VANCE HOMICIDE TIMELINE

I have 23 years on as a Phoenix Police Officer and over nine years as a sergeant on this

department. I have been in the Phoenix Police Departments Homicide Unit since October

4, 2004. I am the first female Homicide Sergeant ever on the Phoenix Police

Department. There are no other female Sergeants within the Violent Crimes Bureau. It

should be noted that I am currently the most senior sergeant in Homicide. Meaning I have

been in Homicide longer than any other Sergeant in the unit.

8/2004 I was assigned to the Violent Crimes Bureau Night Detective Unit and I was

being recruited by others within Homicide to put in for the upcoming Homicide process. I

was on a scene with Former Homicide Lieutenant, Mike Hoble when I told him that I was

interested in the opening the was coming up in the Homicide Unit. Lt. Hoble told me in

front of Det. Ray Roe and Det. Paul Dalton that I will not be able to beat Sgt. Doug

Hardin in the upcoming Homicide process. It should be noted that I had been a Night

Detective Sergeant for 2 years, and also after having nearly 8 years of detective caser

carrying experience. Ultimately, I did put in for the process and an outside board was

formed for the process. I finished first on the process and Kotecki ended up second.

Sergeant Doug Hardin did not make the list.

10/4/2004- I was transferred to Homicide response and I took Sergeant Tim Bryants

position when he left to go to the Gun squad. I was assigned C31. Lt. Hoble left the unit

and Lt. Benny Pina became my Lieutenant. Commander Swanson was my commander.

The first several months that I was in Homicide, I noticed that there was a division in

Homicide between the squads. I was told that this has gone on for years, mostly because

of the strong personalities and competitiveness. For the most part, my first few months

were very positive and I was treated as an equal to my peers.

Approximately, six months later Sergeant Carl Richardson retired from Homicide,

Sergeant Pat Kotecki took his place and assumed the C32 squad. The key members to

that squad were Detective Jack Ballentine and Detective Alex Feminia. I was aware of

tensions between Detective Tommy Kulesa and Detective Jack Ballentine, who were not

on the same squad. Detective Kulesa worked for Sergeant Jack Millward.

During the last half of 2005, I became aware of a problem in Homicide in 2005 when

Jack Ballentine began to give Tommy Kulesa a hard time, because Tommy did not want

to release one of his homicide departmental reports to a New Times reporter named Paul

Rubin. Tommy was concerned because the case was a high profile case involving Danny

Carbajal and the murder of his wife. It was a high profile case that he did not want

released because of the leads he had developed and he was working hard to solve the

case. Tommy firmly believed that Danny Carbajal was involved in her murder and he

feared that there was a connection between Paul Rubin and the Carbajal family. Jack was

friends of Paul Rubin and he was trying to assist Paul Rubin with his New Times story.

I became aware of the conflict because my office was near Detective Tommy Kulesa’s

and I overheard discussions about the issue.

A short time later, New Times reporter Paul Rubin was given an out of the ordinary

temporary assignment to Homicide, as a civilian New Times reporter, where he was

allowed to shadow Sergeant Patrick Kotecki and Detective Jack Ballentine and Detective

Alex Femina in Homicide. New Times reporter Paul Rubin was given free access to 620

W. Washington and allowed to go with the C32 squad on all of their Homicide call outs.

The fact that a New Times reporter was allowed to wonder the halls of Homicide

unescorted, made several detectives in Homicide uncomfortable. When I asked Lt.

Benny Pina about the situation he told me to stay out of it and that Chief Frazier already

ok’d it. Lt. Pina said did not care if it made the other detectives in the unit uncomfortable

In September 2005 I had a conversation with Lt.Pina in his office on the third floor of the

Homicide unit. During the conversation he advised me that since Sergeant Mike

Polombo was coming to the Homicide unit, everything was going to be different now.

He advised me that he used to work for Polombo and he owes him. He further stated that

it was important to him what Mike thought and that Mike had challenged him by saying;

“If you have blonde hair and a fake rack, you can have anything you want if you work for

Pina”. Pina then said “I don’t want to have any problems with Mike Polombo.” I told Lt.

Pina I didn’t know what the problem was, and that I had no idea why Mike Polombo

would say something like that. I also told Lt. Pina that I thought that was unprofessional

and that he should do something about that.

In October 2005, I was in Las Vegas at the homicide conference when I was contacted by

Detective Matt Verthein, Detective Sandra Rodriguez and Detective David Barnes. All

three of them discussed an issue that they had with reporter Paul Rubin walking around in

homicide unescorted. They also brought up the fact that they had seen Paul Rubin on the

PACE computer, in Detective Jack Ballentine’s office. Each of them told me that they

were sure that they had seen Paul Rubin on PACE while sitting at Jack’s desk. One of

them told me that they were sure they had seen him print something on the printer, and

then walk out of the unit carrying what looked like a Departmental report. Each of the

detectives I spoke to felt uncomfortable with the fact that he was accessing police

department reports. When I got back into town, I walked into Patrick Kotecki’s office and

told him about the fact that the three detectives told me directly that they had seen Paul

Rubin on PACE.

Sergeant Kotecki and I then met with Lt. Pina and we told him what the allegations were.

Sergeant Kotecki immediately wanted to know who the detectives were, and what they

had said. Sergeant Kotecki started his own investigation into the matter. He started

bringing in the detectives and challenged them on what they really saw. Ultimately, Paul

Rubin denied that he was on PACE or the fact that he took anything off the printer. Later

Jack Ballentine said that he did allow Paul Rubin on to pace so he could proof read his

reports only. However, Lt. Pina later said they did a check on the computer and

discovered Jack was on vacation at the time and his password was not used while he was

out of town. The matter was dropped and it became a stressful situation because Paul

Rubin was still allowed to continue to walk around the unit unescorted. Tension began to

rise and the unit felt more divided. All three detectives felt like Lt. Pina and Sergeant

Kotecki believed Paul Ruben more than them.

October 05, Sergeant Mike Polombo came to the unit and I transferred from C31 to C34.

Sergeant Mike Polombo was assigned to C31. Detective Ira Williams 2678 transferred to

C34 with me. Along with Ira Williams I had Kenny Porter, Dave Barnes, Ray Roe and

Paul Dalton on my squad. Both Kenny Porter and Dave Barnes worked for me in Night

Detectives and we had a very good work history. During the course of the time that I was

assigned C34 we had several high profile investigations assigned to our squad and we did

good police work.

After Mike had been there a short time, Lt. Pina came to me and asked me to give up my

White Ford Crown Victoria to Mike Polombo. Lt. Pina made the comment that Mike

was assigned a small Nissan and he needed a large car to fit into since he was bigger than

I was. Mike Polombo was assigned the Ford Crown Victoria and I was assigned the

Nissan.

May 2006 Baseline Killer Investigation becomes a full blown task force. During the

investigation, Detective Barnes is taken from C34 and placed on the task force full time

and he is assigned as Alex Feminia’s back up on the investigation. Alex came to me on

several occasions and complimented me on Dave’s performance and tenacity during the

investigation. Dave worked a lot of overtime during that investigation and yet continued

to keep his case management up to date and he also stayed in contact with the family of

his victims on his prior cases.

June 2006 the Homicide Detective process was certified and Detective Heather Cox was

number one of the list. I made contact with Lt. Pina and informed him of the fact that I

realized that Detective Cox was number one, but I had concerns about her emotional

maturity to handle the pressure of a homicide case load. I explained the fact that I had

been her supervisor on Night Detectives and that she was highly emotional on a regular

basis because of issues involving her relationships and the pressure of a caseload may be

too much for her. Lt. Pina said there was nothing we could do since she placed number

one.

