Golf Cart Cover-Up: Vote of No Confidence in Phoenix VA Police’s Top Brass

DATELINE | EXPOSED: A government golf cart. A future Deputy Chief thrown and left with a significant head injury. A supervisor who watched it happen, then carried him into the emergency department. That same supervisor later racked up substantiated racial and sexual harassment findings and stayed in place. Now the injured officer is his boss.

A "Vote of No Confidence" is circulating against the Chief and Deputy Chief of Police for the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Police. The alleged cover-up officers have described since 2019 has been a protected secret — until now.

A SUPERVISOR WITH SUBSTANTIATED RACIAL & SEXUAL HARASSMENT — AND THEY KEPT HIM

It is the decision to keep Joshua Fister as a Major (in title) over Physical Security for the Phoenix VA Health Care System (PVAHCS) after the VA’s own findings substantiated that Fister — while a supervisor — engaged in unlawful racial discrimination against a Black officer and “inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature,” and after he spent years influencing promotions.

A separate government utility vehicle incident years earlier left then-VA Police Officer (GS-6) Richard Kennedy with a significant head injury and remains part of what officers describe as a cover-up by the "Good ol’ Boy Club" at the time.

Complaints Skyrocketed While He Stayed Supervisor

He was allowed to remain a supervisor after the substantiated racial harassment finding in October 2023 through August 2026, a period in which harassment, EEO, and misconduct complaints against him skyrocketed.

The department kept a substantiated racial discriminator and sexual-misconduct offender. It let him keep a Badge, Gun, and Arrest Authority. It is now asking everyone else to pretend that is normal.

THE GOLF CART HEAD INJURY THAT MADE A DEPUTY CHIEF OF POLICE

In 2019 (or late 2018 — those involved have the exact date, you can ask them), in the back parking lot of the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center — near the Emergency Department (ED), officers were horse-playing in an olive-green Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) — aka Golf Cart (for common speaking readers). Kennedy was thrown from the vehicle — Jack and Jill style — and broke his crown hard enough to leave a very significant head injury.

Fister was present as a spectator for the entertainment, then allegedly scooped him up in his arms like a child and ran him into the emergency department. A CA-1 was allegedly filed (the federal workers’ compensation form that documents an on-duty injury).

• The Paper Trail Runaround: FOIA Request 23-12755-FP asked for the form and the statements. But of course the VA used the Privacy Act and government bureaucracy to give the runaround — referred it to the Department of Labor, where of course they did the same. There is also an alleged OAWP complaint that was filed, which means there should be a paper trail.

The Good ol’ Boy Management at the Time That Allegedly Covered It Up

Officers who were present for the incident (several are still employed) have described it as misconduct that the "Good ol’ Boy Management" later covered up. Independent witnesses with no connection to the police department saw the same thing and still remember it. The department acted like nothing happened. Under VA Handbook 5021 (Pg. I-A-3) and 38 CFR 1.218(a)(12) & (b)(33), horse-play in a government vehicle can be treated as misuse of a government vehicle or property. It is unknown if any discipline followed, and given the significant protection of the good ol’ boy culture at the time, it is highly unlikely.

In a normal law enforcement agency this is treated as an incident. At Phoenix VA Police it became an origin story.

The Promotion Path Officers Allege Fister Influenced

What came next:

The injured officer (Kennedy) advanced through a series of promotions that officers allege were influenced by Fister.

Joshua Fister’s Advancement:

• 2021: Lieutenant
• 2022: Captain
• 2023: Major
• 2025/2026: Acting Chief of Police (despite-substantiated "Racial Harassment" and “Sexual Nature” Misconduct)

Now the Promoted Officer Supervises the One Who Carried Him

Now the promoted officer is the supervisor of the one who carried him — including friendship and socialization outside of work. Officers who have been there since 2019 have described it as a cover-up.

Richard Kennedy’s Alleged Promotion Path:

• 2019: Corporal: Fister had influence over the newly unofficial Field Training Officer (FTO) program as a member of the made-up “FTO Committee” created by the then-Operations Major (Fister & Kennedy's friend) in April 2019; Kennedy was made an FTO.
• 2020: Detective: Fister was on the interview panel and process.
• 2022: Criminal Investigator 1811 GS-9: Fister was on the interview panel and process.
• 2023: Criminal Investigator 1811 GS-11: Automatic promotion.
• 2026: Deputy Chief of Police: Fister was not on this panel, but the influence had already permeated a compromised department.

Every step after the golf cart. No findings. Unknown discipline. And still the question of whether the same injury also paid out in workers’ compensation on top of the promotions.

THE RELATIONSHIP THAT MAKES THE VOTE NECESSARY

Phoenix VA Chief of Police Alan Barone and Fister share nearly twenty years together in VA Policing, including a brotherhood of the Air Force. After 2019, Fister and then-officer Richard Kennedy grew close enough that officers watched Fister help shape promotions. Fister in the  chain of command of Kennedy and either was his supervisor or supervised him when covering shifts.

• He is now the one being supervised — by his friend.

That long personal history is why a "vote of no confidence" is aimed at the department's management. The department still calls this leadership. Officers see a buddy system that never ended.

FINDINGS THAT SHOULD HAVE ENDED IT: RACIAL DISCRIMINATION & SEXUAL HARASSMENT

• Substantiated Racial Discrimination (10/13/2023): OEDCA Case No. 200P-644-2022-147530 substantiated that Fister engaged in unlawful racial discrimination against a Black VA Police Officer, which violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — and resulted in a settlment with taxpayer's retirement money.
• Substantiated Sexual Misconduct (09/20/2023): In Harassment Prevention Program (HPP) Case No. 6210, PVAHCS Associate Director Stacey Scherpf substantiated that “Fister engaged in inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature” — which stemmed from witness allegations in that investigation that he simulated masturbation toward a young female VA employee.

He kept the job. He kept the influence. He now answers to Deputy Chief Kennedy — the same officer Fister carried into the ED after the golf-cart injury.

In most workplaces sustained findings of racial harassment and sexual-nature misconduct end the supervisory career. At Phoenix VA Police they have been treated as a line on a leadership development plan.

THE STANDARD PVAHCS, OLSE, AND OSP CHOSE

This is the standard the hospital chose. Substantiated discrimination does not end a career. A vehicle incident that injures the future Deputy Chief does not produce accountabilty. And the man at the center of both remains in place with the executives who signed off on the arrangement. That is why the "Vote of No Confidence" is moving.

This is the Office of Operations, Security and Preparedness (OSP), the Office of Security and Law Enforcement (OS&LE), and Assistant Secretary Reginald G.A. Neal’s standard. As he told the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs in June 2026:

• “We can enforce standards and discipline across all facilities.”

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CONCERNED CITIZENS AZ INVESTIGATIVE TEAM — If the golf-cart incident and injury had happened to a Black, Hispanic, or Female officer (especially after October 2023), the last three (3) years of this department show what usually follows: Arrest Authority Suspended, Detail to another Department, Reprimand or a recommendation for termination. Instead, the officer who was carried into the ED advanced under the influence of a supervisor with "substantiated racial and sexual harassment" findings. That officer is now Deputy Chief and supervises the man who carried him. The Vote of No Confidence is the response.

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DAYS WITHOUT REQUIRED POSTINGS 

1,416 days (3 years, 10 months, and 21 days) without the mandatory (“shall”) statutorily required postings on the facility's website of COMPLAINTS, INVESTIGATIONS, AND DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS involving PVAHCS officers — regarding the Cleland-Dole Act (38 U.S.C. § 902(f)(1)(A)(iv)).

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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.