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Ex-cop suspended by board after porn incident
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A former Scottsdale police officer's authority to work as a law enforcement officer in the state has been suspended after he admitted to viewing pornographic images on a computer while he worked at Scottsdale's Chaparral High School.
The Arizona Peace Officers and Training Board last week voted to suspend Steve Boltz, who resigned April 13 from the Scottsdale Police Department following the incident, according to Bob Forry, compliance manager for the Arizona Peace Officers and Training Board.
Boltz, who now works as a detention officer for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, had worked for the Scottsdale Police Department from 1989 until his resignation. He had been a school resource officer at Chaparral since 2004, according to information in a nine-page internal affairs report from Scottsdale police.
School district employees were conducting a routine maintenance review of school computers in March when they discovered that Boltz had viewed, received, sent and forwarded pornographic images on the computer. District officials then contacted Scottsdale police, according to Forry.
The district discovered that Boltz had as many as 50 pornographic images and had e-mailed inappropriate jokes and chain letters that contained sexual, racial or political overtones, according to the internal affairs report.
Boltz's suspension was credited with beginning in April and will end on Dec. 13, Forry said. After Dec. 13, Boltz again will be eligible to apply for a job as a peace officer with any department in the state, Forry said.
"He admitted what he had done and expressed regret," Forry said. "He wasn't using the school computer to go on the Internet and go to sites, he was exchanging pornographic images with other people. There was no child pornography on the computer, or there would have been criminal charges. This has happened before with other officers, but not very often."
Boltz's suspension would not have an impact on his position as a detention officer with the county, according to Capt. Paul Chagolla of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
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