Complaint Review: Mesa Police Department - Mesa SWAT team - Officer Shawn Freeman Mesa Arizona - Mesa Arizona

This report is mainly in regard to the murder of Shawn Gagne committed by the Mesa Police Department.

 

Shawn Freeman, Matthew Harris, Chief Ken Cost, Chief Kenneth Cost, the entire Mesa Swat team, and every other shooter needs to be fired and charged with murder immediately.

Below is a link to the incredibly disturbing news article I'm referencing in this report

 

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/lawsuit-mesa-police-killed-man-attempting-to-surrender-19256557

 

The news article describes how the victim, Mr. Shawn Gagne was complying and surrendering during active negotiations with Mesa Police when Mesa Swat team member Shawn Freeman decided to shoot the victim through the window in the face and then shoot at him again but missed. As though hitting the victim in the face the first time wasn't enough, he shot at the victim again. I viewed some of the video footage and it appears that the rest of the mesa swat team opened fire a little while later, while the victim was still complying with negotiators and it was visibly clear on the dark video taken late at night that Mr. Gagne did not have a weapon. It was also clear that the victim, Mr. Gagne didn't pose a threat to officers or the public as he was already shot in the face and bleeding out before the remaining officers opened fire on him. Mesa Police didn't render any aid to the victim for around 20-30 minutes, instead they tazed his dead, lifeless body multiple times after it fell down the stairs. The video was extremely traumatizing to watch and I think the public will find it traumatizing too when I release it.

 

The Maricopa County attorney Rachel Mitchel is reckless deciding not to charge these Police Officers with official misconduct, murder, or any of the other crimes they committed. In Mesa Arizona murder is justified because the killer is a certified Peace Officer. The discriminatory double standard "rules for thee, but not for me" obviously applies here.

 

 At a minimum, multiple City of Mesa Police policies and State of Arizona policies were violated.

 

Where is the Arizona Peace officers Training and Standards board, Matt Giordano? Where is the Arizona Attorney General? The Maricopa County Attorneys Office? Who is neglecting their duties in the Mesa Police Department Internal Affairs  Professional Standards unit?

 

The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board chooses to revoke certain officers certification but not others. I read through several years of decertifications and the reasons AZ POST chose to revoke officers certification. Many of the Officers who had their certification revoked or suspended committed minor policy violations in comparison to the officers who commit violation after violation on video. Whatever system that is being used to determine what law enforcement officer is penalized for violating policy doesn't seem fair and obviously isn't working to weed out the bad apples. I'm not sure why officers who were previously decertified aren't suing for discrimination when they were decertified for much less than the officers I'm referring to in this incident.

 

Why does the State of Arizona and the individual departments have policies if the policies are optional or selectively enforced? The general public and I are under the impression that law enforcement professionals must follow the policies in place or will face disciplinary measures if they do not adhere to policy. I obtained the statistics which show select officers are not being disciplined by The Mesa Police Department even after they blatently violate policy again and again. It appears that the Internal Affairs or Professional Standards unit is either extremely discriminatory in their decision making or incapable of performing their duties.

 

Why does The Mesa Police Department have Internal Affairs or Professional Standards Unit Investigators if they don't correct the Officers who commit policy violations or break the law? Why are out tax dollars paying for an entire unit that serves no purpose? It appears IA and PSU do not perform any function at the department because if they did, the same handful of officers would not be in the news or being sued for civil rights violations repeatedly.

 

What is the purpose of AZPOST as an organization? Why are our tax dollars being spent on this organization if you aren't actually doing anything to weed out the Law Enforcement agents who are on the streets repeatedly violating policies, disobeying laws, lying, assaulting people and committing murder? Why are there so many compliance specialists if they are not actually ensuring officers are complying to standards? Why isnt Arizona Post investigating the officers and investigators of the Mesa Police Internal Affairs / Professional Standards Unit?

 

I ran a google search on each officer involved and found that each and every officer that shot Mr. Gagne has a history of officer involved shootings, misconduct, complaints, other high profile incidents and some even have criminal history. If I can find that information with a simple google search, why isn't the City of Mesa or AZPOST monitoring their officers who they give a lot of power and authority to? Why isn't AZPOST or the Command Staff of The Mesa Police Department being held accountable for ignoring their select few problematic officers who repeatedly violate peoples rights? Why are the people of Mesa expected to continue footing the bill for lawsuits and settlements that are paid out on a consistent basis?

