Moments of Truth

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The Scottsdale Police Department implemented the Moments of Truth philosophy within our department viewing each citizen contact as an opportunity to win the respect, trust and support of the community. Recognizing the community is the first line of defense against crime and the most essential component in preventing it, moments of truth contacts will reinforce the community’s resolve to help us develop safer neighborhoods through community partnerships and participation.

A community’s willingness to cooperate is born out of the level of trust, respect and support they have for their police. All police personnel can leverage public support, trust and respect by embracing and promoting enhanced customer service or “moments of truth” in policing. 

October 2009

  • The department received an email from one of the several victims of a monstrous credit card fraud ring. His identity was stolen via mail intercept when one of the suspects put a hold on his mail and then arranged to pick it up at the mailbox. It was later discovered that there were approximately 12 suspects and hundreds of victims. Fraud and ROP detectives played an integral part in this.

    "This is just a quick note to extend my gratitude for all of your efforts regarding my identity theft case. It is hard to believe that this thing became unhinged 13 months ago.  I just got off the phone with the Court and they told me that 1 of 8 defendants has accepted a 6.5 year sentence in a plea deal."

    "As you guys know, I staked out the 85255 post office myself 13 months ago waiting for one of these people to pick up my mail after they ordered a fraudulent hold of it. Then I have been more than willing to testify, be cross-examined, and stuck in the defense attorneys' microwave ovens, but I have not needed to do any of that. So, the usual excuse of "not wanting to get involved" that is almost an American genetic trait really needs to go away (at least in most cases) on the part of crime victims. The only thing that I really needed to do was report the crime and then ensure that my financial data was protected. You guys did the rest. successfully.  Having heard that only 1 suspect is hanging tough and wanting to go to trial (which I look forward to) and that prison sentencing for the rest of the crowd will likely range between 1½ (even with no prior history) and 12 years, I appreciate all that you have done, and if there is anything that I can ever do to assist you please let me know."

A special thanks to Detectives Griffitts, Ghiglia, and Much. Way to go guys!

  • This compliment came into Internal Affairs reference a traffic stop made by Ofc. Eric Schwartz. The writer is a resident of Fountain Hills:

    "I was stopped by this officer for a minor traffic violation. He was extremely polite and professional. He conducted his investigation in a timely manner and explained why I was being cited and the financial implications of my minor offense. The officer exemplified all that is good about law enforcement. I am an African American male and I always hear these stories about racial profiling, in this case I was clearly in the wrong. I was treated with respect and dignity and I want to commend the officer for doing his job. I was left with the impression that Scottsdale Police officers are fair and professional. Keep up the good work!!!"

    It’s great when the person receiving a citation still says thanks. Good job Eric!

  • The following emails show how our people go above and beyond.

Lt. Muilenberg -

The below email was sent to me by the SUSD administration. It references Officer Dan Antrim, who for the past several months has been working with a homeless teenager who attends Sierra Vista Academy. This teen rides the city bus and light rail train two hours EACH WAY to make it to Sierra Vista each day. He stays with various friends and truly fends for himself for food, toiletries, clean clothes, etc. Dan has spent countless hours bridging the gap between social services, homeless shelters, school personnel, and any other help he can find for him. He has relentlessly tracked down this child's mother, and after doing so, was ultimately able to find a former step-father who has stepped up and offered to let the child live with him.

Officer Antrim continually sets the bar for what is expected of School Recourse Officers. And you will never find this in a monthly statistical report for an SRO.

Sergeant Larry Marmie

From: Karin McLeod
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 11:30 AM
To: Carol G
Cc: Milissa S
Subject: our SRO

Speaking of "Rocks".....

I want everyone to realize what a tremendous effort put forth by our SRO, Det. Antrim. Dan and I have been working with a teenager for several months now on his homeless situation and with Katie K. and trying to assist him. Dan spent a great deal of time and effort tracking down the boy's mother and consequently find out that his step-father (they are divorced and he was unaware) wants him to live with him and be involved in his life. Mom has agreed and it will be a great thing for this teen.   

These efforts change lives for students....Dan, thank you.

~Dr. Karin C. McLeod, Guidance Counselor. Sierra Vista Academy

Dan, simply outstanding!!

  • The department received a letter from a father to say thank you to Detective James Peters for arresting his adult son. The arrest for Drug Possession caused his son to be in the County Jail for 5 days. During his stay, the father told us that his son was able to detox from the prescription Oxycontin. He is now involved with NA and his father feels that without Detective Peter's intervention through the arrest, the young man's life would have continued in the downward spiral that it was previously on. The family is grateful for your intervention.

