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As we draw to the close of another year, an election year at that, two thoughts set firmly in my mind: 2020 has been a very challenging year for the law enforcement profession due to a few select use-of-force incidents the mainstream media has chosen to showcase without providing all the information; and activist groups pushing an anti-police agenda capitalizing on those incidents and rioting in major cities across the country, including right here in Phoenix, Arizona. Yes, I called it rioting because there is a distinct difference between peaceful and unlawful assembly and damaging property, looting businesses, and burning vehicles and buildings. I’m no fortune teller, but I believe that regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, lawlessness, contempt for the police and additional limits on force options will continue. The end result will be veteran officers retiring, unmet recruiting goals and less proactive police work, all which will affect communities, particularly low-income and minority communities that already have high crime rates.

Regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, lawlessness, contempt for the police and additional limits on force options will continue.

While I lived in predominantly white, upper-middle-class neighborhoods, I can say that I grew up in the inner city. I was 9 when my dad opened and ran his own business in Paterson, New Jersey, and when I was in eighth grade, instead of attending our local township high school, I opted to attend and graduated from what is now known as the Passaic County Technical Institute (PCTI), which began as the Paterson Vocational School. I worked for my dad until I graduated high school, and, as it was in 1973, Paterson is still beset with high poverty and crime rates. Many of my classmates and sports teammates were from Paterson and Passaic, another large city with similar issues. One thing I learned at an early age was to treat everyone with respect and dignity, regardless of their skin color or the neighborhood they lived in.

After Tech, the next melting pot I jumped into was the Army National Guard. Experience in two military police units and a stint as an instructor at the New Jersey Military Academy set the wheels in motion for a major career and lifestyle change: law enforcement. In the 14 years I served as a citizen-soldier, I met and worked alongside many cops from a variety of municipal, county, state and federal agencies. Those cops were as diverse as the units I served in, but we had similar values and virtues: service and giving back to our community. With the advent of the internet and social media, I learned of a number of my PCTI classmates who, like me, opted for law enforcement careers over trades.

Before my Academy graduation, I was asked to choose which of the six precincts I wanted to serve in. At the time, Phoenix had a population of around one million people spread out over approximately 400 square miles with a dense urban core, less densely populated suburban areas, open desert and farmland. Each precinct had unique #7860 geographical features, parks, residential areas and commercial properties. I could have gone anywhere in the city: older neighborhoods from the 1950s, world-class resorts, multimillion-dollar homes at the base of and along the sides of Camelback Mountain, open desert and large residential lots, horse properties and massive homes backing up to the mountains, or others with older homes, large apartment complexes, industrial parks and some active farmland. 

I chose to work in a precinct that resembled the area where I grew up, the inner city, with established, older neighborhoods, multiple historic districts, large parks and a growing downtown with skyscrapers. However, the precinct also included some of the worst crime-infested and violent neighborhoods. They had low-income housing, public housing projects and neighborhoods where drug sales were rampant. Multiple drive-by shootings between rival street gangs were the norm on the weekends. This was a precinct where I believed that I could make a difference in the lives of the people who lived there. The residents who lived in these neighborhoods included blue-collar workers and professionals, but there were also many minorities, including Blacks and Hispanics. Many of the Hispanics were illegal immigrants who simply wanted to work and send money to their families in Mexico, but there was also the criminal element. Those who exploited their own people by stealing from, assaulting or finding other ways to victimize them and others living in the area. We also had a growing refugee population from war-torn Africa, Bosnia, Iran and Iraq. 

I took my share of domestic violence reports from women of color who were beaten but didn’t want the offender arrested because he was the breadwinner. East Van Buren Street was a hotspot for prostitution, and I took my share of assault and sexual assault reports from prostitutes who were brutalized by pimps and johns. After taking a juvenile sexual assault call at a local hospital, I got together with fellow officers and put together a case against a pimp from California who kidnapped a Phoenix teenager and put her to work on the street turning tricks. She was terrified, and I could see the fear in her eyes when she identified him in a photo lineup and agreed to testify against him in court about the awful things he did to her. In that same moment, I saw the gratitude in her mother’s eyes, knowing he would soon be off the street, unable to harm her daughter anymore.