Just prior to Heather coming to Homicide, Lt. Pina began to try to bring in a friend of his

to the unit named Detective Bill Miller. Although he took the Homicide process, he did

not do well in the process and he placed near the bottom. Lt. Pina had William Miller on

a temporary light duty assigned to Homicide and Lt. Pina ordered him business cards

through the VCB secretary named Diana Vasquez and instructed her to write Homicide

Detective on the cards even though he was not scheduled to transfer to Homicide because

of how he placed on the list. Several detectives made me aware of the situation,

including Detective Ray Ray. I spoke to Lt.Pina about this and told him that if we were

going to take Heather Cox off the list then she should come up first, before Miller.

Lt.Pina was frustrated that I called him on this back door philosophy and Miller stayed on

a temporary basis. A short time later, Detective Heather Cox came to Homicide and

transferred on to Sergeant Mike Polombo’s squad.

When Detective Heather Cox came to homicide, Detective Mike Meislish became her

mentor. Detective Meislish worked along side of Heather in an effort to train her.

Detective Heather Cox still came to me to talk and vent about her frustrations she had

with Detective Meislish and the pressure he put on her for her writing style. He

pressured her because she would type in things such as “the car was facing west bound”.

He told her that car’s do not have faces. I mentored Heather Cox and told her to get

through the training and do things the way Meislish wanted her to and then she could

decide for herself how she wanted to write when the training was over. I told her that if

she had any other problems she should go to her boss, Mike Polombo and she said she

was afraid to since the two of them were friends. I went to Lt. Pina and advised him of

the situation and he told me that I should encourage her to get through the training phase

of the process.

On July 2006, we had a Homicide Supervisor meeting at 620 W. Washington. Lt. Pina,

Sergeant Gil Soto, Sergeant Mike Smallman, Sergeant Jack Millward, Sergeant Polombo

and Sergeant Kotecki were all in the meeting. Lt. Pina was asking for volunteers to help

out with the Baseline Task Force. I volunteered and said that I would assist in any way

that I could. Lt. Pina said “what could you possibly do? Why don’t you go to my house

and trim my bushes? I haven’t been home for a while and my grass and bushes need to be

trimmed. That is all that you could do”. Then Lt. Pina, Sergeant Polombo and Sergeant

Kotecki all began to laugh at me. I felt ashamed and humiliated and isolated because I am

a woman. I felt like my prior experience as a Sex Crimes Detective and my Night

Detective experience I could provide some assistance with this investigation. It was clear

to everyone that the assigned supervisor’s; including Lt. Pina, were more concerned

about who was going to get credit for catching this violent offender, than actually solving

the case.

After the meeting I was told by Lt.Pina that he had an open check book because of the

Baseline Task Force and they are going to get the task force the best of everything,

including phones, laptops and anything else they want. I said “good why don’t you get

phones and laptops for the entire unit”. I then went on to explain that everyone could use

them. Lt. Pina said “no-I don’t give a fuck about anyone or anything but this case”. I

then reminded Lt. Pina that there were several other detectives in the unit that were

working their cases and I said to him that if he had an open check book now is the time to

get resources for everyone and to think of the whole unit. Lt. Pina started yelling at me

and screamed; “Karen, I don’t give a fuck about what you think, I don’t give a fuck about

any other case besides this one-I am only concerned about this fucking case and the

detectives working it.” Detective Paul Dalton was standing near me and later told me that

he heard what Lt.Pina said and he was appalled at what he heard. I walked away from Lt.

Pina and later informed Chief Kevin Robinson of Lt.Pina’s actions due to the fact that we

did not have a Commander assigned to VCB for that time period.

Sergeant Pete Fenton was assigned to Night Detectives during the initial part of the

Baseline Killer Investigation. According to Pete Fenton, he was heavily recruited by Lt.

Pina, Sergeant Kotecki and Sergeant Polombo to come to Homicide because there was

going to be an opening soon on one of the four response squads. When he asked who was

leaving, Kotecki told him that the “little blonde girl” was leaving. According to Sergeant

Pete Fenton he said they were all three talking bad about me and told him that I was

getting kicked out of the unit so he should put in for the position.

I was never part of the Baseline Killer Investigation and never kept up to date on the case.

My squad ultimately had one of the Homicide cases that was later shown to be one of the

Baseline Killer Homicides. The case involved two women who were killed while

working in the lunch wagon at 91st Avenue and Baseline. Detective Ray Roe was the

case agent felt frustrated over the unprofessionalism displayed by Lt. Pina during the

investigation. For months we did not know the M.O. of the suspect in the Baseline Killer

Investigation and we were unaware of the fact that he was using a .380 handgun. We felt

as though we should have been told about the M.O. of the suspect and type of weapon he

used. Months after the homicide occurred, it was determined that our case had the same

M.O. so it was taken from Detective Roe and assigned to the task force. Ultimately the

case was solved and the suspect was arrested and charged with homicide on this case.

July 2006, Detective Ira Williams is assigned to my squad and he found out that his old

city car that he had been driving for years was going to be replaced because it had too

many miles on it. Lt. Pina told me to tell Detective Ira Williams, a 30 year veteran, that

he was going to be getting a brand new car. Detective Williams was very excited over

the fact that he was going to be getting a new car. For three days, Detective Ira Williams

held the keys to the car in anticipation of getting it after the shop was done preparing it

for him. On the day he was scheduled to go pick it up, Lt. Pina told me to go get the keys

from Detective Williams because the keys were going to be given to Detective Jesse

Jimenez who works in ICAT. Ultimately Detective Rico Fragoso was senior to Detective

Williams so he took the car and then handed it over to one of his squad mates named

Detective Jesse Jimenez who was a junior member of the homicide unit. Detective Ira

Williams was given a 2002 Ford Crown Vic that had been assigned to Lt. Benny Pina.

Lt. Pina then took a newer vehicle. Several people on my squad felt like that happened to

Ira Williams because he was on my squad and Lt. Pina did not like me.

July 27/2006 Paul Rubin did a New Times article on the Baseline Killer Investigation and

he put a photograph Nina White’s dead body on the cover of New Times. Several people

in the unit were outraged at the article and the fact that Paul Rubin was allowed in a

crime scene. When I spoke to Lt. Pina I asked him why a reporter was allowed to access

our photos and place them on the cover of New Times. Lt. Pina told me that he did not

access our photographs, he took the photograph and then he put it on the cover of the

New Times. Lt. Pina commented that he didn’t think it was right either, but it was done

now.

August 2006. I put in the proper paperwork to go to the Arizona Homicide Investigator’s

Association conference in Las Vegas during the first week of October 2006. Lt. Pina

denied me and said that I had already been and Polombo had not so he was going to get

to go.

September 2006. Lt.Pina came to me late in the month and told me that I could go to the

conference. However, now it was too late for me to go because I cannot schedule

childcare issues last minute.

October 2006. Several people from the unit went to Las Vegas for the annual Arizona

Homicide Investigator’s Association conference. Since I was not allowed to go, and

Sergeant Mike Polombo was, I covered his squad in his absence. On the first Monday of

the conference, I received an odd phone call from Sergeant Mike Polombo where he

began challenging me on rather or not I was coming to the conference. I told him that I

was in Peoria where I lived and that I had no intention of going to Las Vegas and that I

was covering him in his absence. I also advised him that I had already missed the first

day of the conference. He said repeatedly “are you sure you are not coming?” I said yes

why do you keep asking me about this? Mike said he would tell me later, and then we

hung up.

