TEMPE, AZ — A Tempe police commander is alleging racial discrimination and retaliation by his police department after he was asked to investigate claims of a racially motivated arrest.
Commander Rashidi Johnson, who has worked for the Tempe Police Department for more than 20 years, has filed a notice of claim against the department. The claim alleges the department went against protocol by asking him to investigate the arrest of an African-American Chicago police officer.
Johnson’s attorney, Larry Henke, filed the precursor to a lawsuit in February, saying that the department asked Johnson to investigate if the arrest was racially motivated because he is also African American.
The notice of claim says that the department did not follow policy or past protocols, alleging that the officers involved in the controversial arrest were not under Johnson’s command, and the department did not use internal affairs to investigate because there are no African American investigators.
“Race was the motivating factor,” the claim says.
This is all connected to a controversial arrest last year of an out-of-state police officer, Jalen Woods, for allegedly squealing his tires on Mill Avenue. The officer filed multiple complaints with the Tempe Police Department after he said he was targeted for being Black and placed in handcuffs within seconds after he was stopped by officers on Tempe’s bike squad. Those charges were later dropped.
Woods notified the Tempe Police Department earlier this year that he plans to sue the department over the arrest.
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Commander Johnson’s attorney tells ABC15 that Johnson was told to investigate Woods’ allegations, however, “the investigation should have been conducted within the officer’s command, but Commander Johnson was the South Patrol commander, and he was brought in, and it was explained to him that his race was a component,” said Henke.
Tempe’s internal policy says allegations of serious misconduct shall be forwarded to the Internal Affairs Unit for review, but this case was routed to Johnson despite the bike officers’ being under a different commander.
A spokesperson for the Tempe Police Department disputes the claims, saying Commander Johnson was assigned the complaint because he supervised a ranking officer who was working that night.
The department said in a statement, in part, “Requesting that he review the actions of his subordinates is a routine expectation of someone in that position. We cannot see how this in any way amounts to an act of discrimination.”
Tempe went on to say that they are fully prepared to defend what they call “dubious claims” in court.
Henke said that Johnson questioned the chain of command about why he was being assigned this investigation and not Internal Affairs.
“And it’s clear, at least in my mind, that race was the motivation for the selection of Commander Johnson to look into the actions of those officers with Jalen Woods because he’s African American,” he said.
Johnson moved forward with the investigation by requesting data from the officers in the bike unit to see if the arrest was an isolated problem or a systemic problem. But Henke said he did not get back the data because he was removed from the investigation.
According to Henke, Johnson was told he was being removed from the Woods’ investigation because he was being accused of being a leak to the media about Woods’ arrest. Johnson’s attorney said that Johnson was then put under investigation by the department.
Johnson’s notice of claim says the commander was not the media leak.
“Our feeling is that this is an endemic problem,” said Henke, “Why was Commander Johnson plucked from the South Patrol Command to perform an internal affairs investigation? The only defining factor is his race, and that is troubling.”
“Along with racial discrimination and subsequent retaliation, the department concocted policy violations for an internal investigation in violation of policy and the law,” said Henke. “The department then placed Johnson on administrative leave and has isolated him from the department, his peers and his subordinates.”
“They have destroyed his organizational credibility,” said Henke. “They just abandoned him.”
TEMPE PD’s FULL STATEMENT:
“The City of Tempe completely and adamantly opposes the unproven allegations made in this Notice of Claim. We stand beside the men and women of the Tempe Police Department — who are some of the best public safety workers anywhere in the state and the nation — and we are fully prepared to defend against these dubious claims in court.
Commander Johnson, who is currently on leave, was assigned the Jalen Woods complaint because the ranking officer on scene was his direct subordinate. That is standard operating procedure for the Tempe Police Department. Requesting that he review the actions of his subordinates is a routine expectation of someone in that position. We cannot see how this in any way amounts to an act of discrimination.”
Contact ABC15 Investigator Nicole Grigg at [email protected]