There were countless times when I stood by crime scenes on the street or in the hospital trauma room where the lifeless bodies of teens and young adults of color lay after bleeding out from being shot multiple times. Meanwhile the screams and cries of hysterics from their families echoed in the neighborhood and hospital corridors after learning the fate of their loved one from a cop or social worker. Many of the homes and apartments I went into during my career had dirt yards and no air conditioning, evaporative coolers if they were lucky. Children slept on ratty mattresses placed on the floor with threadbare sheets and torn blankets in filth that I wouldn’t let my dogs live in. The public housing projects in the areas I worked, the Sidney Ps, Krohns and Duppa Villas, were like resorts compared to the CCPs, Brooks-Sloate and Alabama Avenue Projects some of my classmates and friends from Paterson grew up in. When my colleagues and I would walk through the projects, the kids would swarm us begging for “sticky badges” (police stickers) and we’d high-five them as they approached. At other times, we’d toss a football, shoot some hoops or kick a soccer ball. The kids always smiled when we’d get back in our patrol vehicles, turn on the emergency lights and chirp the siren and air horn. Many of these kids were dirt poor and living in broken homes, but they were always happy to see us and knew us by name because we made it a point to interact with them and offer hope and stability in their lives.

Two very poignant incidents in my career happened around Christmas. In 2013, I participated in our Shop With a Cop program and was teamed up with a young Black girl who lived in the projects near 14th Street and Monroe. I picked her up in a Tahoe and drove to the event at Spectrum Mall. She was an absolute joy to be with that day as we talked about our families and spent time in Target picking out gifts for her and her family. The event came full circle when I showed up at her apartment on Christmas Day and was met with smiles from everyone, including her mother and siblings who were in the living room enjoying their gifts. The second incident involved a Black family living in South Phoenix who lost everything they had when their grandmother’s house burned a week before Christmas. After hearing about the incident from a firefighter friend, I set the wheels in motion for a PLEA Charities donation. When I showed up to deliver a check, two colleagues who I worked with in 500 were there with monetary donations and items they collected from their squad and other sources. As always, during these interactions, skin color and economic status went out the window. It was raw human emotion — hugs, tears, compassion and gratitude for strangers supporting you in your time of need.

The officers I have had the honor of serving with are as diverse as the areas I worked, but like my fellow soldiers, despite our unique individual characters, we were in it together, working toward a common goal. We had each other’s backs, and if necessary, we were willing to sacrifice our lives for each other. Having each other’s backs also meant keeping each other in check, knowing when to intervene if someone was having an issue with a complainant or a suspect who was getting the best of them, which could lead to a complaint. We worked hard and did our best to solve problems for citizens, but if it did come down to having to make an arrest, we did what it took to get that person into custody. While we preferred to talk people into putting the handcuffs on, there were times we explained we could do it the easy way or the hard way, and if they chose the hard way, they were going to lose — and they did. We made sure our supervisors knew what happened so they could advise the shift lieutenant prior to writing the use-of-force report. We never used excessive force; it was always what was reasonable. Until you’ve had to fight a scrawny 125-pound person for almost five minutes because they were so high on methamphetamine and cocaine that they felt no pain, you’ll never realize how difficult it can be to get someone into custody who is fleeing from the law because of outstanding felony warrants. The same can be said for a suspect with a probation violation who stays hidden in their home with the help of family members, but is stupid enough to leave the house shortly afterward, run from and fight with you after you try to contact them in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center because he knows he is going back to prison if he’s caught.

We never targeted people because of their skin color. We targeted criminal behavior.  Many of those exhibiting criminal behavior had been in and out of the judicial system since they were teens and had spent time in prison. Yet they continued to commit crimes, including violent crimes against their families and other members of the community after being released, and some were still on probation or parole. Criminals, especially those on probation or parole, get desperate because they know they’re going back to prison and will do whatever they can to avoid it, even if it means killing a cop.