When everyone got back from the conference several people were discussing the issues

that came up at the conference. Thomas Bertone, Bill McMahon and Detective Jennifer

Mellinger all came into my office and they were speculating on rather or not Heather Cox

and Mike Polombo were together at the conference, because no one saw them during the

evening hours of the conference. I told them that I didn’t think there was a chance

because he wouldn’t do that and I stayed out of the rumors so I didn’t hear any more

about it for a short time.

Heather began acting strangely around me immediately following the conference so I

called to check on her because she was acting so distant and I became worried about her

because of her fragile condition. When I called Heather she was curt and distant and

cold. The next day I was confronted in my office by three female employee’s who were

worried about Heather because she was acting so different. Each of the employee’s were

concerned about Heather and asked me if she was okay. I told them that I had no idea

what was going on. The three employee’s were Detective Jennifer Mellinger, Detective

Shannon Bartlet and Ryan Wesley.

On 11/13/06 Detective Jennifer Mellinger came into my office and sat down and said

“okay whats wrong with Heather”. I told her that I had tried to call her and speak with

her but I couldn’t get her to talk to me which was out of the ordinary. Detective Jennifer

Mellinger went on to say “wouldn’t it be weird if it was true about Mike Polombo and

Heather hooking up in Vegas. I said “It sounded gross and there was no way, Mike was

smarter than that and Heather wouldn’t be interested”. The same day I received a call

from Tammy Arredondo. Tammy is a supervisor in the Phoenix Police Departments

Communications Bureau and she has been a friend of mine for nearly 30 years. Tammy

began asking me about what was going on in Homicide. When I asked her what she was

talking about, Tammy said “you don’t know about Mike Polombo being with Heather in

Las Vegas? I said “no, I didn’t go to Vegas and it sounded like a bad rumor. Tammy

said it wasn’t a bad rumor and that Mike Polombo’s wife Suzanne Polombo found

hundreds of calls between Mike Polombo and Heather on their cell phone and that Mike

Polombo admitted his affair to Suzanne. I then told Tammy that I didn’t know anything

about it and Tammy said that now Mike Polombo and his wife Suzanne are in the middle

to an ugly divorce.

Since Jennifer Mellinger had just left my office a short time before, I went to Jennifer’s

cubicle and I knelt down next to her and I whispered to her that she should not speak

about the issue with Mike Polombo and Heather Cox anymore because there may be

some truth to it and its not funny because everyone is starting to act crazy. I firmly told

Jennifer to drop it and stop talking about it. It was at that time I told Jennifer that I just

went through an ugly divorce a year ago and I didn’t want to be part of it. Detective

Jennifer Mellinger then told me that she was still worried about Heather and she wanted

to go see if she was okay.

November 15, 2006. I went to a training class in Las Vegas on Positional Asphyxia. The

First day that I was at the class I received a phone call from a Police employee named

Ryan Wesley. She said she was called into Lt. Pina’s office and asked her if I was

spreading rumors about Heather Cox and Mike Polombo’s affair. She told me that she

told him that she had never heard that and then I received several other calls from various

detectives asking them about my conversations. Lt. Pina asked several people in the

Homicide unit if I had been spreading rumors about Mike Polombo and Heather Cox

having an affair.

November 20, 2006. I was pulled into Lt. Pina’s office with Lt. Benson sitting there as a

witness to a confrontation between Lt. Pina and myself. The contact was challenging,

confrontational and intimidating as Lt. Pina sat me down and asked me initially if I had

any direct knowledge of an inappropriate relationship between Sergeant Mike Polombo

and Detective Cox/Armstrong. I immediately asked Lt. Pina if I was under investigation

or if I was going to be served with a Notice of Investigation? Lt. Pina said “NO”. I then

asked if this was going to be part of my notes or ratings and he said “NO”. However it

was later put into my monthly notes with a derogatory slant to the story.

During the confrontation with Lt. Pina he said Mike Polombo and Heather Cox felt as

though I had given out Heather’s cell phone number and address to Polobo’s ex-wife. I

was enraged and offended at the accusation and I felt as though Lt. Pina was putting more

effort into this rumor allegation than he did toward a class D violation of a supervisor

inappropriately being involved with a subordinate. Lt. Pina said that the information

could have only come from me or someone in the unit because Heather Cox’s

information was sealed. I told Lt. Pina that I have never given anyone Heather

Cox/Armstrong’s personal information, and that no one has ever asked me for it.

It should be noted that Heather Cox lied during that inquiry and I later requested her lie a

Brady issue and that Heather’s personal information was not sealed at that time because I

went to the computer and looked it up and found it on a public website. Lt. Pina denied

this request. I believe that Lt. Pina, Sergeant Mike Polombo and Heather Cox wanted it

to look like it could not have come from anyone else in an effort to bring discredit to me

and to bring the attention off of them and on to me.

In that meeting, Lt. Pina made the statement that he was thinking about transferring me

out of the unit and then he made the statement that he was going to send me home while

he questioned every detective in the unit to see if I was spreading rumors about Sergeant

Mike Polombo. That is the point that I made the statement that I was demanding and

internal investigation into this allegation, and the affair, due to the fact that I was afraid

that I would not be represented fairly by Lt. Pina. He said that he did not want an interval

investigation because he wanted to take care of his own unit. He said if the Professional

Standards Bureau investigated the situation, then I would be looking at time off for this

issue. Then I asked Lt. Pina why it as more important to him to investigate this rumor

issue than to investigate the issue about Mike Polombo having an affair with his

subordinate. I also asked him why he never investigated the fact that Heather Cox had

been prodding Detective David Barnes on countless occasions, asking him if he and I

were involved in an affair. I also asked him why he never investigated the allegations or

rumors about Detective David Barnes and I in some sort of an affair. Lt. Pina made the

statement that Mike Polombo has more to lose since he was in the middle of a divorce

and mine was already finalized.

During this confrontation with Lt. Pina he told me that he had to “beat Jennifer Mellinger

up to get her to discuss the conversation that she and I had regarding Heather”. Jennifer

Mellinger told Lt. Pina that there was nothing malicious about our conversation and that

we both had genuine concern for Heather. Lt. Pina told me that he questioned several

people in the unit to see if I was spreading rumors about Mike Polombo and Heather Cox

having an affair. No one said I was except for Jennifer Mellinger, who advised him that

we both were concerned for Heather.

In my notes for November 2006 Lt. Pina mentioned the rumor investigation; however it

does not mention the fact that no one else verifies the fact that I was spreading rumors.

Lt. Pina also put into my montly notes that the other Homicide sergeants had to cover me

during the last 18 months because of my divorce which is inaccurate and biased. As one

one of four homicide response sergeants, we all cover each other during the course of the

year because of vacations and other issues. Truthfully, I took very little time off during

that time and I dove into work in an effort to stay busy during my divorce situation. I

only took time off because of vacations and medical appointments. No one covered me

because I was unable to do my job. This was never brought up to me during that time

period either. In fact, I routinely covered for the other sergeants, especially during the

Baseline Killer investigation. I took offense that this was being thrown in my face and

my divorce as capitalized on during the timeliness of the Mike Polombo Heather Cox

fiasco.

During that 18 month period of time my squad handled several high profile

investigations. I felt as though it was a tragedy that another supervisor’s indiscretion is

being thrown off and into my lap in an effort for him to take the light off of himself and

his poor decisions.

During my confrontation with Lt. Pina he told me that Heather Cox and Jennifer

Mellinger told him that I said that the only reason he didn’t like me was because I said I

had shunned his advances.

During the confrontation with Lt. Pina I told him that I felt that this was a hostile work

environment and that I felt like he was tolerating a boy’s club type of atmosphere.

