It’s going on eight months since Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy Louie Puroll reported being shot by smugglers while patrolling alone, out of uniform and without a radio, in the Vekol Valley west of Casa Grande. An area Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu has repeatedly said is controlled by Mexican drug cartels.
Since the April 30 incident, Babeu has stood by his deputy. He has given him a medal while standing with U.S. Sen. John McCain and publicly announced Puroll is Pinal County’s terrorism liaison officer, a position reserved for the most trusted and skilled of officers. Terrorism officers have access to classified information as part of the Department of Homeland Security and Arizona Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Center’s protection efforts.
Babeu has also closed the case, reopened it and then closed it again following questions about possible gunshot residue on Puroll’s bloody T-shirt, the handling of evidence and many other issues. Babeu finally sent the T-shirt to the Arizona Department of Public Safety crime lab for examination nearly five months after the incident. The sheriff’s office initially asked DPS to investigate the Puroll shooting, then rescinded the request and relegated state detectives to only drawing diagrams and collecting possible evidence in the desert. Prior to Babeu’s arrival in 2009, DPS investigated and oversaw all Pinal County deputy shootings since 1977.
How can a sheriff close a case involving the attempted murder of a deputy? That makes no sense. One veteran prosecutor I spoke with said he’s never heard of a case like this being closed until a suspect was arrested or identified.
Things were pretty quiet on the Puroll front after Babeu “closed” the case, at least until Phoenix New Times writer Paul Rubin wrote a follow-up to his Sept. 23 story “Pinalcchio.” The first piece challenged Puroll’s description of events on several fronts.
The follow-up, entitled “Whitewash,” was published on Nov. 23. In it, Rubin described a series of one-on-one interviews with Deputy Puroll. During one interview, Rubin reported that the deputy claimed he’d been approached four or five times by Mexican drug cartel members about “wanting to do business.” Puroll reportedly never reported those incidents to his superiors.
In the story, Rubin also states that Puroll told him “you’re lucky to be alive” and that a friend of Puroll’s had offered to murder the journalist following publication of the extra hard-hitting September story.
On Dec. 1, eight days after “Whitewash” was published, PCSO announced that Puroll had been placed on administrative leave and his reported statements to Rubin were being investigated by the Professional Standards Unit, the same unit involved in one of the investigations of Puroll’s alleged desert shootout.
Sheriff Babeu again chose not to bring in an outside agency to investigate the actions of Puroll. As a result, questions are again being asked about Pinal County’s latest venture into investigating its increasingly controversial deputy.
Multiple members of the criminal justice system have expressed their concerns to me about his decision to keep things in-house. Their concern is justified.
In his book, Crime Scene Handbook, Dr. Henry Lee, the former director of the Connecticut State Police Crime Lab, wrote, “If officer-involved shootings are not investigated and handled correctly and thoroughly, the involved agency, individual officer(s), and entire criminal justice system will likely face severe criticism, loss of public trust and confidence.”
Babeu can do as he pleases when it comes to investigating Puroll. Unfortunately it’s not just the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and its deputies that potentially get a black eye when the investigation of Puroll’s conduct isn’t done in a manner that helps to earn and keep the public’s trust in Arizona law enforcement.
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Retired Mesa master police officer Bill Richardson lives in the East Valley and can be reached at bill.richardson@cox.net
exit526 posted at 8:39 pm on Sun, Dec 19, 2010.
PCSO, Bill writes "opinion." Your press releases are getting to be a little strong on "opinion" too.
We still marvel about your recently crafted press release that showed all PCSO has been doing (just prior to the news breaking about Puroll's suspension). Again, YOUR article, so explain to us again how "fifty (50)" illegals got in that F-250 you reported your agency spotted on November 22?
The above comments are meant in no way to disparage the hardworking deputies at PCSO.
littlemissdangerous posted at 1:40 pm on Fri, Dec 10, 2010.
PCSO- I find it interesting that you referenced what Az Republic did to Mr. Richardson. I also find it interesting that the reason that happened was because of the Tempe Police Chief and his assistant Charles Cobbs. This story of how corruption can happen is also about what is happening in the Tempe Police Department.
The corruption in the Tempe Police Department is being covered up by the City Manager, Charlie Meyer. The corruption of the city manager is being covered up by the City Attorney, Andrew Ching and the Council and the Mayor.
Thanks for bringing that up. [beam]
PCSO posted at 10:20 am on Fri, Dec 10, 2010.
Bill has a continuous pattern of writing columns with only portions of the facts which make his columns more controversial.
In this column, Bill should have included the fact that Paul Rubin who wrote about the alleged statements in the Phoenix New Times has expressed that he has full confidence in the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office to investigate this case. I suppose if he wrote that fact, it would once again take away from the impact of his column.
Maybe Bill should write his next column explaining how he no longer writes columns for the Arizona Republic because he was let go due to allegations of him being a racist.
Dale Whiting posted at 9:50 am on Fri, Dec 10, 2010.
Interesting. Just think back. Babeu campaigns for John McCain, version 2.0, setting John up for the phrase "Build the dang fense" and Babeu cannot make up his mind on how to handle his own "border insecurity" problems. Babeu appears to be changing his mind more repeatedly and frequently than McCain ever did.
Wonder where Babeu stands today on building fenses?
mikedurham posted at 9:09 am on Fri, Dec 10, 2010.
You asked for opinions recently about internal affairs investigations.
The Pinal County case is one example of the nexus of a good internal affairs policy. If the top administrator does not have a clear and consistent approach to internal affairs investigations then the concept of internal investigations is challenged with the allegations of "white wash." Your article outlines and asserts "white wash" in the Puroll case. Additionally, you are asserting corruption in that Puroll's case was white washed and then he was promoted to a position which has access to sensitive information. Puroll who was allegedly talking with Mexican nationals about killing Rubin, something Puroll did not report internally, is now in a position possibly to take other offers on killing journalists from Mexican nationals and in turn supply sensitive information back across the border.
This is all speculation on my part because I do not have access to the facts. Perspective suggest though that the Puroll's internal investigation, the attempted murder of Puroll, and Puroll's role in talking with Mexican nationals about murder of a journalist should go to the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, if that is the next step.
Additionally, if the Pinal County Board of Supervisors cannot trust the internal affairs process to investigate Puroll, then that body needs to decide how to fix public policy with regard to investigating issues involving deputies. If they don't, then the voters of Pinal County are facing a horrible issue concerning the integrity of the Board and the Sheriff's Office.
It would be interesting to understand the extent of internal policies and procedures for investigation of deputies in Pinal County. I am not sure where Pinal County leaves off and Arizona P.O.S.T. begins on these issues. If Puroll violated any laws without saying anything, is certainly grounds in my mind to recommend revocation of his peace officer standing in Arizona.
billrichardson posted at 7:42 am on Fri, Dec 10, 2010.
Follow this Tribune link to some of the discussion that followed my Blog of the police investigating themselves. Please feel free to let me know what you think. With what's going on inside of the Pinal and Maricopa County Sheriff's Offices and the Phoenix PD, and even questions about some East Valley police agencies and cities covering up questions of police misconduct, this topic will be around for quite sometime. No doubt I'll be writing more about it in the future.
http://forums.evtrib.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=126