During my career, 19 of my colleagues have died in the line of duty. Some of their killers were taken into custody alive or without incident, while others were killed. If they were still armed and a threat, they were shot. If they refused to come out of a hiding place after being given numerous opportunities, we sent a K-9 in to get them. If they decided to fight, we used the amount of force necessary to effect the arrest; however, if they surrendered peacefully, there was no reason to use any force other than handcuffing them. This is because we are professionals and can separate the personal emotion of losing a colleague from doing the job we are expected to do. We grieve later on. In that same vein, it disgusts me when activists and politicians try to make an issue of a murder suspect’s arrest by injecting race into the equation and implying that suspects of one race are treated differently than another without providing context to the circumstances of the arrest.

Could relations between the community and the police be better? Is there room for improvement? Can we get back to true community-based policing instead of 21st Century Policing? Can we put aside our personal and political differences and work toward a goal where people can feel safe in their homes and neighborhoods? I personally believe that the men and women who wear a badge and go out there every day to do an increasingly difficult job can and want to, but unfortunately there are politicians and activists, including those who are currently serving on the Phoenix City Council, who are more interested in continuing to push the anti-police agenda rather than find and work toward solutions.

Patrol officers and some detective units have been outfitted with body cameras for some time now. Having personally worn one for many years during my patrol days, I have become an advocate of them. Most of you who know me, know that wasn’t always the case. After several weeks of first wearing them, I found them to be very beneficial, specifically when it came to investigations and disputing false complaints made by citizens.

Remember, every second of body camera footage is subject to a public records request.

While there are huge benefits to having them, there is one downside we all can control. I am referring to our professionalism. We at PLEA have had multiple opportunities to review body-worn camera footage during the course of misconduct investigations. One thing that stands out and makes us cringe is officers who either have become too comfortable with the body-worn technology or have forgotten that it is activated acting less than professional while being recorded. We #8377 all know what is expected when we are contacting citizens, but I am talking about something different.When you make that traffic stop and are back inside your unit running the necessary records checks, or when you are having a sidebar with one of your co-workers regarding the call you are investigating and do not utilize the mute function as permitted by policy, remember, anything you say can be used against you in a misconduct investigation or in a criminal proceeding to discredit you. How embarrassing would it be for you and the Department if a defense attorney played your body camera footage in front of a jury, showing you acting foolish, immature or generally unprofessional? Would you be proud if that footage ended up on the evening news? What kind of confidence does that instill in the public we serve or the upper management of the Department if we are acting in a way that is less than professional? Remember, every second of body camera footage is subject to a public records request. 

The best advice I can give you is to guard your words and actions. Always remember that how you carry yourself will reflect either positively or negatively on all of us and is something you have absolute control over.

If you have any questions or comments, I am available at the PLEA Office via phone or at dkriplean@azplea.com.

The politics that control our profession should be a topic on everyone’s mind by now. In the past, it seemed that police officers, in general, wanted nothing to do with politics, and our members even wanted PLEA to stay out of the arena. Now, I think that our membership has proof all around them of how important political involvement is. Politics touch everything from our equipment to discipline and believe me, politicians are not going to increase pay or benefits out of the goodness of their hearts; that will always be through hard-fought negotiations. 

The political strategy employed by most police labor associations involves long-standing relationships with politicians who align with the needs of those associations. Those relationships are supposed to get “yes” votes, and everyone is happy. It’s easy enough to understand in the simplest form of the explanation, but nothing has been simple for the members of PLEA over the last two years.

I truly believe that our supporters are great in number, and once organized, will bring politicians back to reality.

PLEA has seen local politicians “flip” their vote at the last minute and cower to crowds of loud voices. Our mayor, along with three council members, have yet to answer the two letters I’ve sent requesting they denounce the “defund the police” movement. A Maricopa County attorney candidate wants to reopen old officer-involved shooting investigations to re-investigate them! The Arizona State Capitol contains lawmakers who have and will continue to present legislation that restricts police action and attacks the profession, such as a bill to strike qualified immunity for law enforcement officers and other laws to destroy police associations so that law enforcement professionals have no political voice.