I wrote an attachment to my notes and I provided it to Lt. Pina, Commander Joe Klima

and Assistant Chief Kevin Robinson. It should be noted that I still have a copy of the

notes and my attachment in my possession. Lt. Pina was visibly angry at the attachment

that I placed on my notes and told me that I violated the M.O.U. by adding something to

my notes.

It should be noted that these were the November 2006 notes were the first ones that I

received in a two year period of time while being in Homicide.

12/4/06 I received my Performance Management Guide rating from Lt. Pina, eleven

months late. In the PMG there were no deficiencies noted and I had met all of my job

duties and goals.

12/5/06. During the Homicide Unit meeting, Lt. Pina brought up the fact that he had been

investigating a rumor of an inappropriate relationship between a sergeant in the unit and

the subordinate that worked for him. He said that he concluded that the rumor was not

true and the situation was documented. He openly spoke about the negative effects of

spreading rumors and the fact that he would not tolerate such conversations in the

workplace. He again said he dealt with that person. Lt. Pina said the rumor was a lie and

there was no relationship between the two people involved.

12/27/06. Lieutenant Pina sent me an email and directed me to add a paragraph in my

detectives notes that said: “During the unit meeting on December 5, Lt. pIna informed the

entire unit that he had dealt with a rumor of an inappropriate relationship between a

sergeant and a detective assigned on the same squad. The rumor was not true, and the

situation was documented. He reminded the unit of the negative effects of spreading

rumors and the fact that supervisors would never receive preferential treatment and be

held accountable for their actions, if they were found to be out of policy”. When I turned

my employees notes in on January 3rd

, 2007 I added a paragraph similar to the above

paragraph, but I also added that Lt. Pina directed me to put that in my employees notes.

Lt. Pina gave them back to me and directed me to put exactly what he directed me to put

in each of my detectives notes and then have them sign them. I complied with his

direction and then reported this situation to my PPLSA rep.

It should be noted that Lt. Pina told me that I would be in big trouble if I didn’t have my

little protector on the fourth floor because I didn’t agree with his direction about adding

that paragraph to my employees notes.

January 2007 Lt. Pina admitted to me that he was wrong about Mike Polombo and that he

felt as though Mike had lied to him during this investigation into his affair with Heather.

He said the reason he now knows that Mike lied is because he and his wife Rose were out

to dinner at a restaurant when they ran into Mike Polombo and Heather Cox on a date just

after the big blow up in Homicide. He also told me that he was now aware of the fact

that they were living together.

1/30/07 I was pulled in to Lt. Pina’s office and he again began to confront me about an

issue Mike Polombo was bringing forward. According to Mike Polombo he found my

private cell phone number on his person cell phone bill to his wife. Mike Polombo was

enraged at the fact that I had spoken to his ex-wife. I explained to Lt. Pina and Mike

Polombo that I had spoken to his wife when she called me to discuss going to my church.

I explained the fact that Suzanne had called me to discuss the fact that I went to CCV and

her and her daughter Rachel wanted to go but it was such a big church they didn’t want to

go alone. I explained to them that I agreed to take them to church because it was the one

thing that made a big difference in my divorce. Suzanne Polombo and her daughter

Rachel met me and my boys at a nearby restaurant and she followed me to church. Lt.

Pina said that Mike made the allegation that there were phone calls made between

Suzanne Polombo and I during on duty time. Lt. Pina then told me not to speak to

Suzanne Polombo until the divorce was final. In my January 2007 notes Lt. Pina

documented part of our conversation and then stated that I could be accused of

improperly meddling in Mike Polombo’s personal affairs. He also said he showed me a

copy of Mike Polombo’s cell phone bill. I wrote a comment on my notes clarifying the

fact that I was not meddling in anyone’s personal affairs and that I was never shown

anyone’s cell phone bill. I did admit that I had returned a couple of phone calls made to

me during that time period.

It should be noted that Suzanne Polombo told me to watch my back because she heard

Mike Polombo vow to have me fired before he leaves the unit and that he refers to me as

the “no good blonde cunt” repeatedly. She also advised me that she referred to Kevin

Robinson as a “token nigger” on a regular basis.

March 2007. A new car was being brought into the unit and Lieutenant Pina told all of us

in a supervisors meeting that a new car was given to the unit and he wanted to know who

wanted the car. I immediately spoke up for Detective Ray Roe and I asked for the car

because Ray was one of the most senior members in the unit and he has been waiting for

a car. I also explained the fact that Ray has been driving a 1998 truck and he deserves

this vehicle. Lt. Pina agreed and said he would look into it. No one else spoke up and so

I thought it was settled. After the meeting, Sergeant Kotecki went to Lt. Pina and asked to

give the vehicle to Detective Jack Ballentine even though he was junior in the unit to

Ray. He said he felt like Jack was a better detective and earned the vehicle. Jack

Ballentine had a 2000 truck that had been repainted in recent months and Ray’s car was

clearly older. Lt. Pina never brought it up again and then Ray Roe said Jack Ballentine

driving the new car the next day. When I asked Lieutenant Pina about why he skipped

Ray and gave it to Jack Ballentine, he smiled and laughed at me and said “Karen, you

know Jack Ballentine is the Mayor of Homicide”. I explained that I felt like that was

uncalled for and that it deviated from the past practices on how cars were handed out. He

again said “Jack Ballentine is the Mayor of Homicide and Ray isn’t”.

Detective Ray Roe went to go see Lt. Pina himself about the car situation and Ray was

told the same thing. During that meeting, Lt. Pina began speaking derogatory about me

in front of Detective Ray Roe. According to Detective Ray Roe, he told me that it made

him feel very uncomfortable and he told Lt. Pina that he didn’t feel as though it was right

to be told the negative things about his supervisor. According to Detective Roe, the

meeting was terminated a short time later.

It should be noted that Jack Ballentine came to see me about the vehicle situation and

asked me why it upset me. I told Jack Ballentine that I felt like he knew why it upset me

and that he was driving a car that should have been assigned to Ray Roe. A couple of

months later, Jack Ballentine gave Ray Roe the car just before he retired to go work for

the Fire Department.

4/11/07. I was given my 1/13/2007 Performance Management Guide by Lt. Pina and he

gave me all positive comments and also said I met all overall performance expectations.

4/16/07 Homicide Detective Joe Petrosino told me that he was at coffee with Mike

Polombo and Mike Meislish and they were openly talking negatively about me and the

fact that I don’t know what I am doing. According to Joe Petrosino, Mike Meislish ws

openly talking about the 22nd

Avenue impound lot and the fact that it was a mess. They

were speaking about the fact that I had never written a grant, and that the lot was a mess.

I immediately went to Lt. Pina and complained about the fact that a supervisor was

speaking about me negatively and the fact that there had been a lot of negative talk about

me and it seemed to have been tolerated by him. I also wanted to discuss the 22nd

Avenue lot issues at the next supervisor’s meeting. I also informed Lt. Pina and Sergeant

Polombo that I was having problems with Detective Mike Meislish leaving vehicles in

the 22nd

Avenue impound lot for extended periods of time. Mike Meislish left a couple

of vehicles in the lot for nearly a year; which violates the department’s guidelines on

vehicle storage. Lt. Pina and Mike Polombo never made Meislish get the vehicles out

when I brought it to his attention.

4/18/2007 At the supervisor’s meeting I explained the fact that the grant for the 22nd

Avenue lot was not moving forward because we did not have enough land available at

3032 S. 22nd

Avenue and that I was working with PMB on vehicle storage so we could

free up some of the space to the rear of 22nd

Avenue to build on at a later date.

5/24/07 I had been told on numerous occasions that Detective Jennifer Mellinger was

speaking negatively about me and the fact that she was saying “everyone knows that

Sergeant Karen Vance and Detective Dave Barnes have been fucking, and she is his

boss”. I had told Lt. Pina on numerous occasions that I wanted that sort of talk to stop

and it was still going on.