Excellent work James!

  • The following email came from Sergeant Chris Coffee:

On 09-28-09 Officer Keefe was on duty. As he approached the intersection of Miller & Thomas, he observed vehicles stopped in the roadway and two citizens picking up a female who had fallen out of her wheelchair. Officer Keefe stopped to assist. The female stated she attempted to push the cross walk button but had trouble as it was too high on the pole for her. Her wheelchair rolled off the sidewalk and into the soft dirt where she fell. Officer Keefe assisted her back into her wheelchair. She was not injured during the fall but her motorized wheelchair broke as a result of the fall. Officer Keefe and Sergeant Macari, who had arrived on the scene attempted to repair the motorized wheelchair but could not. Officer Keefe called PCIS (Natalie Summit) to respond with a vehicle to transport the female and her wheelchair back home. Officer Keefe returned to the station and started calling City departments to see about lowering the cross walk signal button in that area. Traffic Engineering stated they would look into the matter and make any corrections. Officer Keefe then went to the female’s home to check on her welfare and to let her know the city would be looking into the matter. The woman had called to say how impressed and thankful she was with the professionalism and support that she had received from the employees involved. Traffic Engineering responded the next day and lowered the crosswalk button.

Officer Keefe, you truly made a difference in her life. Thanks!

  • One early morning hour, Officer Steve Capone #854 was on routine patrol when he observed a vehicle traveling at a rate of speed significantly slower than the posted speed limit. He initiated a traffic stop to do a welfare check on the elderly female driver and passenger.  The driver stated her and her husband, both over 90 years of age, did not feel safe in their residence located in a different city and sometimes slept in their car at the airport parking lots.

    Officer Capone contacted MCSO who showed several calls for service from the elderly female concerning possible break-ins but with no evidence to support such criminal activity. Office Capone was also able to determine the couple had been staying at a hotel in Fountain Hills but had recently cut up the credit card they were using.

    Officer Capone and Officer Michelle Mitchell #1296 helped the couple secure a hotel room for the night and made arrangements for PCIS to make contact with them at the hotel in the morning. He followed-up with the hotel later in the day and was advised the couple had checked out early that morning prior to them speaking with PCIS.

    Officer Capone again contacted MCSO who conducted a welfare check at the couples' address which yielded no contact. The Sheriff’s deputy was able to secure emergency contact information from the guard shack for their out-of-state children. Officer Capone also contacted Phoenix Police Dispatch at Sky Harbor Airport who determined the elderly couple were not currently at the airport.  They placed an alert on their vehicle registration so if the vehicle entered the airport they would be contacted by police.

    Officer Capone then contacted the couple's out-of-state adult age children and in-laws. The family was aware things had been deteriorating; however, not to the extent that they were sleeping at the airport and driving around all night. That same day, the daughter travelled to Phoenix to help manage the situation. Later in the evening, Officer Capone received a call from the daughter who confirmed she had arrived in Phoenix from Washington and was now with her parents at their home.

    Due to Officer Capone’s continuous follow through and concern, the elderly couple are now safe with their family.

Steve, that’s a great example of “above and beyond”!

  • Submitted by Sergeant Bryan Brown.

On April 25th, 2009, the Mounted Unit attended the end of year graduation for the Horsense program. Horsense is an equestrian program for at risk children within the Scottsdale Unified School District and is sponsored by the Scottsdale Charros. On that day, Officer Danny Garcia Sr. had a conversation with a teacher from Arcadia High School.  The teacher mentioned to Danny that she runs a program at the school called JAG (Jobs for Arizona Graduates) and stated that the students might be interested in hearing from a police officer about their career choice. Danny volunteered to go speak to the students in her class. In May. Officer Garcia spoke to the students about his career in the military and the police department. He also told them that they could be successful in anything they chose as long as they believed in themselves. 

Recently, I received a card from the teacher to thank me for allowing Danny to come speak to her students. She asked in her card that we please meet with her so we can form a partnership in this venture, which we plan on doing.

“He made such a positive impact on the students that I want to expand my program to Coronado High School as well."

During Officer Garcia's original conversation with the teacher, he simply could have not offered his services or referred her to our Community Liaison Officer, SRO Unit or District CLO’s.  Instead, he chose make a positive impact on the student’s lives. Danny understood the importance of building a positive relationship with the youth of our community and the impact that can have in future relationships with the members of our community. He truly made the right choice and represented our department and city well.

Way to go Danny! 

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