I know … lots of negativity, but I mention these things because there is a political wave that is threatening not only our profession but the society that we are sworn to protect. Politicians are using lies and emotion in an attempt to turn the nation against its protectors, hoping that more and more of the people who don’t think for themselves will believe anything they see, hear or read. These blind followers are being used, and they don’t even realize they too will suffer. The goal is to divide the American people, and they are using race to do it.

What can be done, and how soon can we do it? There is no quick fix to this problem. We must be as tenacious as our opponents, and we all need to get involved right now. Keep in mind, the restrictions we face with most seated politicians involve their election cycles and terms, but this also provides an opportunity to gather information from the community and to study voting records.

Our most important and basic need is a healthy Political Action Committee (PAC). Funding from PAC will help to ensure we have politicians who understand our profession and are not afraid to stand up for us. Money is extremely important in an election, and PAC funds get things done. I would ask that every PLEA member donates money to PAC. PLEA cannot use dues money for PAC, so your donation must be separate. You can call the PLEA Office for more info. A small #10170 monthly donation of $10 or more would greatly assist in the political fight for your profession and your family.

If you aren’t already talking about the untruths that social, electronic and print media report about cops, start doing so. Talk with your friends and family and get them involved. It doesn’t matter where they live. They can help by writing letters, emails or calling into City Council meetings to support us. I truly believe that our supporters are great in number, and once organized, will bring politicians back to reality.

With a membership base as large and diversified as ours, we have many opinions and political views. Let’s not let this become a barrier between us. We should be supporting one another every day. Many of our members have been subjected to duty-related missions that others have not, and it is a source of frustration. If we can take a moment to understand what we, as a whole, are dealing with, we will be stronger for it. 

In the coming weeks, PLEA will be sending out a series of email messages to the membership, which will provide more detail about our progress and information on how to support our blue family to make the necessary changes within the political bodies that govern us.

We won’t quit, and if anything, we will improve. Your PLEA Board is proud to represent you, and we thank you for your dedication to the citizens of Phoenix.

I am going to try to keep this short and to the point (if possible). Recent events regarding critical incidents involving Phoenix police officers (our members) have sparked me to write this article. Over the past several years, the leadership of the Phoenix Police Department and PLEA have worked together to come up with a very good model to use when officers are involved in a critical incident, like an officer-involved shooting, in-custody death and some others. This has evolved from a practice that was not in the best interest of the involved officer’s well-being.

In the past, officers involved in a critical incident would provide a criminal interview either to homicide detectives or other criminal investigators taking disposition on the incident. This is a voluntary interview the officers provide regarding their justification of use of force or deadly force as they relate to Arizona’s laws. Once that interview was concluded, the officers were required to stay on scene and provide an administrative interview to Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) investigators, commonly known as Internal Affairs, regarding Phoenix Police Department policy administrative work rules. This made for a very long and stressful day for officers defending their lives and the lives of others. Sometimes these days lasted as long as 18 hours. Obviously sleep-deprived and not in a good state of mind to conduct these interviews, officers were literally falling asleep waiting for interviews to happen. They would be separated and confined in a patrol vehicle with a supervisor and had no other options while attempting to mentally deal with stress, confusion and worry. It was clear that things needed to change.

There are so many changes happening to this Department, and many are coming from Councilmember Garcia’s camp.

After several years of negotiations, PLEA and Phoenix police management came to an understanding that the PSB (administrative) interview would be delayed about two days to allow the involved officers to recover from the incident and provide a competent interview. This is not just from PLEA pulling a number out of the air and saying, “Let’s try this!” This type of delay with the interview is based on extensive research conducted by the Force Science Institute. PLEA believes in this science, and so does the Department. Instructors assigned to our training bureau at the Phoenix Regional Police Academy also attend classes and implement training tactics with Force Science research in mind. There are published studies showing that an officer getting at least one sleep cycle after being involved in a critical incident will have a better recollection of the event compared to the officer who is sleep-deprived, stressed and tired when providing their administrative interview. This is true; it is best for the well-being of the officer, who will provide the best interview. Since implemented, the process has been working flawlessly for the past few years. So, what has changed?

