DATELINE – PHOENIX. It is a little-known corner of federal law enforcement: the police force that patrols your local VA hospital. They carry guns, make arrests, and investigate crimes on federal property. They are entrusted with the safety of veterans who served their country. And they are required, by law, to be honest, reliable, and trustworthy.

But a months-long investigation by the Concerned Citizens AZ Investigative Team has uncovered a pattern of discrimination, sexual harassment, and the retention of racial and sexual harassers inside the Phoenix VA Police Department – a pattern that federal overseers have been warned about for years and have done virtually nothing to stop.

This is not a story about a few bad apples. This is a story about a system that protects the protected. And it begins with a simple question: Why are officials with substantiated racial harassment, substantiated sexual harassment, and alleged prohibited personnel practices still wearing the badge?

 THE PUBLIC TRUST – A LEGAL PROMISE, NOT A SLOGAN

In the federal government, "Public Trust" is not a feel‑good phrase. It is a specific legal designation. Anyone who holds a position of public trust – including every VA police officer – must undergo a background investigation using the SF‑85P (Questionnaire for Public Trust Positions).

The form asks about criminal history, drug use, financial integrity, falsification of records, and past misconduct. The agency's Office of Personnel Vetting and Credential Management (PVCM)  – which sits under the VA's Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness (OSP) – is supposed to adjudicate these findings. The legal standard is clear: honesty, reliability, and trustworthiness.

What the Background Check Is Supposed to Catch

But internal records and federal court documents reviewed by the Concerned Citizens AZ Investigative Team show that the Phoenix VA Police Department has been allowed to retain officials who:

• Were found responsible for creating a racially hostile work environment by the VA's own Office of Employment Discrimination Complaint Adjudication (OEDCA). See Bennett v. United States Department of Veterans Affairs, No. 2:24-cv-00084 (D. Ariz. filed Jan. 11, 2024) (former Black officer harassed for two years) .
• Have been accused of making false or incomplete statements during federal EEO investigations – a potential violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. See Ramirez v. Phoenix Veterans Affairs Police Department, No. 2:25-cv-00959-CDB (D. Ariz. filed Mar. 24, 2025) (containing uploaded documents of sworn interrogatories with contradictions, omission, and alleged false statements). 
• Have been named in more than ten formal EEO complaints over the last four years, alleging retaliation, harassment, and discrimination.

The Gap Between "The Law" and "The Reality"

Those findings are supposed to be disqualifying. They were reported up the chain. And yet, those officials remain in supervisory roles, serving on promotion panels and making arrest decisions that affect veterans and the public.

 PROHIBITED PERSONNEL PRACTICES – HOW THE INNER CIRCLE SOLIDIFIED POWER

Federal law – 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b) – explicitly prohibits certain personnel practices. But at Phoenix VA Police, the law has been treated as a suggestion.

What the Concerned Citizens AZ Investigative Team found was not random misconduct. It was a deliberate, multi-year effort by current leadership over almost half a decade to secure their power by stacking the department with allies.

Friends Interviewing Friends

Leadership officials sat on interview panels alongside people they had personally supervised – and people who had supervised them. The same names kept appearing. The same faces kept getting promoted.

Former Supervisors and Former Subordinates, All In One Room

The lines of authority blurred into a closed loop. A supervisor from one job became a subordinate in another. Loyalty was rewarded. Objectivity was discarded.

Friends of Friends, All Interviewing Each Other

The panel composition was anything but impartial. It was a network of mutual obligation disguised as a hiring process.

The Result: A Closed Loop of Protection

The result? A department where advancement depends not on competence or integrity, but on who you know – and who you protect.

This is not speculation. The interview panels, the selection documents, and the promotion records tell the story. The same protected names keep rising, while officers who filed complaints or refused to stay silent have seen their careers derailed.

Damage Control Begins: Self‑Atonement After Discriminating Against A Former Black Officer

However, now that racial harassment and sexual harassment have been brought to public light, leadership is scrambling to do damage control.

Expect to see the first Black supervisor or management official at Phoenix VA Police in 26 years very soon – a hollow gesture of self‑atonement for the substantiated racial discrimination in Bennett v. VA and the undisclosed settlement paid with taxpayer money. They had hired a Black applicant for Chief of Police around 2008/2009, but rescinded the offer stating it was a "technicality"  - while "others" in the department (currently serving) enjoyed a career with promotions and advancement (See Here). 

But a single promotion does not erase a quarter‑century of exclusion. It does not discipline the harassers who remain in power. And it does not restore the careers of the officers who were destroyed for speaking up.

This is not reform. This is optics.

 SEXUAL HARASSMENT – MODELED FROM THE TOP

Here is what the Concerned Citizens AZ Investigative Team uncovered:

Harassment Modeled From the Top

The harassment was not just tolerated. It was modeled from "the top."

