Mayor Kate Gallego on fired Phoenix police officers: ‘There could be more of a story’

Mayor Kate Gallego said “there could be more of a story” about the two Phoenix police officers who were arrested and fired over an apparent rogue traffic stop.

Gallego told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Tuesday that the investigation into Luis Vasquez Jr. and Antonio Felix is ongoing.

“We think that there could be more of a story to continue to come out,” she said. “We are looking at these officers’ history and trying to see if anything like this has happened before. At this point there’s no evidence of that, but we do have a duty to our community to understand the environment in which these officers were operating [and] their history and do as much as we can to make sure something like this never happens again.”

Why were two Phoenix police officers arrested and fired?

The Phoenix Police Department announced Saturday that Vasquez and Felix were arrested and fired for allegedly using force on a man and a woman during an Aug. 5 traffic stop without reporting the incident or activating their body-worn cameras.

The stop allegedly took place around 11:30 p.m. near 19th Avenue and Broadway Road in south Phoenix.

After an investigation by the Tempe Police Department, Vasquez and Felix were arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault, kidnapping, assault involving a bound or physically restrained victim, threatening or intimidating, criminal damage, hindering prosecution, and tampering with evidence.

Gallego said other Phoenix police officers are “deeply upset” about the allegations.

“There’s no one who gets frustrated with a poor performing cop like a good cop, and they want to be part of the solution too,” she said.

Mayor agrees with Phoenix police chief’s decision to fire the officers

On Monday, Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano told KTAR News’ The Mike Broomhead Show that while there had been some discipline issues with Vasquez and Felix in the past, nothing rose to this level.

Gallego said she agreed with Giordano’s decision to fire them.

“I’m angry. The chief is angry,” she said. “I appreciate him acting incredibly swiftly. Part of the way we rebuild trust with our community is that we move quickly, and he did so in this case. So, I do think the chief made the right decision here.”

Gallego added that officials are trying to determine if there were warning signs about the officers’ behavior that might have been missed.

“We also are trying to invest in an early warning or early intervention system,” she said. “You know, someone may be going through a tough time. There may be a family diagnosis of cancer or a divorce, and we may be able to find challenges earlier and try to provide support to officers early.”

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