Enter Councilmember Carlos Garcia. He has frightened the leadership of the Phoenix Police Department to the point that the well-being of the officers involved in a critical incident is no longer the most important issue to their employer, the City of Phoenix.  We are going back to the days of old, to a time before science told us — and showed us — that the best practice is a day or two of rest prior to an administrative interview. This has created a time when officers will once again have to be awake for 15–18 hours to provide that interview.  

How do we know this? It happened on Tuesday, August 4, after an in-custody death in the area of 51st Avenue and Indian School Road. Officers involved in the #9910 incident were released from the scene at 10:00 p.m. after being at work since 6:00 a.m. and were expected to return to work for their following shift the next morning. This is ridiculous! What is the reason for this? Is it Councilmember Garcia? Is Phoenix Police Department management afraid he might hold a press conference and provide false facts about an incident again? What you need to remember is that officers have already provided a voluntary interview with criminal investigators at the scene, so the Department already knows what transpired, and they have a full understanding of what happened during the incident.  

So, why is the wellness of the involved officer not being considered? Detectives assigned to the Employee Assistance Unit (EAU), who are the ones looking out for the wellness of our officers, disagree with this practice of holding officers at the scene and not providing them with an adequate sleep cycle to help with their stress and memory recollection. I want you to know what is happening with the Phoenix Police Department and why changes are happening that do not take your wellness into consideration. 

There are so many changes happening to this Department, and many are coming from Councilmember Garcia’s camp. If you ask me, it seems like Councilmember Carlos Garcia is the Chief of our Department. He sure has them scared.

Police unions are once again under fire for allegedly “protecting bad cops” because of the supposed “code of silence” said to exist among police agencies across the nation coupled with the myth of police officers targeting and “hunting down” people of color, which we have heard about in the wake of high-profile use-of-force cases within the past year.

Police labor organizations exist for three primary reasons:

1. Negotiations of wages, benefits and working conditions
2. Representation in the areas of discipline and grievances
3. Legal defense access coverage in the event of a use-of-force or critical incident, including:

˚ In-custody deaths
˚ Officer-involved shootings

Politicians and media outlets often refer to elected police union board members, including myself, as ‘union bosses.’

Where collective bargaining is allowed, unions negotiate what their members can expect in exchange for working for their agency and enter a contract with the employer. Our contract is referred to as a Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU. Basic items of bargaining include wages, benefits and work schedules, but may also include agency, association and officer rights, plus additional compensation for a variety of topics.  Under our MOU, overtime, working weekends or other than day shift, standby, call-out, court standby and court overtime, levels of education and training, linguistic skills, uniform, clothing and equipment allowances, off-duty employment, and educational reimbursement are all compensable topics which have been negotiated for over the past 45 years PLEA has been in existence.

PLEA is the certified bargaining unit for all rank-and-file Phoenix police officers and detectives, referred to by the City as “Unit 4.” PLEA, and only PLEA, can represent them with regards to negotiating the MOU, during investigations where misconduct is alleged, and filing grievances when their MOU rights are violated. Dues-paying members have the extra benefits of assistance with filing grievances, representation during the disciplinary process, criminal legal defense coverage for critical incidents and access to attorneys to handle discipline appeals. Unit 4 members who choose not to pay dues or don’t want PLEA to be involved in these types of cases can obtain an attorney of their choice, but PLEA is under no obligation to pay for the attorney or any fees associated with the services provided by that attorney.