On 5/24/07 at approximately 2000 hours I walked up to Detective Mellinger and I asked

her “Jennifer can I please talk to you for a minute?” Jennifer agreed, and then I said

calmly “please stop talking about me”. She became defensive and said I could ask you to

do the same. I told her that I wasn’t and that several people had told me what she was

saying and I was just asking her to stop. Then I left the building. Detective Lois Weiss

was seated nearby and heard the conversation.

5/25/07 I was in my office and I overheard Sergeant Kotecki in his office speaking to

Sergeant Andy Hill and other detectives. He was gloating over the fact that I screwed up

the night before and now I was going to be kicked out of the unit. I tried to speak to Lt.

Pina about it and he refused to discuss the issue with me. He would not talk to me about

anything, including the case we were working involving a 14 year old boy from 1305 W.

Cocopah. Lt. Pina would only talk to Jose Cisneros about the case and ignored me when

I tried to talk to him. Lt. Pina was disrespectful toward me in front of Kenny Porter and

Jose Cisneros.

5/25/07 I then went to see Commander Klima and I said that I heard all of the commotion

about last night involving Mellinger and that I wanted to discuss it. He said that he heard

it and he felt that I had messed up bad. Comander Klima then gave me a directive not to

talk to Jennifer Mellinger. I then went to PPSLA and spoke to Sergeant Dave Wilson. I

advised them of the situation and the history of the problems in Homicide.

5/26/07 Lt. Lauri Burgett told me that Sergeant Kotecki told Sergeant Andy Hill that I

was being kicked out of the unit because I confronted Mellinger the night before.

I was later told that Sergeant Kotecki took Jennifer Mellinger to Professional Standards

Bureau and asked for an investigation for a hostile work environment on me because of

my conversation with Jennifer. I never received an N.O.I. on this incident and PSB never

questioned me about it.

It should be noted that I later had a meeting with Lt. Pina, Commander Klima and they

directed me not to talk to any detectives unless they work for me. They stated that I had

to go to Lt. Pina or the supervisor if I had any issue with any detective in the unit. There

was never any documentation into this incident in my notes or PMG’s.

August 7, 2007. We responded to a Police Involved shooting at 5200 E. Patrick where

supervisors from Desert Horizon precinct were involved. Detective Mike Polk assisted

my squad with the shooting because we were short staffed. While I appreciated his

assistance, there were some problems with it because he left some critical evidence

behind during the search warrant. I also had an issue with the fact that Mike Polk left

some of the evidence in the temporary storage for more than a week and his supplement

was not done yet. Since it was an in jail it was critical to get it done in a timely manner.

August 15, 2007. Since I had been told not to discuss issues with other detectives in the

unit; I sent an email to Mike Smallman and Lt. Pina pointing out the issues I had with

Mike Polk and the fact that I felt like my hands were tied because of the Jennifer

Mellinger incident. I was later confronted with the email from Lt. Pina and told it was

unprofessional. I spoke to Lt. Pina and informed him that I felt like he was trying to

interfere with my abilities to supervisor and that he was tying my hands. I told him that I

thought that this was all being directed at me and it was putting me in a no win situation.

I still have a copy of my notes and my original email which is clearly not unprofessional.

September 2007. During the Officer Erfle Homicide Investigation which occurred on

9/18/07 I left my radio in Detective Mike Polk’s assigned city car during the time I rode

with him to take two 101 witnesses home in Tempe. My radio was missing for weeks

and I could not find it. Ultimately I found out that Heather found it in Mike Polk’s

vehicle and she knew it was mine so she gave it to Sergeant Mike Polombo who hid it

from me in his office for weeks. Detective Kenny Porter overheard Sergeant Mike

Smallman talking about it and knew I was looking for my radio so he called them on it.

Sergeant Mike Smallman opened Mike Polombo’s office and got it out and gave it to

Kenny Porter to give to me. Mike Polk, Mike Polombo, Heather Cox and Mike

Smallman all knew that I was missing my radio and they hid it in Mike Polombo’s office.

September 2007: Lt. Benny Pina came in to my office and closed the door. He asked me

if he could speak to me privately. I asked him what he wanted. Lt. Pina came in and

apologized for all that he had done to me the last year and a half. Lt. Pina said he was

getting ready to be promoted but he was told by Chief Frazier that he had to get things

straight with me first. Lt. Pina apologized to me several times for his unfair treatment of

me and he went on to say he knew that it wasn’t right and he also knew that he had been

lied to by Polombo about his affair. I told Lt. Pina that I didn’t care about the affair and

that I never did. I explained the fact that I didn’t like the fact that they had treated me

unfairly through the process and the fact that it was because I was a woman and Mike

Polombo did not like me. Lt. Pina agreed with me and said he was sorry again. Lt. Pina

said he hoped we could get through this and that I would forgive him.

September 2007; As me and my squad were returning to the office from lunch; I held the

north side doors open for them to walk through. Just as they were walking in, Lt. Pina

was walking out. As I held the door open with my left hand; I held a drink in my right

hand. Lt. Pina walked up to me and looked down at my chest and he scraped some salsa

off of my right breast area. He scraped it with his fingernail and said, “looks like spilled

here”.

October 2007 Lt Pina gets promoted to Commander and he is assigned to Cactus Park

Precinct.

10/11/07. Lt. Knott’s first day in the unit and I immediately approached him and

discussed some past issues we had with the crime lab. Lt. Knott gave me positive

comments in my notes about the way I brought the issues forward.

10/15/07 Lt. Knott said he wanted to see Dave Barnes notes because he believed he was

inappropriate with an email that was sent to the County Attorney in reference to the Lab

issues. This email involved a long history of problems that he had with the lab and Lt.

Pina was aware of the problems with the case along with the history, and he was cc’d on

everything. Both Lt. Pina and Lt. Knott had been brought up to speed on the issues and

there were problems with the lab on this issue. Lt. Knott implied that there was a long

history of problems with Dave being unprofessional and yet this had never been brought

to my attention in the past. In fact, I did document the problems in Dave’s notes and I

kept my Lt informed. I documented this incident in Dave’s notes and advised him not to

send any more confrontational emails.

10/18/07 Det. Barnes is sent to PSB for a misconduct investigation. I was told to stay out

of it and that I could not discuss the issue with him at all. The allegations were later

unfounded and Dave was told it was brought forward by Mike Polombo.

10/18/07 Met with Lt. Knott and discussed personnel issues and the rumors in the unit. I

advised him that I felt like it had been a boys club type of mentality and it made me

uncomfortable. I brought forward issues that kept coming up in regards to Mike Meislish

and Mike Polombo talking negatively about me and I wanted him to address my

concerns.

10/22 I submitted Detective Barnes PMG to Lt. Knott and I had already put the email

incident in Dave’s PMG. Lt. Knott later commented on how he appreciated that. (It

should be noted that Lt. Knott later stated that he had to tell me to do that).

December 2007. Lt Knott spoke to me and stated that he felt like I would be better suited

to be a Cold Case Sergeant, and that he thought about moving me. I explained to Lt.

Knott that I did not want to go to Cold Case and that I would not accept that transfer.

When I asked him what the basis was; he said that he had been briefed about all of the

problems in the unit and felt like it would be best. I was never moved and it was not

brought up again.

February 2008. I advised Lt. Knott that I wanted to be part of the selection process for the

upcoming Response Sergeant opening. Sergeant Mike Smallman is retiring so there is

going to be an opening. He advised me that he had already selected someone else. When

I said that I didn’t agree with that since I was now going to be senior in the unit; Lt. Knott

told me that he made the decision based on some past time management issues.

