DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION #1

The Tucson Police Department claims to operate under several core values. However, as we learned in “Dirty Chiefs/ Sanctioned Corruption,” the Tucson Police Department does not always play by their own rules.

**Please note, we are talking about a large number of commanders which includes chief-level commanders and the Office of “Professional” Standards which unfortunately has become the enforcement arm of the Tucson Police Department’s Executive Leadership Team. We are talking about the people who wear police costumes, not uniforms. We are NOT referring to the brave men and women who constantly risk their lives to protect others.**

The three investigations discussed here are old. They occurred in 2006 but the unfairness and incompetance that you will read about is indistinguishable from what street cops still face today. These investigations are the first of multiple unfair and incompetant investigations for one cop (Double Secret Probation #2 and #3 are on the way).

In August 2006, Officer Jamie Voss was removed from his position as a patrol cop and reassigned to the front desk at the Midtown Substation. He was assigned to that position for nearly six months while he was investigated for accusations that included an on-duty felony (aggravated assault), an on-duty misdemeanor (assault), and using excessive force and profanity. It was explained to the officer that he would be at this position to “cool off.” He had a “rough couple of years” that included a year-long tour of duty in Iraq (make a note of that, it will be used in Double Secret Probation #2 and #3), an open heart surgery, and the death of his grandmother. After approximately 16 months and a face to face meeting with then Chief of Police Richard Miranda, the officer was cleared of all wrongdoing…sort of. Chief Miranda authored a memorandum that acknowledges the actions taken by Officer Voss "did not rise to the level of a rule violation". He then states that Officer Voss suffers from a lack of patience. He adds no documentation to this claim- he just felt there was a lack of patience and threw it in there. The memorandum was sent to Officer Voss’s union representative. Officer Voss never saw it.

Several officers contacted Officer Voss in reference to these investigations. They were shocked and disgusted at the findings reached by Internal Affairs. Something needed to be done. It was clear that Officer Voss did nothing wrong. The grievance procedure had eventually cleared him of wrongdoing, but what about the investiagtions conducted by the Office of Internal Affairs? In the investigation that accused Officer Voss of misdemeanor assault, two officers failed to act. Would Internal Affairs Investigators be looking into their actions and inactions? The answer was a big, fat NO. Officer Voss got caught between two cowards (Officer Jeff Stobbs and LPO Steve Pupkoff) and the department was not interested in looking into it. Officer Voss wrote the listed complaint to Arizona POST.

This complaint was received by then AZ POST Compliance Officer, Robert Forry. Mr Forry acknowledges the complaint and stated that it occurred “two years ago.” While he was right about the length of time it took to make this complaint, he doesn’t seem to acknowledge the fact that it took approximately 16 months for the department to clear Officer Voss of wrongdoing. He advised he would be sending copies of the complaint to the Tucson Police Department for review. Unfortunately, there was never any evidence of the complaint or the review that Mr Forry requested in Officer Voss’s personnel jacket.

Attempts to get Officer Stobbs and LPO Pupkoff investigated for cowardice were unsuccessful. These investigations were basically forgotten until years later when Officer Voss was named in a frivolous lawsuit, along with Tucson Police Department’s Command Staff, Tucson City Counsel, and the Mayor of Tucson. During a deposition, the slip-and-fall lawyer asked Officer Voss about this incident. Voss answered by pointing out that he was cleared of all wrongdoing. The slip-and-fall lawyer produced the memo from Chief Miranda that spoke of a lack of patience. Officer Voss’s complaint to AZ POST was NOT in his personel jacket at that time. The following memorandum was written by Officer Voss to address the incompetant investigations conducted by Internal Affairs Investigators and to shine some light on the actions, or more appropriately, the inactions of Officer Stobbs and LPO Pupkoff. It was requested that that memo, as well as his complaint to AZ POST become part of Officer Voss’s permanent TPD Personnel File.

Unfortunately, this type of investigation happens all the time. A cop can make a split second decision and then be scrutinized for months if it “looks bad” or if something involving police happened on the other side of the country and is now somehow related. This type of situation, the investigations, the suspensions, IA or OPS personnel advising you may not discuss this incident with anyone (effectively cutting off your support structure) takes its toll. It turns hard charging, proactive cops into people who will take the next call, and then the next. If we were able to stop the transformation of street cops into police historians who document our decline, our community will be a much safer place. In closing, we would like to point out that Karma always gets his man. Following this incident, Officer Stobbs’s hard-earned reputation as a coward was well known. He was advised he would be transferred to another division. He resigned and got a job as an officer in Minnesota. Unfortunately, Stobbs was fired in 2017. Ironically, it was a use of force that was his downfall. You see, people who don’t know when to use force often times don’t know when not to use force. Sources close to Tucson’s Corrupt Leadership.com advised Stobbs struck a handcuffed juvenile. LPO Pupkoff no longer works as a police officer, in 2016 he was involved in a collision with a parked car while extremely intoxicated. He resigned in lieu of termination.