Politicians and media outlets often refer to elected police union board members, including myself, as “union bosses.” They equate us to the Mafia Dons, who have had their hands in businesses like trucking, loading and unloading cargo ships, construction and demolition, and trash collection. In the area in New Jersey where my family is originally from, we had union bosses like that. Growing up and into adulthood, I heard stories from my grandparents and my parents about them and the things they did. In July, when I was visiting my parents, my dad told me stories about incidents involving union bosses during his employment as a laborer and manager in the metal can manufacturing industry before he left to open his own business. No police labor organization head would have ever gotten away with what a few of those union bosses did; some of their activities included crimes like extortion, loan sharking, illegal gambling and theft.

As public employees, police officers, including union officials, are subject to following rules and laws set forth by the state, county or municipality they work in. They include administrative regulations, personnel rules and agency work rules like our Operations Orders. Violating the law or any of those rules is considered misconduct, which may result in discipline, up to and including termination, depending on the severity of the violation. Employees represented by a union have Weingarten Rights, meaning if the employer is investigating, and it can result in discipline, the employee has the right to have union representation during that interview. If a work rule violation is sustained, the employee also has the right to a disciplinary hearing and an appeal process if discipline is deemed to be excessive for the level of the violation.

Lately, in the media, I’ve read accounts where several “professional police chiefs” chimed in on the inability of police agencies being able to fire “problem employees.” These are chiefs who left the agency they grew up with and move around from agency to agency, much like some of the very problem employees they talk about. While they may have amassed a wealth of knowledge overseeing various agencies, my own personal opinion is that because they have been in executive management positions for so long, they are far removed from the reality of what the street cop has to deal with every day. While they may claim to know policy, I’d like to know the last time they actually had to interact with a combative suspect while making an arrest. Better yet, when did they last attend and participate in their agency’s in-service training with the rank and file? I’m referring specifically to  #8859 firearms drills and qualifications, decision-making in a use-of-force simulator, stress inoculation drills, hands-on arrest/defensive tactics refreshers, driver’s training, and tactical scenarios like traffic stops, building searches, active shooter and mental health crisis hostage situations. My belief is while they may review and approve the training, they don’t actually participate because of their positions.

What many of these chiefs, politicians and members of the public fail to take into consideration when it comes to terminating these so-called problem employees is due process and just cause. Due process simply means if an employer is going to terminate an employee, there are certain procedures that must be followed. Just cause means there are specific standards that must be met before that employee can be terminated.

One thing that PLEA has consistently seen in the 45 years that we have been around representing Phoenix police officers is the subpar quality of some administrative investigations conducted by our Professional Standards Bureau. I think back to my time in the academy as a police recruit where we were told what must be included in any police report: facts. Who, what, when, where, why and how, were the basic elements, and it was equally important to include information that could potentially eliminate or exonerate a suspect’s involvement in the incident. We were also told to keep personal feelings and opinions out of it unless you could substantiate your point with facts. This was all reinforced during field training, and failure to write a detailed, accurate report resulted in plenty of red ink on the draft prior to it being corrected, then finalized. In the courtroom, the result of poor report writing was getting your ass handed to you by a defense attorney as they picked your report apart paragraph by paragraph.  

When PSB investigates, the involved employee gets a draft copy to review and is afforded the opportunity to participate in the Investigative Review Process (IRP) within 21 days of reviewing the draft. I’ve lost track of the number of times where PLEA has attended IRPs, and some of the investigators felt like that rookie officer in court because of flaws in the investigation, including blatant exclusion of exculpatory evidence, or inflammatory comments based on opinion. Yet, in many of those cases, PSB refused to make changes to the draft and finalized it. 

When officers went to the Disciplinary Review Board, there were members of the board who recognized one-sided investigations and made recommendations that either discipline should be reduced to a lower level, or there shouldn’t be any discipline at all.  When a chief moved forward with what PLEA believed was excessive discipline or an unjust termination, the case moved to the Civil Service Board. While there were instances where the board upheld the chief’s recommendation, there were plenty of instances where the board reduced discipline and/or reinstated employees.