One of the many responsibilities the response squad sergeants have is case reviews.

These reviews are done in an effort to bring open (unsolved) cases up from the year prior

and we are instructed to go over the cases to check on case management and solvability.

We are also instructed to read the report and see if anything is missing. During the first

part of 2008 I was assigned a departmental report to review. (2007 70-082898). The case

was assigned to Heather Cox. The incident occurred on January 12, 2007 at 4420 S. 8th

Place. The victim was 15 year old Anthony Sanchez. In reading the report; I noted

several problems with the report including: the original report was only 7 sentences long

and did not include any of the standard information documenting the briefing or who was

there and what their responsibilities were. There were ten open supplements with almost

no information on them. With the little bit of information that was in the report, it was

clear that there were suspect leads. A cell phone was left at the scene and no follow up

was done on the phone or who it belonged to. The suspect leads were never followed up

on and the suspect vehicle information was never looked in to. Supplement #48 stated

that there was a filestop placed on the vehicle, however no filestop was currently in the

system. No photo line up was ever shown to eye witnesses. I did the case review on this

case and gave a copy to Sergeant Smallman and to Lt. Knott. Lt. Knott did nothing with

the information I gave him and later said that he should not have given me a case review

to do on one of Heather’s cases.

March 2008. Joe Petrosino advised me that he has heard Mike Polombo talk bad about

me on several occasions and that Mike Polombo calls me Dave Barnes pull toy. I

advised Lt. Knott of the situation and he never dealt with the situation.

April 1, 2008. I received my Performance Management Guide Review from Lt. Knott

three months late. In my PMG I received positive comments and a met performance

rating on my job duties and goals.

April 10, 2008. Lt Knott brought me in to his office and advised me that I was going to

transfer me from C34 to C33. He said that his reason is because I am too close to my

people and he feels as though I would be more effective if I were moved to C33. I told Lt.

Knott that I did not want to be transferred and that I still believed I was an effective

supervisor. I told him that my squad and I had been working together for years and we

developed great teamwork. I also told him about all of our successful cases and the fact

that it took years to build a squad like that. Lt. Knott told me that he wanted to give my

squad to Sergeant Eric Lumley since he was a new sergeant in the unit and that he could

use an easy transition. Lt. Knott admitted that C34 is a senior squad and that C33 is

fragmented and has problems because of the prior supervisor Sergeant Mike Smallman.

Lt. Knott also reminded me that Heather was on that squad and he advised me that

Heather refused to work for me so she was going to transfer to C32 and work for

Sergeant Patrick Kotecki.

Upon assuming the C33 squad I was met with division because many of the people on the

squad were friends with Heather and they were frustrated over the fact that she was

“removed”. The members included: Detective Ernie Moreno, Detective Mike Polk,

Detective Jan Butcher, Detective Jeremy Rosenthal and Detective Cliff Jewell.

April or May 2008. Detective Mike Polk was arrested on Child Pornography charges. Lt.

Knott advised me that he knew when he put me on C33 that Detective Mike Polk was

under investigation that he was going to be arrested.

On the date that Mike Polk was arrested, he and I were in an interview with Mike Polk

alone and moments into the conversation he advised Mike that he was not free to leave

the room and that there were detectives coming in to speak to him. Lt. Knott then took

Mike Polk up to the Chief’s Office for him to be interviewed. He told me to go back to

the office and wait for him. Lt. Knott later came to me and explained what just happened

and why Mike Polk was arrested. Lt. Knott later said that he knew I was capable of

rebuilding the squad, and he knew it was going to be difficult because of the personalities

involved and the resentment they had toward me since Heather “had to leave the squad”.

Detective Joe Petrosino transferred to my squad.

May 2008 I was given the award for Employee of the month

May 29, 2008. Lieutenant Knott pulled me into his office and asked me about a

conversation that I had with Detective Al Richard. Lieutenant Knott said that he was told

by Heather that I said I told Al Richard that I did not want another Kathy Enriquez to

come to Homicide because I did not want another Heather Polombo in the unit. I told

Lieutenant Knott that I never made that statement and that I would not have said that

because Kathy Enriquez and I have a good working relationship. I also told him that

Kathy was a very strong detective and we could use her. I further stated that nothing I

said could have been taken that far out of context. I explained that the only thing I said to

Al Richard was the fact that I didn’t want anyone to know that I was thinking about

applying for the IMPACT position. Lieutenant Knott interviewed Al Richard and Kathy

Enriquez about the situation and both of them said it didn’t happen and anything I said to

Al Richard was taken out of context. I later learned that Lieutenant Joe Knott told

Lieutenant Lauri Burgett that he was going to kick me out of unit for the comment;

before he found out if it was true. She advised him that he should interview everyone

before he makes that determination. Once Lieutenant Joe Knott interviewed everyone, he

still felt like they were lying and trying to cover up for me.

On July 2, 2008 I received my notes for May 2008 Lieutenant Knott wrote:

5/29 Met with Karen today and discussed several issues.

1) Reference Al Richards/Kathy Enriquez discussion regarding me indicating to Al

she didn’t want Kathy “knowing her business” (related to homicide process).

While Detective Ramirez told me what Karen said to him, she indicated it was

taken out of context. Bottom line is I wanted Karen to know it’s another example

of “mis-communication” over a comment she made to a subordinate from another

work unit in regards to work related issues.

2) Advised her to be careful in terms of what information she releases to people

about Mike Polk’s personal life (marital situation) that I did not need to know;

point being as a supervisor she must be more cautious about info she releases to

people.

I responded to my monthly notes and added an attachment to them. In my attachment I

addressed the issues with the fact that this was not an accurate assessment of the

situation. I also noted that I felt like this was a deliberate attack against me by Detective

Polombo, and she provided Lieutenant Knott with untrue facts. I wanted this issue placed

in Detective Polombo’s notes because this was an ongoing problem and she was causing

problems in the unit and making baseless statements about me that were untrue. I also

noted that Lieutenant Knott has made the statement that he was going to kick me out of

the unit based on her false allegations. However, nothing happens to the detective who

brings those false allegations forward. This caused unnecessary interruption in all of our

schedules and it also caused me great stress because of Lieutenant Knott statements that

he was going to kick me out of the unit.

In regards to my comment to Lieutenant Knott about Mike Polk’s personal life. I was told

by a concerned detective on my squad that Mike Polk’s wife may be leaving him because

of his arrest, and the detective was concerned for Mike’s wellbeing. I wanted to advise

my supervisor because of my concern for an former employee. I felt like I should advise

my supervisor because it is covered in the Operations Orders that I should advise my

supervisor if I become aware of information that might be of concern to the department.

It should be noted that I also contacted Sergeant Rich Costenza of the departments CISM

about my concerns regarding Mike Polk. He advised me that there is nothing we can do

for Mike because he is no longer an employee of this department.

June 30, 2008. Detective David Barnes gets thrown out of Homicide by Lieutenant Joe

Knott for a misconduct investigation. Detective Barnes was then transferred to Property.

July 2008. During a Homicide Unit meeting; Lieutenant Joe Knott explained the

circumstances surrounding Detective Barnes removal from the unit. During the meeting,

Lieutenant Joe Knott makes the statement to the entire unit that Detective David Barnes

was not properly supervised, and the issues he had with the lab were never documented

by his supervisor. I was seated in the meeting and everyone looked at me because they

knew he had just thrown me down. The statement was untrue; it was just that Lt. Knott

did not like the way I documented the issues. It should be noted that multiple detectives

in the unit later came to me and addressed their dissatisfaction with Lieutenant Knott and

how he handled that issue.

