Officers with the Phoenix Police Department need to stop being hypocrites. While this has been an issue for some time now, police officers have taken it to a new level by using the death of one of their fellow officers to continue their hypocritical ways. What is even more disheartening is that they are using the death of a fellow officer to try and end a completely reasonable policy: if a Phoenix Cop gets a DUI, they are fired.
The cops in Phoenix have felt that they should be above the law for a long time now. But two years ago, when a new Chief of Police was hired, he announced his belief that those who are sworn to uphold the law should also be forced to obey the law. Therefore any officer arrested for a DUI would be fired.
But cops don’t like following the law, and they showed it with their reaction to the new chief’s policy of zero-tolerance for those officers arrested for DUI. That’s right: the unions that represent the police in Phoenix are against a policy that fires officers for breaking the law. These are the same officers who regularly hand out DUI’s, often by stopping people illegally while acting like bullies.
What’s even worse is that they are now using the death of a fellow officer to put an end to the zero-tolerance policy. Officer Craig Tiger tragically committed suicide after a series of unfortunate events. Officer Tiger was involved in a use of force incident that left him with PTSD. He returned to work and was subsequently arrested for DUI. He was fired because of that DUI, and shortly thereafter killed himself. The rank and file in the police department are now partially attributing his suicide to the zero-tolerance policy.
Of course the suicide is horrific and sad, but it does not mean that the policy is wrong. No other citizens are shown mercy by the Phoenix Police Department or the Prosecutor’s Office when it comes to DUI. Even the program for veterans arrested for DUI forces them to eventually plead guilty. If the Police have no compassion when it comes to everyone else arrested for DUI, they should in turn receive none.