Nobody dislikes a bad cop more than a good cop, and throughout our existence, PLEA has walked many employees out the door and helped them surrender their AZ POST Certification. However, when a member’s due process rights were violated, or PLEA believed their discipline was harsh or unwarranted for the level of misconduct, we fought to have that discipline reduced to a level commensurate with the policy violation. As humans, police officers aren’t perfect and will make mistakes. When you have a policy manual of 1,300-plus living, breathing pages that are constantly in flux due to politics, changes in case law, new equipment and technology, updated training and internal processes, officers are bound to violate policy at some point in their career. The difference is whether that violation was deliberate or a mistake of the heart. When an officer deliberately violates policy and doesn’t have a valid or justifiable reason for doing it, then the appropriate discipline should be meted out. If that discipline results in termination, the affected officer can use their appeal rights to see if the decision can be changed.

Absent a dedicated public relations spokesperson, you rarely hear about the philanthropical activities police labor organizations participate in, either through in-house organizations like PLEA Charities or in conjunction with others. PLEA Charities evolved from a long line of charity golf tournaments, starting with one held in honor of fallen Phoenix Officer Patrick Briggs, who was killed in an on-duty motorcycle crash in June of 1990. Over time, the tournament morphed into Tuition Assistance For Police Survivors (TAPS), a scholarship fund for children of Phoenix police officers killed in non-line-of-duty deaths. Once TAPS became self-funded, PLEA Charities became our primary nonprofit, dispersing most of the funds to families of police officers killed or seriously injured in the line of duty. Those funds helped sustain families with covering their expenses until federal benefits were paid out. PLEA Charities’ board decided that community members also needed assistance, so it became a two-pronged approach, providing for police and caring for the community.  

Since its inception, PLEA Charities has disbursed over $1.3 million to families of fallen and injured officers and officers enduring family tragedies. My last article mentioned PLEA’s involvement with the Police Cadet Program, and we have also assisted community members who have fallen on hard times. For the past decade, we have facilitated the annual Shop with a Cop program for children in low-income, high-risk families, and until we had to taper things back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, PLEA ran a back-to-school program for schools in low-income neighborhoods, primarily in West and South Phoenix. Students received backpacks with school supplies, and teachers received classroom supplies. The irony is that many of these students live in #8883 city council districts where elected representatives have shown little or no support for the Phoenix Police Department. They are Betty Guardado (District 4), Laura Pastor (District 5) and Carlos Garcia (District 8). Regardless of political differences, PLEA Charities will continue to support less fortunate members of our community to bring hope into their lives when there is despair, and encourage them to be productive members of our society.

Above all, PLEA will continue to advocate for our members, standing up for them when they have been wronged, and having them acknowledge and accept when they were wrong, with the caveat that they learn from their mistake and will do their best moving forward to not let it happen again. For those who take issue with problem employees who allegedly “game the system” to retain their jobs, PLEA suggests that investigators do a better job. That includes abiding by the MOU and not violating the employee rights laid out in it, conducting fair, impartial investigations, based on facts, not conjecture, and understanding that an allegation is just that until it has been proven. PLEA would also suggest that politicians and citizens have a better understanding of the terms, “just cause” and “due process,” because when you take our uniforms off, we are American citizens with the same constitutional rights as every other American, and are just as deserving of those rights, which incidentally, we took an oath to defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

In a few weeks, open enrollment will begin. I want to take this opportunity to provide some information on one of our often overlooked health care plans — the Savers Choice High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), the only plan with a health savings account (HSA). This plan has been offered since 2018, and currently, approximately 750 of our unit members are taking advantage of this plan.

Some of you may be like me. I chose the Cigna HMO plan when I began my career with the City and never explored any other options. It wasn’t until the City parted ways with Cigna that I was forced to do my research and consider my options. When I began looking at the plans offered by the City, my head began to spin. There were so many nuances that I wanted to just stop reading the benefits guide and stick with the new HMO, which would be my default if nothing else was selected

HSA is an account that is funded with pre-tax money that can be used to pay for qualified medical expenses.

