Report: Phoenix police officer said, 'If the mayor defunds the police, I'm going to shoot her'

Report: Phoenix police officer said, 'If the mayor defunds the police, I'm going to shoot her'

On the afternoon of October 21, seven Phoenix police officers gathered for a briefing in a Cave Creek station when the meeting diverged into a discussion about the defund-the-police movement.

When Officer Steven Poulos expressed his thoughts, the room went quiet: "If the mayor defunds the police, I'm going to shoot her," Poulos' sergeant recalled hearing the officer say, referring to Mayor Kate Gallego.

The sergeant broke the silence, saying, "You're not going to shoot the mayor."

Poulos doubled down, "That's a promise," he responded.

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Poulos's comments were detailed in a Tempe police report recently released to The Arizona Republic as part of a public records request. A Tempe police detective interviewed the sergeant and the other five officers who were at the meeting with Poulos.

Some officers remembered Poulos's threat differently, according to the police report.

One officer said he remembered Poulos saying, "If they defund us, the first person on my list is the mayor."

A third officer remembered Poulos saying, "If they defund the police, I'll go over the mayor's house and shoot it up."

Three of the officers told the Tempe detective they believed Poulos would not act on his threat because he was just venting, according to the police report.

After the meeting, the police report says, Poulos backtracked and told the sergeant his comments were a joke.

"I don't know why they make a bid (big) deal about it, it was just a joke," Poulos told the sergeant, according to the police report.

The comments, whether made in jest or not, were taken seriously. The Phoenix Police Department asked Tempe police to criminally investigate the case. Phoenix police also opened an internal affairs investigation to determine if Poulos violated any policies. That report has not been released.

The Tempe police detective has forwarded the report to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, which will decide if it will prosecute Poulos. The case was submitted for review of charges of making a terrorist threat and threatening or intimidating someone, according to the police report.

Poulos told the Tempe police detective that he would not provide a statement.

Poulos and his attorney, Josephine Hallam, declined to comment to The Republic.

Sgt. Mercedes Fortune, a spokeswoman for the Phoenix police, said in an email on Tuesday that Poulus is on administrative leave. She also said the administrative investigation is ongoing.

Prosecutors are still reviewing the case for any possible charges, said Jennifer Liewer, a spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

Gallego had not read the police report before The Republic sent it to her office on Monday. The mayor declined to comment on the threat, including whether she wanted the officer to be prosecuted, until she had time to review the report, according to her communications director Jeanine L’Ecuyer.

Poulos joined the Phoenix Police Department in 1998 after four years with the Pittsburgh Police Department.

Poulos qualifies for retirement since he has worked for the Phoenix department for more than 20 years.

He is currently set to get a cash payout when he does, according to city documents. In early October, before his threatening comments, the city’s police pension board approved a deferred retirement plan for him.

That means that he will start to accumulate monthly retirement payments now, to be paid as a lump sum when he retires, in addition to his monthly retirement payments, according to a description of the deferred retirement program on the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System website.

He must retire within five years.

Poulos's comments were made as some City Council members and advocates have demanded transparency and accountability from the Phoenix Police Department in police shootings and for police misconduct.

While Gallego has been supportive of creating a civilian oversight office to review police shootings and excessive force claims, she has not supported cutting the Police Department's budget.

In fact, Gallego, and the City Council, has voted to increase the Police Department's budget in June and last year, when she became mayor.

Relations between some City Council members and the Police Department have been tense, particularly this year when thousands of people marched in Phoenix, demanding police accountability. The demonstrations were spurred by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis earlier this year and fueled by the killing of Muhammad Abdul Muhaymin Jr. in Phoenix and Dion Johnson by a Department of Public Safety trooper in Scottsdale.

Councilman Carlos Garcia has been the most vocal critic of the Phoenix Police Department for its high rate of police shootings and use of force cases over the past decade.

The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, the union that represents the Police Department's rank and file, has criticized Garcia and Gallego on its Facebook page, saying that they do not support police officers.

In June, PLEA asked Gallego and every council member to take a "public stance and support Phoenix police officers." The union has frequently noted on its Facebook page that Gallego has not responded to the request.

The posts often spur dozens of comments against the mayor. Some call her an “idiot" or other names. Others suggest that the city should remove her security detail — city police officers — until she announces her full support for the police.

Uriel Garcia covers public-safety issues in Arizona. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ujohnnyg.

Reach Jen Fifield at [email protected] or at 602-444-8763. Follow her on Twitter @JenAFifield.

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