Consider this: when leadership can pretend to spit in their hands and simulate masturbation behind a young female employee's back as she walks out the door – that is not a misunderstanding. That is not a joke gone wrong. That is a supervisor demonstrating, through action, that there are no consequences for degrading respected female VA empolyees.

That is the culture. And it comes from the top.

"You can make a sex joke in leadership and never face punishment"

"You can make a sex joke in leadership and never face significant punishment," one former officer told the Concerned Citizens AZ Investigative Team. "You can still supervise the people you harassed. You can still serve on promotion panels."

• No Consequences, No Demotions, No Accountability

And that is exactly what happened. The same officials who were named in complaints – some substantiated, some still pending – remained in their positions. They were not demoted. They were not suspended. They were not even retrained in any meaningful way.

The message was clear:

• If you are protected, you are untouchable.

 RACIAL HARASSMENT – SUBSTANTIATED AND UNPUNISHED

The VA's own Office of Employment Discrimination Complaint Adjudication (OEDCA) has already found the department liable for a racially hostile work environment. But what did that substantiation actually look like?

"Mr. Tibbs" and the Suit & Tie

A Black employee who presented himself professionally – wearing a suit and tie – was referred to as "Mr. Tibbs," a direct reference to the 1967 film "In the Heat of the Night", where Sidney Poitier plays a Black detective who clashes with a racist police department in Mississippi (the sequel was "They Call Me Mister Tibbs!". The message was clear:

• You don't belong here dressed like that. You're not one of us. 

Referred as "Bryant Gumble" for Speaking Professionally

The same employee, when speaking professionally and articulately, was mockingly referred to as "Bryant Gumble" – the former NBC news anchor. The implication:

• You sound too educated. You're trying too hard. You act White. Stay in your place.

"Didn't Mean to Mess Up Your Black Panther Party"

When a group of Black employees were talking among themselves in a common area, a supervisor interrupted them with: "Didn't mean to mess up your Black Panther party." The comment was later claimed to be a quote from the movie Forrest Gump. But the effect was the same:

• Reducing Black employees to a stereotype in front of their colleagues.

Years of Inappropriate Jokes and Actions

These were not isolated incidents. They were part of a years-long pattern of inappropriate jokes, racial comments, and hostile behavior directed at Black employees – behavior that the VA itself substantiated in a Final Agency Decision.

The VA Substantiated It. Then Did Nothing Effective

The VA found the department liable. They named a responsible management official. They ordered training.

Not termination. Not demotion. Not suspension.

Training....

The message to every other officer in the department:

• You can engage in racial harassment for years, and the worst that will happen is a few hours in a classroom.

 THE GIGLIO QUESTION – HOW CAN THE UNTRUSTWORTHY WEAR THE BADGE?

Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972), requires prosecutors to disclose any evidence that could impeach the credibility of a law enforcement witness. An officer with substantiated findings of dishonesty, bias, retaliation, or false statements is "Giglio-Impaired" – their testimony is vulnerable. Every case they touch is jeopardized.

So how can officials with substantiated racial harassment, substantiated sexual harassment, and documented misconduct continue to function in leadership capacities?

How can OSP allow this culture to remain?

OSP's answer, when pressed, is that they "investigated" the complaints.

But the Concerned Citizens AZ Investigative Team has reviewed what that "investigation" looked like:

• No independent fact-finding. The same agency accused of misconduct "investigated itself - and found no wrongdoing."
• No witness interviews of the complaining employees.
• No review of corroborating evidence before closing the case.
• Referral back to local leadership – the very people accused of wrongdoing.
• Closure without corrective action – substantiated findings with no consequences.

OSP says they investigated. But when the investigator is a friend of the accused, and the accused are the ones providing the documents, and the result is always "not sustained" or "corrective action not required" – that is not an investigation. That is a rubber stamp.

The question for OSP and OS&LE is simple:

• How many substantiated findings of racial and sexual harassment does it take before someone loses their badge?

OSP's silence is its answer.

THE PHOENIX VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM – THEY KNEW. THEY DID NOTHING. THEY POSED FOR PICTURES.

The blame does not stop with the police department's internal leadership. Above them, the "Executive Leadership" of the Phoenix VA Health Care System (PVAHCS) has been fully aware of the "R.O.T." – and has did nothing - effectively -  to stop it.

Since At Least 2022 – Notifications, After Nofications

Since at least 2022, the VA's Office of Resolution Management (ORM) has sent formal EEO complaint notifications to PVAHCS "Executive Leadership". Complaint after complaint. Notification after notification. Each one documenting allegations of racial harassment, sexual harassment, retaliation, and misconduct.

Final Agency Decisions And Pending Cases – and More Lawsuits Coming

Some of those complaints have resulted in Final Agency Decisions – formal findings that the VA itself violated federal anti-discrimination laws. Others are still pending, with the same executives named as responsible management officials in active cases.

And OSP and PVAHCS know: more lawsuits are coming.

Smiling For The Camera While The Paperwork Piled Up

And what did those executives do?

