Jim Walsh

The Republic | azcentral.com

A Chandler police sergeant lost her rank, and nearly lost her job, when she ordered her subordinates to single out Native American shoplifting suspects for being booked into jail, rather than being cited and released with a ticket, according to an internal-affairs investigation.

In an unusual move, Sgt. Sue Freeman was demoted to officer and agreed to leave the department by Dec. 31, 2015, or whenever she reaches her 20 years of service to qualify for her pension, according to the report. The demotion was in lieu of dismissal after the investigation sustained charges of conduct unbecoming an officer.

Freeman's patrol officers interpreted her order as representing biased policing, singling out Native Americans for being booked, rather than a simple citation, according to the investigation, obtained by The Arizona Republic under the Arizona Public Records Law.

"Your directive was interpreted by members of your team as removing any discretion for handling a shoplifting investigation and more specifically for singling out a race of people for disparate treatment," according to the charge against Freeman that later was sustained.

The patrol officers refused to follow the orders and alerted a lieutenant, said Sgt. Joe Favazzo, a Chandler police spokesman.

The lieutenant pursued an internal probe after receiving multiple complaints from officers, Favazzo said.

Freeman's south Chandler patrol district borders the Gila River Reservation and has a chronic shoplifting problem, Favazzo said. No one would have objected if Freeman had ordered all shoplifting suspects booked as a strong statement that the crime would not be tolerated, he said.

"I think it was probably a poor choice of words, poor communication,'' Favazzo said. "She was telling her officers not to give them a ticket. It was an unlawful order."

He said the fact that officers questioned during the internal investigation reported hearing the order more than once, with one saying he heard it six to 12 times, made the situation worse. Favazzo said the officers demonstrated their professionalism by not following the orders.

"When you do it multiple times to multiple people, it sends out a clouded message," Favazzo said.

The internal investigation also sustained a second charge that Freeman manipulated a computer system to take longer lunch hours than allowed.

Freeman's discipline was more severe because she had two prior sustained offenses on her record in 2012, according to the investigation. She was suspended 10 hours without pay in September 2012 for pointing a Taser at an officer and was suspended for 40 hours without pay in December 2012 for surreptitiously recording department employees inside a police facility, a policy violation.

The document said officers received the biased order from Freeman between March and August.

Her demotion took effect on Oct. 16 when she signed a disciplinary agreement to avoid termination.

Favazzo described the disciplinary agreement as akin to a plea agreement and said it spares the city the cost of lengthy appeals while removing Freeman from a supervisory position.

The agreement spelled out that Freeman is not guaranteed a job as a patrol officer until she reaches her pension, and that she must follow the terms of the agreement and perform her job properly to remain employed.