 

 

Isn't it policy for law enforcement officers to report misconduct that they witness or have knowledge of? It seems like there are a lot of officers, internal affairs investigators, and command staff that are turning a blind eye to blatant misconduct and crimes being committed. Every person who is BCC'd on this email that fail to act are also in violation of those policies and of their oath.

 

 

When is The City of Mesa, The Mayor, City Manager, or City Council going to step in and stop our tax dollars from flying out the window for lawsuit after lawsuit, settlement after settlement? The majority of the lawsuits name the same handful of Officers for misconduct and civil rights violations repeatedly. Mesa Police is sending a message that it does not care or respect its residents when it continues paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars over the same officers bad behavior. Is Mesa planning on following in Phoenix PD's footsteps? Does Mesa need the DOJ to come in and tell Mesa how to hold their officers accountable and how to stop tormenting, torturing, and murdering the citizens of Mesa? Is the decision to turn a blind eye and pretend like officers aren't murdering people politically motivated? I'd like to bet the majority of the residents of Mesa, even those who support The Mesa Police Department, they do not support their hard earned tax dollars spent paying out lawsuit after lawsuit for the same few problematic officers that the Mesa Police Department refuses to hold accountable.

 

How stupid do you think the citizens of Mesa Arizona are? How can you tell us Mesa a safe place to live when there are this many "justified" officer involved shootings and critical incidents? Mesa has more kills and more swat callouts than nearly every other department in the country. Please explain to the residents of Mesa and to the businesses that The City of Mesa is soliciting to bring in to Mesa how Mesa is a safe place for their businesses and their families when their officers are on the news weekly for another critical incident or shooting? The City of Mesa cannot have it both ways by saying every single murder committed by Mesa Police is justified and then say its a safe city. Other major metropolitan areas that have a far higher crime rate can not compete with the volume of Officer Involved murders committed in Mesa. If Mesa has a low crime rate and is safe, why are there so many "justified" Officer involved shootings? The "data" isnt adding up.

 

It appears Mesa Internal Affairs or Professional Standards cleared the officers involved in this shooting. I would like to know how they came to that conclusion since its clear on video that multiple Mesa Police policies, State of Arizona policies and possibly laws were broken by the officers, especially the initial officer, Shawn Freeman who ignored the status of negotiations and shot the victim in the face through the window. Are Mesa Police negotiators so incompetent that another officer needed to intervene in negotiations by shooting Mr. Gagne in the face? Someone failed here. Why isn't either the negotiator or the Swat officer shooter being held accountable? Who messed up?

 

Its remarkable how some officers can retire after a 20+ year career with no shootings and other officers are so special that they kill 3,4,5,9 people in only a few years time frame. There is a high probability that the excessive amount of complaints, use of force incidents and officer involved shootings for specific officers is because those individual officers were never disciplined for their past misconduct. Its the same bunch of officers that are named in lawsuit after lawsuit, complaint after complaint, killing after killing. Id like to see any evidence that its a coincidence and not a result of The City of Mesa and Arizona POST refusing to fire and decertify the problematic officers who cant seem to follow any rules and continue costing tax payers a fortune.I hope the DOJ steps in ASAP because its clear by the repeated patterns of Mesa Police Officers that they will never be held accountable by Mesa Police. I also hope the residents of Mesa choose wisely at voting time. We see the millions of dollars in lawsuits that have been paid out on behalf of misconduct committed by officers who The Mesa Police Department never reprimanded or fired. City Council and City leaders have done nothing to force Mesa PD to clean up their act. The citizens of Mesa deserve their tax dollars spent on things that will benefit the entire city, not just the lawsuits and legal bills of a handful of horrible officers who The Mesa Police Department refuses to expel.

 

 

JC

 

 

P.S. Run a google search on all of the officers who shot Mr. Gagne. Youll be appalled at what youll discovered and how The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board or The Mesa Police Department do not have any standards for officers once they are hired.