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Don't think of him as just a cop, think of him as royal government ruler whom you should bow before.
Chandler assistant police chief under fire over outburst by Laurie Merrill - Oct. 6, 2011 06:01 AM The Arizona Republic A Chandler assistant police chief's behavior at his daughter's high school volleyball game last week in Tempe has triggered three investigations, angered parents and prompted a call for justice from a longtime activist. The Tempe Police Department is investigating what witnesses described as Assistant Chief Dave Lind's temper-fueled verbal attack Sept. 29 on a teammate of his daughter's Perry High School volleyball team. Witnesses said that Lind went into the stands at Tempe's Marcos De Niza High School, where the Perry High School team was competing, pointed a finger at the teammate's face, yelled and used the word "bullshit." Lind, who supervises at least half of Chandler's police force, including the public information office, was intervening on his daughter's behalf in an argument about a three-way phone conversation in which his daughter was joked about, witnesses said. "This is a deputy police chief of a city that is growing like Chandler," said longtime community activist The Rev. Oscar Tillman, the local president of the NAACP. He said he became involved because the teammate is an African-American. "He (Lind) goes to the point of verbally attacking a teenager . . . He goes after a kid at school . . . How much respect can (they) teenagers have for law enforcement?" Tillman asked. [Hopefully, they will give cops the respect which they deserve, which is absolutely none] Lind, one of two assistant chiefs who report directly to Police Chief Sherry Kiyler, was reprimanded and suspended without pay for two weeks in 2010 after conducting an affair that included trysts in hotel rooms while on duty. Parents said the teammate of Lind's daughter and her coach burst into tears at the Tempe game, parents said. The girl's mother has since asked Perry High School to ban Lind from future games, which high school officials will determine after conducting an investigation, Tillman said. The girl's mother also requested, but did not receive, a court order protecting her daughter from Lind, Tillman said. The Chandler Police Department has opened an internal affairs investigation into Lind's behavior, said Chandler Police Sgt. Joe Favazzo. Both Perry High School and the Chandler department are awaiting the results of Tempe's report before earnestly investigating, officials said. Tempe police continue interviewing witnesses to the events of Sept. 29, said spokesman Steve Carbajal. Meanwhile, the Tempe Police Department is investigating a former Tempe lieutenant. Lind, who among other Tempe jobs was a public information officer, was hired as an assistant Chandler chief in December 2008. Lind's annual salary is more than $146,000. He is also collecting a public-safety retirement pension. |