit
Sergeant John Wayne Domblisky
Thursday, July 26, 1990
Vehicular Assault
Sergeant Danny L. Tunney
Thursday, July 26, 1990
Vehicular Assault
Officer Leonard Leon Kolodziej
Wednesday, September 4, 1991
Gunfire
Sergeant David Martin Kieffer
Wednesday, May 21, 1997
Vehicular Assault
Officer Marc Todd Atkinson
Friday, March 26, 1999
Gunfire
Officer Goelet Alessandro Carlo Beuf
Monday, November 1, 1999
Assault
Officer Beryl Wayne Scott Jr.
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Motorcycle Accident
Officer Donald Ralph Schultz
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Drowned
Officer Eric James White
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Gunfire
Officer Jason Alan Wolfe
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Gunfire
Officer David Christopher Uribe
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Gunfire
Officer Paul Robert Salmon
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Automobile Accident
Officer George Valentino Cortez Jr.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Gunfire
Officer Nicki James (Nick) Erfle
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Gunfire
Officer Shane Figueroa
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Automobile Accident
Officer Travis P. Murphy
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Gunfire

See also

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