Still, I was intrigued by the HSA. I had only heard of it in passing and had no clue what it was all about. I found that the HSA is an account that is funded with pre-tax money that can be used to pay for qualified medical expenses. I also heard that the City would make a deposit into that account every year just for simply being enrolled in the Savers Choice HDHP. Free money always seems like a win to me; however, I was still suspicious. Continuing my research, I found that the monthly premium for the HDHP was less than the other two plans. It is still a Blue Cross plan, which is the same provider and network as the PPO plan that everyone seemed very happy with. Now, remember, I have had an HMO from the beginning. The thought of yearly “deductibles” concerned me. For single coverage, it is $1,500, and for a family, it is $3,000. Here is the best part. Every January, the City will contribute to your HSA. Up until now, it has been exactly half of the yearly deductible. This coming January, that contribution has increased from $750 to $1,125 for single coverage and from $1,500 to $2,250 for family, which is 75% of your yearly deductible. So, your out-of-pocket dollars are reduced to $350 for single coverage and $750 for family. In addition, don’t forget the monthly premiums are the lowest out of all the plans, so there is a savings there as well. In addition, you can experience additional savings by completing the health risk assessment and receiving the wellness incentives. 

The chart depicts what your total would be if you were a regular to high utilizer of health benefits and met your annual deductible. Someone who uses health insurance for just the yearly physical or well check and nothing else would experience reduced out-of-pocket costs.

Here is the other perk. That HSA account is yours forever. This means that it rolls over year after year, unlike Flexrap, which is a use it or lose it. You can also defer some of your paycheck on a pre-tax basis into the account. IRS annual contribution limits are set for calendar year 2021 at $3,600 for single coverage and $7,200 for family coverage. The HSA funds can be used for a myriad of things, from medical, prescription drug, dental, vision and over-the-counter health expenses. There is an expansive list of approved expenses available online from Health Equity (our HSA administer) and #9695 IRS Publication 969. You could also choose to pay for all the expenses and co-pays out of pocket, which would allow this account to grow and be used when you retire to offset monthly health care premiums with pre-tax dollars. You could also reimburse yourself for IRS-qualified medical expenses with HSA funds at any time if the expenses were incurred after your HSA was established. There is no reimbursement deadline, but keep in mind, this requires a level of discipline to keep meticulous track of your receipts.

Now, I know many of you are wondering what the “downside” of the plan is. Before you meet your deductible, you will pay 100% of the medical and prescription costs. These are not retail costs, but the reduced agreed upon rates that were negotiated by Blue Cross. In addition, even after your reach the $1,500 or $3,000 deductible, the prescriptions continue to be a reduced retail rate until you reach the maximum annual out-of-pocket costs of $3,000 for a single plan or $6,000 for a family plan. You cannot be enrolled in other medical coverage or Medicare. You cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return. You cannot use HSA funds to pay for health care expenses incurred by a domestic partner.

Consider, however, after you reach your deductible, all doctor visits and procedures are covered at 100% for the remainder of the calendar year. All the same doctors and hospitals available to the PPO plan are available to the Savers Choice Plan. However, it is important to note that the Savers Choice HDHP does not have out-of-network coverage. Currently, the PPO is the only plan that provides out-of-network coverage; however, most providers in the Phoenix area are in-network, so very few utilize out-of-network benefits.

The bottom line is this — if you are a low utilizer of health insurance, other than the yearly well check, this is a great opportunity to build the HSA by deferring some of your earnings and lowering your tax liability. The unused funds continue to grow and earn interest over time, and once your account reaches $2,000, you have investment options. The interest earned on your HSA balance is untaxed. If you are a high utilizer of health insurance, this is also a great plan to consider. Remember, after the deductible is met, everything else, except prescriptions (unless you meet max out-of-pocket), are covered at 100%. It certainly deserves your consideration.

If you have questions about this or any other City-sponsored benefit plans, you can send an email to benefits.questions@phoenix.gov, or you can call the Benefits Office at (602) 262-4777 and ask to speak to a benefits analyst. You can review the current benefits guide online at phxbenefits.com.

I can be reached here at the PLEA office or via email at dkriplean@azplea.com.