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Cop entangled in discrimination allegations retires A Tempe police sergeant has retired after an internal affairs investigation revealed he lied about being racially discriminated against. Chuck Schoville had accused the agency of racism, but a Scottsdale Police Department investigation revealed that the accusations weren't true. "I believe the document which Sgt. Chuck Schoville prepared was done in an effort to protect his post-retirement aspirations of staying within the Gang Intelligence/Criminal Investigations law enforcement community," wrote Scottsdale Sgt. Chris Hall, in the case summary. "I also believe the allegations made within this document were meant to mislead and deceive the reader to believe something other than the obvious." Schoville had served on the force for 25 years. He was involved in a separate highly publicized race-related incident a year ago when he suggested that two black men rap their way out of a littering ticket and then aired video of it on the city's police television show. The former sergeant retired before Tempe Police could punish him for violating department policies based on the Scottsdale report findings - including those related to code of conduct and integrity. According to the Scottsdale report, Tempe Police officials told Schoville in July 2006 that he'd be moving to the criminal investigations unit temporarily. He wanted to remain with the gang unit and said former Assistant Chief Dave Lind was discriminating against him based on race. Schoville also accused the department of not being involved in minority neighborhoods; using racial slurs when referring to minorities; and doing a poor job investigating the death of two minority residents. City Manager Will Manley and City Auditor Ken Jones conducted an investigation and deemed Schoville's complaints without merit. "Schoville even admitted he wished he'd never included the allegation in his grievance," the report said. No further action was taken on the investigation until Chief Tom Ryff determined that additional issues needed to be addressed. He had questions about the homicide investigations involving minority victims, and asked Scottsdale to conduct an independent investigation. "Based on the information obtained during this investigation I believe the decision to transfer Sergeant Schoville was based solely on departmental needs, not discrimination and/or retaliation as indicated in his grievance," Hall said in the report. |