In separate personnel actions, Albo and Warner have signaled to the troops that tolerable behaviors include driving while intoxicated in a state car and then lying about it, and cheating on a lieutenant's examination.
In June 1995, DPS undercover narcotics agent Ron Padilla was stopped by Phoenix police after the state car he was driving almost struck a police car.
According to a DPS internal investigative report, Phoenix officers detected alcohol on Padilla's breath. Padilla told the officers he was on duty and that his passenger was an informant. So rather than arrest Padilla, he was turned over to DPS supervisors.
DPS supervisors took Padilla to a station where he recorded blood-alcohol readings of .145 percent and .139 percent. Anyone with a reading over .1 percent is considered intoxicated under state law. Nevertheless, Padilla was not arrested, although DPS did send a criminal report to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
County prosecutors declined to prosecute--the blood-alcohol tests were inadmissible as evidence because Padilla was never arrested, according to published news accounts.
The internal DPS investigation determined that Padilla lied to Phoenix police; he actually was off duty at the time of the incident and the passenger was not an informant. The DPS investigation concluded that Padilla should be fired.
Charles Warner, then a major heading up the criminal investigations bureau, played a crucial role in that decision. Warner wrote in the report that "officer Padilla's actions . . . demonstrate a clear and willful disregard for the public, his fellow officers and the DPS."
Padilla resigned in November 1995 to avoid being fired. Within two weeks, he landed a job with the Capitol Police, an agency whose members are little more than glorified security guards.
Last year, Padilla applied for reinstatement to DPS, and last month director Albo approved his rehiring.
"Maybe other directors do things differently, but I believe in giving the guy a second chance, so we hired him back," Albo says.
Warner says he was unaware of Albo's decision regarding Padilla, but says he supports the director.
DPS officials of nearly every rank say they're outraged that Padilla is back on the force.
"We've had four officers killed in the last seven years by drunk drivers," says one officer. "You counteract all the discipline by hiring him [Padilla] back."
In the second case, Warner recommended, and Albo last month approved, a one-rank demotion for Sergeant Mark Remsey, who was caught cheating on a lieutenant's examination.
Remsey obtained the test answers from a secured locker, according to officers familiar with the case.
Warner recommended that Remsey be demoted from sergeant to officer III, a move that will cut his salary about $8,000 a year.
Neither Remsey nor Padilla returned phone calls seeking comment.
Told that many DPS officers view Remsey's punishment as a slap on the wrist, Warner replies, "There is more to the case than meets the eye."
Indeed, there is. During his year at the Governor's Office, Albo worked with Remsey's wife. And Remsey has served as Warner's administrative sergeant for two years.
"I never had cause to question his ability, his integrity, and I say this is a surprise," Warner says of Remsey's cheating.
Surprise or not, other DPS officers say there was only one legitimate punishment: termination.
"That's an offense in which you should be fired, because it was an ethical violation," says a former senior DPS officer.
Perhaps the greatest question among DPS officers is whether Warner is up to the task as assistant director.
Asked to state his job qualifications, Warner gives a vague response.
"Well, I think I have very strong interpersonal skills, which I think are critical," he says.
A number of DPS veterans are betting that those skills won't be enough to keep Warner from making a major blunder in managing DPS field operations.
"The man has no ability," says a senior officer. "And no one will point out the obvious mistakes."
Favoritism, budget problems, illegal and improper use of the state aircraft and questionable discipline already have occurred under Warner's watch.
Further trouble for Warner may loom ahead.
His chief patron, Governor Symington, faces a difficult criminal trial this summer. It could end his second term in office.
If Symington were forced out of office, what would happen to Charles Warner?
Only time will tell, but director Albo provides one scenario.
"If I left here tomorrow for some reason, and a new director came in and chose not to keep Charlie where he is, then he would be a lieutenant again," Albo says.
