Is the Phoenix VA About to Become OS&LE and OSP’s National Example?

DATELINE | WHO’S LIABLE?: Phoenix VA Health Care System already showed the country what a corrupted culture looks like in 2014. Now the Office of Security and Law Enforcement (OSLE) and the Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness (OSP) get to decide if the police department there is going to do the encore. From the public record and internal characterizations, the encore already started.

THE BRAND WAS ALREADY FAMOUS

Everybody knows the 2014 name. The only question is whether the same place that became a national punchline is about to hand the country the police version under the new “we’re in charge now” structure under OSP.

OS&LE and OSP already know. The findings aren’t rumors. They’re agency decisions. And the liability is still sitting there.

YOU TOO CAN HAVE A RACIAL DISCRIMINATION FINDING AND STILL BE ACTING CHIEF

Three years after the Title VII racial hostile work environment finding — OEDCA Case No. 200P-644-2022-147530 — for discriminating against an African American subordinate, the same official was still in a supervisory role. HPP Case No. 6210, the “inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature” finding, was sustained on September 20, 2023. Not even 30 days had passed — 29, if you’re counting — and Associate Director Stacey Scherpf signed off on it.

Acting Chief While Under Investigation

Then in July 2025 another harassment investigation opened against "the same official." While that investigation was still open, they made him Acting Chief of Police. More than once. With an active harassment investigation and while a registered “Race Offender.” Phoenix VA Medical Center Director Elijah Ditter and Scherpf still had executive oversight of the police unit before the OSP transition.

They Even Keep His Seat Warm — With Their Butts — for the Morning Executive Meetings

They kept "the official's" seat warm for him with their behinds — probably at 98.9 degrees — for the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) morning meetings. You too can rack up sustained findings and still get the chair.

THE CULTURE WAS ALREADY THERE IN 2013

Is it a shock this culture showed up in the police unit? It was already there. It just needed a better chair.

Alleged False Statements to Justify a Detention

November 2013. A Phoenix VA criminal investigator allegedly told officers to arrest a patient, then told another officer three times to put false statements in the report to justify the detention. OSLE opened an investigation the next day. Due-process problems sitting right there on the table more than ten years ago. And we’re still talking about it.

That’s the through-line. OS&LE has been in the Phoenix VA Police mess since at least 2013.

Already Visible When Oversight Was in the Building

The 2014 healthcare scandal made the place famous. The police problems didn’t start with the recent Title VII and HPP findings. They were already visible when the oversight office was standing in the building. They looked. The liability stayed.

WHAT HAS BEEN TREATED AS SURVIVABLE - FOR A VA POLICE OFFICER

You too can:

• Tell somebody to put false statements in a report to keep a patient detained. 2013.
• Get a sustained “inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature” finding and still get handed Acting Chief while another harassment case is open.
• Violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for engaging in unlawful racial discrimination - resulting in a paid settlement with tax payer's money.
• Submit conflicting sworn statements in an EEO case — under penalty of perjury — that other officers contradict, and still keep the credentials.
• Be part of the arrest of a non-English-speaking person for ICE on an administrative warrant.

The brand was already known. This didn’t come out of nowhere. OSLE has been in the picture the whole time. And the liability has been sitting there the whole time.

WHAT THE MISSING NUMBERS WOULD HAVE SHOWN

The Cleland-Dole Act has required Phoenix VA Police facility-level numbers on complaints, investigations, and disciplinary actions since December 29, 2022. Still not posted. But the liability’s still occupied.

Sources familiar with the unit describe:

• A pile of professional standards investigations — that’s Internal Affairs for the unknowing folk — in the last two years (which OSLE let's Phoenix do the investigations).
• The retaliatory fact-findings since 2025.
• The nonstop HPP investigations that exposed the sexual harassment culture.
• Significant OAWP activity.
• The OIG investigations that are not public.
• More than ten (10) formal EEO investigations over five years.
• These are internal characterizations, not the public tables the law requires.

Majority of it centering on "ONE PERSON". You too can be the majority.

Facility-level complaint, investigation, and discipline numbers required by 38 U.S.C. § 902(e) since December 29, 2022: still not posted as of November 7, 2026 (1,409 days — 3 years, 10 months, and 14 days later).

THE QUESTION FOR THE NEW OVERSIGHT

"Is the Phoenix VA going to set the STANDARD for what a VA police officer — and what a Federal Law Enforcement Officer — can get away with?"

• “We can enforce standards and discipline across all facilities.” — Reginald Neal, May 13, 2026.

The VA finds you racially discriminated against a Black employee. You keep the badge, the gun, and the power to arrest people.

• That is the “standard” OSP and OSLE are okay with…

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Concerned Citizens AZ Investigative Team — The Phoenix VA already set one national standard. Now Reginald G. A. Neal and the rest of OSP get to decide if the police department there — and the one VA Official — sets the next one: The liability’s been sitting there either way.

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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.