They allowed the very officials named in those complaints – officials with substantiated racial harassment findings, substantiated sexual harassment findings, and documented misconduct – to remain in power. They let them sit in meetings. They let them influence hiring. They took pictures with them, smiling for the camera while the paperwork piled up.

Standing By The Department, Again And Again

They praised the department publicly. They sent out commendations. They hosted award ceremonies.

All while knowing – because they had been formally notified, repeatedly – that the department was R.O.T.T.E.N(ing) from the inside.

This is not oversight. This is complicity.

 OSP AND THE CONSOLIDATION – THE SAME FACES, A DIFFERENT LETTERHEAD

Between 2025 and 2026, the VA consolidated its police oversight under the Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness (OSP) . The stated goal was to bring accountability and standardization to VA police nationwide.

What Changed? Nothing.

But here is what acutally changed: nothing.

Internal records show that OSP inherited a department with substantiated misconduct, open EEO complaints, and pending litigation. They were briefed. They received notifications. They saw the OEDCA findings.

And they refused to act.

Why They Did Nothing

Not because they lacked information. Not because the allegations were unsubstantiated. But because, as one source told the Concerned Citizens AZ Investigative Team, "the system protects itself." The same executives who looked the other way at the Phoenix VA Health Care System simply moved under a different letterhead. The faces did not change. The inaction did not change.

OS&LE: Same Visibility, Same Silence

Now the Office of Security and Law Enforcement (OS&LE) sits alongside OSP, with the same visibility into the same problems. And still, nothing changes.

 BEYOND MISCONDUCT – BROKEN ARRESTS AND VIOLATED RIGHTS

The problems go beyond personnel violations. A detailed report obtained by the Concerned Citizens AZ Investigative Team alleges that Phoenix VA Police have engaged in serious procedural failures that directly affect the public.

Unlawful Arrests and Citizen's Arrest Confusion

• Unlawfully combined federal arrest powers with citizen's arrest authority – a legal theory that has no basis in 38 U.S.C. § 902.

Exceeding Atatutory Authority

• Pursued state charges independently, exceeding their statutory authority.

Due Process Violations

• Failed to promptly present an arrestee before a magistrate, violating Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 5 and Fifth Amendment due process protections.

If they can't follow basic arrest procedures, what else are they getting wrong?

These are not academic concerns. They are constitutional violations. And they happened under the watch of the same leadership that ignored harassment and retaliation.

If a law enforcement agency cannot follow basic arrest procedures, what else are they getting wrong?

 FOR FUTURE APPLICANTS AND THOSE CONSIDERING A CAREER AT PHOENIX VA POLICE

If you are reading this and considering applying to the Phoenix VA Police Department, you deserve to know what you are walking into.

What You Should Know Before Applying

The department has a documented history of racial harassment, sexual harassment, and alleged prohibited personnel practices. The VA's own offices have confirmed it. The "Executive Leadership" of the Phoenix VA Health Care System has known for years. OSP has been told.

And nothing has changed.

The Risk of Speaking Up

If you file a complaint, you may (WILL) face retaliation. If you refuse to stay silent, your career may (WILL) be derailed. If you expect fairness in promotions, look at who is sitting on the interview panels – friends interviewing friends, former supervisors interviewing former subordinates, a closed loop of mutual protection.

A Simple Question for Future Applicants

Future applicants should ask themselves a simple question:

• Is this the culture you want to join?

A message for those already inside

And if you are already inside and thinking about speaking up, know this:

• You are not alone. Others have documented. Others have filed complaints. And the public is finally paying attention.

 THE BOTTOM LINE

The Phoenix VA Police Department has a documented history of racial harassment, sexual harassment, alleged prohibited personnel practices, and procedural violations. The VA's own offices have confirmed it. The Phoenix VA Health Care System's "Executive Leadership" has known for years. OSP has been told.

And yet, the badges remain untouchable.

This is not a warning for the powerful. They already know.

This is a notice for the public – and for anyone considering putting on that badge.

Sunlight is the Only Disinfectant

Because the only thing that changes a system built on secrecy is sunlight.

And the Concerned Citizens AZ Investigative Team is shining a very bright light.

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Concerned Citizens AZ Investigative Team – Continuing to dig, until the light exposes the truth to the public.

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READER NOTICE

Concerned Citizens Media encourages readers to independently verify the information contained in this publication, including through public records, official sources, or AI-assisted research tools. For additional information or clarification, readers are encouraged to contact appropriate Department of Veterans Affairs officials or their local VA facility directly.

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DISCLAIMER

Any attempt to retaliate against current or former VA employees, officers, contractors, or witnesses for engaging in protected whistleblower or EEO activity related to the matters discussed herein may constitute a violation of federal law, including 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8)–(9), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and applicable VA anti‑retaliation policies. Documentation, reporting, or public discussion of substantiated misconduct, harassment, discrimination, or policy violations is protected activity.