I apologize. I think I may have missed a firing or two along the way. I plead the pressures of various things and throw myself on the mercy of the court.
Today’s APD firing is a doozy.
Det. Richard Munoz worked in the burglary division. Apparently, back in December, someone brought up concerns about how he was handing their case. In the ensuing investigation:
- “Munoz told officials he had conducted an “interrogation” of a burglary suspect over the phone, but did not record it, and did not document other steps he had taken during his investigation, the memo said.”
- Munoz didn’t return calls from victims, didn’t properly document evidence, and didn’t follow up with witnesses.
- “During this investigation, Munoz said he was “running fast and loose doing investigations,” and also provided statements to officials that proved untrue when compared to statements from other officers, witnesses and documents on record, the memo said.”
Interestingly, former Det. Munoz (who can still appeal his firing) had been suspended six times since he started with APD (in 1995) and was actually fired in 2006 “for policy violations related to his honesty, use of force and documentation of incidents”. He was reinstated by an arbitrator, and suspended in 2008 for public intoxication. After that suspension, Chief Acevedo apparently told him “one more, and you’re out”.
Also: