Carroll Cooley joined the Phoenix Police Department in April 1958 and during his career, he experienced two incidents that are noteworthy. In March 1963, Carroll was the detective who arrested and interviewed Ernesto Miranda, which resulted in the landmark 1966 United States Supreme Court decision known as Miranda v. Arizona. Since that decision was announced, thousands of officers across the United States have read what are commonly referred to as Miranda warnings or Miranda rights to suspects in custody prior to conducting interviews.
The other incident occurred on August 23, 1963. Carroll was shot in the head while pursuing an armed robbery suspect on foot. Carroll fully recovered from his injuries and rose through the ranks, eventually retiring as a captain on December 28, 1978.
After he retired, Carroll was employed as the director of computer-aided dispatching for all police agencies in Champaign County, Illinois, and also served as an adjunct professor #5547 in the Police Certification Program at the University of Illinois. In 1985, he returned to Arizona and was employed by the State of Arizona as an administrator with the Motor Vehicle Division before moving over to the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Carroll served in the Highway Patrol Division as a commander in District 16 and later oversaw administrative investigations until he retired in November 1985.
Since retirement, Carroll has served as a volunteer with two military support organizations, Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) and the United Service Organization (USO). ESGR is a Department of Defense office established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between reserve component service members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee’s military commitment. The USO strengthens America’s military service members by keeping them connected to family, home and country throughout their service to the nation, particularly during deployments.
Carroll currently serves as a volunteer with the Phoenix Police Museum.