During the Homicide Unit Meeting; Detective Paul Dalton asked Lieutenant Knott if it

was true that Chief Tracy Montgomery had sent an email to him suggesting he remove

Dave from the unit in an effort to silence the other Lab bashers. Lieutenant Knott said

“NO” it was taken out of context and she never said that. Many people later viewed the

email on badphoenixcops.com and they became aware of the fact that Lieutenant Knott

lied to the whole unit.

July 2008. Lieutenant Joe Knott contacts me and asked me to write him a memo on the

issue stemming from an email sent by Detective Barnes to the county attorney. The

email had a long history and Lieutenant Pina had been made aware of the history and he

received all of the emails on this case. When Lieutenant Joe Knott got to Homicide, he

was less than supportive of the issue. On July 30, 2008 I authored the memo and

explained the issues surrounding the emails, and what I did to document the issue.

July 2008 Jeremy Rosenthal was assigned to my squad. I received a phone call from a

former girlfriend of his indicating that she wanted to make a formal complaint on him. I

interviewed her and realized the allegation was extremely serious. Lt. Knott was not there

so I contacted Mike Polombo to ask him for some direction. This quickly became a PSB

investigation and it was handled by them after that.

Sometime toward the last half of 2008 Heather Polombo assaulted me by intentionally

running in to me in the hallway of the Homicide unit. I had been in the middle of going to

physical therapy on a regular basis because of my neck and shoulder issues and Lt. Knott

was aware to the fact that I was going to physical therapy three times a week. On the

morning this happened, I was carry tea in my left hand and walking down the hallway in

the unit. Detective Polombo came around the corner and intentionally shoulder chucked

me with her left shoulder into mine. She just about knocked me down and caused me a

great deal of pain. I later went to see Lt. Burgett and informed her of the situation and

asked her if I could write a memo. Lt. Burgett advised me not to worry about it because

it was probably an accident. Heather Polombo went to Lt. Knott and said I ran into her

and she felt as though I did it on purpose. I was later questioned by Lt. Knott and I

explained the fact that I would not have done that and that I thought there were cameras

installed in the unit. I asked that he pull the film and he could see what happened. Lt.

Knott said he was unaware that there were cameras in the unit. It was later dropped.

Within a couple of weeks of that incident, Lt. Knott requested me to meet with Heather

Polombo to try to sort out our differences. I agreed in an effort to get past this. We met at

the Family Advocacy center and we talked for a long time about what her issues were

with me and why people didn’t like me in the unit. She also began airing out why people

don’t like the way I supervise. She indicated that I hurt her feelings in the past while we

worked together in Nights and I told her that I felt like I supported her for a long period

of time in Nights and I never remember hurting her feelings. I apologized if I ever said

something to hurt her feelings, but clearly did not remember saying anything to hurt her. I

was then instructed by Lt. Knott not to discuss anything we discussed in the meeting.

October 22, 2008. I received a phone call from Detective Theron Quaas from the Phoenix

Police departments Special Investigations Division. Detective Quaas informed me that I

was the “focus” of an investigation and that he wanted me to come to the Family

Investigation Bureau to be interviewed. I asked Detective Quaaas if I was going to have

my rights read and he said “yes”. Initially I was going to go to be interviewed but when I

called PPSLA to speak to someone about it, no one called me back. I then called

Detective Quaas back and told him that I was not willing to be questioned criminally. I

then authored a memo and advised my supervisor of the investigation and also advised

him that I was available to be questioned by the Professional Standards Bureau at any

time regarding this inquiry.

After I gave Lieutenant Knott the memo, he called me into his office and advised me that

now everyone thinks I am guilty. He said he couldn’t tell me what to do, but he thought it

was a mistake to invoke.

October 2008. PSB came back with the internal portion of the complaint on Jeremy

Rosenthal. I was made aware of the situation and the fact that Jeremy was going to be

sent home on admin leave because of it. I advised Lt. Knott that I wanted to handle it

since he worked for me. Lieutenant Knott dismissed me and had Mike Polombo proceed

with the process with PSB (Professional Standard Bureau). It should be noted that he

was my employee and asked Lt. Knott to allow me to do this since I had never done it in

the past. Lieutenant Knott said “no, they can’t trust you”. He further stated that Mike was

going to handle it since they didn’t want anyone to know what was going on. Lieutenant

Knott said Commander Klima told him that he didn’t believe him when he told him that I

had not spoken of this situation to anyone. Lt. Knott said they put specific information

into that process that they did not want me to know about. Lieutenant Knott said that the

fourth floor asked who Jeremy’s supervisor was and when he said Vance-he quickly said

he was having Polombo handle it and they all agreed that it was best to let him deal with

it because of my issues.

November 12, 2008- I sent Lieutenant Knott an email telling him that I really needed a

Spanish speaker on my squad since Detective Ernie Moreno left and that I would like to

have Bryan Korus on my squad because he was coming off training before too long and

he had been working out well on my squad. Sergeant Mike Polombo then called

Detective Karl Martin who was now on my squad and asked him if he spoke Spanish.

Karl thought it was strange that he contacted him and said it seemed odd. Karl Martin is

not a certified Spanish Speaker. Lt Knott called me in and questioned me on the email

and asked me about Karl Martin’s abilities. I again told him that I did not have a Spanish

speaker and everyone else does. He then said Patrick Kotecki is going to get Korus on

C32 and I will try to get you Josh Champion who speaks Spanish. There was no basis for

that decision other than the fact that Patrick Kotecki wanted Bryan Korus.

12/12/08 Josh Champion came to me and told me that while he was at lunch he was

shocked to hear the way Mike Polombo talked about me in front of him and the other

Detectives on his squad. Josh said that Mike Polombo openly said I was incompetent.

Josh Champion said Mike Polombo calls Me the corporal and that Joe Petrosino is the

sergeant on the squad. Josh said Detective Brewer and Meislish were in on it as well.

I went to Lieutenant Knott and informed him of what Josh Champion said and Lieutenant

Knott said that Josh should not be spreading rumors. He then said he would say

something to Mike Polombo about it, and it was dropped.

Lieutenant Knott never listened to my complaints or the issues I brought forward about

the harassment from Mike Polombo.

2/5/09 I received my Performance Management Guide from Lieutenant Joe Knott. I

received positive comments and I met my goals and performance objectives. My overall

performance was met.

June 21, 2009. I sent Lt. a text message that I forwarded to him from Jan Butcher asking

if she could do a 48 hour interview on the Orbin trial. Lt. Knott called me and asked what

I was asking. I told him that 48 hours has been following the Orbin trial and now they

want to interview her at her work station. I told him it would not involve overtime. Lt.

Knott said he didn’t have a problem as long as PAB was okay with it. I then notified Jan

and that I had to get PAB’s approval first but that the Lt seemed okay with it. The next

day I spoke to Sergeant Tommy Thompson and I informed him of the situation. He said

he didn’t mind, but he wanted me to send an email up through the chain of command. I

then sent an email up the chain to get approval for the interview. Commander Miiller

replied that he didn’t want the interview done if the case had not been adjudicated. Lt.

Knott then acted like he did not know the case had not been adjudicated and even sent an

email out claiming he didn’t know it hadn’t been adjudicated. I felt as though Lt. Knott

was untruthful in that email because he was well aware of the circumstances surrounding

the interview and the fact that it was the Orbin trial.

I received my next notes for May on June 22nd

, 2009. My notes were all positive with no

notes performance issues.

In May I was chosen to put together the process for the new Night Detectives along with

Sergeant Eric Lumley. We put the process together and I put out the advertisement in the

Transfer Opportunity Bulletin. I ran the entire process through Lt. Knott and he

complimented me on what I had done. Ultimately we did the process and we selected five

top applicants to be on the list to come to Night Detectives.

June 24, 2009 Lieutenant Knott served me with the paperwork for a photo radar citation

and it had an error on it. It is only relevant because he states that one of the reasons he

wants me out of the unit is because of errors on my paperwork. Several Lieutenants have

commented on the fact that all of their sergeants have errors on their paperwork. Part of a

Lieutenants job is to proof read our reports. We should be working as a team. I need a

supervisor to back me up and assist me just as I support the people who work for me.

July 2nd

, 2009. The affidavit is unsealed and it is posted on line for everyone to see. In

the affidavit, several people in the unit make the statement that it has to be me or Dave

Barnes who took the name plates and sent the email because of our problems with the

Polombos. It should be noted that most of the detectives who said this in their interviews

have been mentioned in this document.

There was no basis for the allegation other than rumors and innuendos that were never

addressed by my supervisors.

7/6/09 Meeting with Lt. Knott in his office at 1500 hours.

I went to see Lieutenant Knott in his office to turn in some paperwork. When I saw him

he began bragging about his new BMW 535 and the fact that he needed to sell his truck.

Then he asked me to close the door and asked me to sit down. Lt. Knott began asking me

if I had read the affidavit yet. He then told me that he was surprised that I had not yet

come to see him. After he asked me what I thought about it, I explained to him that this

was an all time low for me and that this was a very stressful time. The fact that Polombo

had written a New Times article that included me as well as the Affidavit that implies that

I did something illegal because of rumors and innuendos brought on by people that don’t

like me. I explained to Lt. Knott that I didn’t appreciate the fact that things were said

about me that was untrue. He replied that it was because of my undying allegiance to

Dave Barnes that has harmed me. He told me that I was outspoken and supportive of

Dave and that everyone is going to remember that. He also said Dave let me down and

that he was one of the biggest liars he had ever met. He told me that Dave lied to his face

and he couldn’t prove it but he knew he was lying.

Lt. Knott then began telling me that he met with my squad and that he had a private

breakfast with them two weeks ago in an effort to see what their problem was with me

and what my issues were. He said he heard that there were some disgruntled people that

worked for me and that he wanted to find out what the problem was. He said during the

interview with them he asked them what their issues were with me and they all said they

didn’t have any personal issues with me; it was just that they wanted a stronger

supervisor who dealt with issues better. He also said that when I spoke to him about the

issues brought up by Josh, Tony and Karl, that the issues were bigger than just not getting

commendations as I had previously stated. He said that was one of the issues, but they

had complaints about my focus and my being able to pay attention to details they bring

up. He said some of them were quiet during the meeting and didn’t say much, but others

were outspoken about the fact that they wanted a sergeant like some of the others. They

said I had been preoccupied lately. I explained the fact that the issues with the

Polombo’s had been going on for some time and now it came to a head. I explained the

fact that it has been hard to focus because of all of this stress and that I will get back on

track. Lt. Knott said he felt that this has been a two year problem with me and that I get

better and then it goes back to problems. When I asked him to be specific. He pointed

out corrections the last couple of weeks with my paperwork and then he specifically

brought up a homicide call out from a year ago where he got there and I wasn’t there. He

admitted that there had been a previous call out and that he had been at both and I had not

bought my people food. I said I cannot recall ever not being at a scene. Lt.Knott said

there has never been a time that one of the other Homicide Sergeants were not at a scene

when he got there except me, that one time. I told him that I did not believe that and he

quickly came back and let me know that they were all above average and that I was

average. He ultimately told me that he felt like it would be best if I left the unit and

transferred out. He told me that he wanted me to go to Nights and have Jeremy go to

Homicide and that we could swap. I told him no! I was a single mother with sole custody

of my kids and I couldn’t go to second shift. I also told him that I was an excellent

employee and that after 23 years I didn’t deserve this. He said “see I never say I am an

excellent employee, I don’t have to I just am”. He went on to say that I was not an

excellent employee that I was average and he also said I didn’t have the strength to me a

Homicide Sergeant. He said this unit is too demanding and he felt like I couldn’t bring

my performance up to a level to be in the unit. Lt. Knott told me more than once he

wanted me to leave Homicide and that it was in the best interest of the unit. Lt. Knott told

me that he felt like the drama was beginning to subside and that he felt like to get back on

track my squad deserved a better supervisor. He said my performance was a 3 or a 4 and

that the others were a 6. Lt. Knott said he felt like I was not objective and one of the

examples he used was the fact that on the ATF 998 I came in the following day and

reported on how great the new Night detectives did on the shooting. He said how good

could they be after two days? I explained the fact that they were helpful and they had a

good attitude and for being in the unit such a short time, I felt like they did a great job.

Lt Knott said no one else comes to him to schedule the 998 debriefings and that he just

sets them up and whoever can go goes. I explained the fact that we are getting sued on

this one and I felt like he and the others should be there, so I wanted to double check with

his schedule to be sure the time was appropriate with him. He said no one ever checks

with him on anything and that I check everything and that it shouldn’t be that was with

the amount of time I have been in the unit.

Lt. Knott showed me how I had attached the DR to a case review and that he didn’t want

the DR, he only wanted the cover sheet. He also said he has told me that he didn’t want

the whole DR attached in the past. I explained to him that there were some issues with

that review and I wanted him to see the issues.

I emailed Dave Faulkner on 7/7 and asked to have a meeting with him and he responded

to my email on 7/8 and agreed to meet with me.

7/8/09 I was pulled into Lt.Knott’s office and asked to close the door again. He

immediately asked me if I had a conversation with Jan Butcher about him wanting me out

of the unit. I advised him that Jan walked into my office and saw that I was upset. When

she asked me what was wrong I told him that I was upset that he had asked me to leave

the unit. Lt. Knott said this further cements his opinion that I do not belong in the unit.

He said that I should not have told her that because she is a subordinate and it was not

right to tell her that. He said that I have too comfortable relationship with my guys and

that I am not a strong enough supervisor for homicide. Lt. Knott said he felt like I could

not meet the demands he was going to expect of me. Knott said he didn’t think I was

going to be successful and that the hurdle was now too high for me to get over.

Lt. Knott then told me that Pat Kotecki feels like Dave Barnes could have been a star

employee, but because I was his boss he was ruined and it is tragic that his talent was

wasted with a weak supervisor. He said Patrick and he had discussed the issue and they

all feel like I am an ineffective supervisor because of my friendships with my employees.

Several of my employees stated that the breakfast that Lt. Knott made them

uncomfortable and they didn’t think it was right. They stated that they felt intimidated,

and they said it was weird. The fact that all of them have less than 20 years on and

several of them have not completed their probationary year in Homicide made them feel

nervous. According to the detectives who were there, they stated that the only issue they

brought forward was the fact that I was preoccupied during my move and they want to

see more commendations. None of them have a personnel issue with me and none of

them want me to lose my position in Homicide. According to detectives who were there,

Lt. Knott made the statement “well I don’t have enough to kick her out of the unit, but we

will see how it goes”. Several of them quickly stuck up for my and said it seems wrong.

Lieutenant Knott told me during our meeting on June 8th

that none of the other sergeants

in the unit want me to cover for them when they go on vacation. He said they all have

had complaints about me and they doubt my abilities to manage a scene. He went so far

as to say they were pissed at the thought of me covering their squad in their absence.

When I spoke to Sergeant Lumley and Sergeant Lanning, they both denied ever saying

that to Lieutenant Knott. Both Sergeant Lumley and Sergeant Lanning said they would

use me anytime to cover their squad in their absence.

.