Dick pics and domestic violence: 7 Arizona cops punished in October

Grabbing a significant other’s neck and shoving her into a countertop. Lying about a romantic relationship with a colleague. A DUI. Taking dick pics on the job.

These were some of the transgressions made by the seven law enforcement officers from across Arizona who were punished by the state’s law enforcement disciplinary board on Oct. 16.

The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, or AZPOST, licenses all law enforcement officers in the state and is one of the few agencies in Arizona with the power to discipline police. As of its October meeting, AZPOST has opened 43 investigations into officers and punished 36 this year.

The 12-member board includes Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, two rural sheriffs, Phoenix City Councilmember Kevin Robinson and Ryan Thornell, director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry. The board’s principal task is certifying all officers across the state, but it also has the power to revoke or suspend the certifications of officers who demonstrate troubling behavior.

So far this year, the board has punished officers for putting the muzzle of a gun to a woman’s head, asking two high school girls when they lost their virginity, driving while under the influence and lying to superiors or investigators.

The Oct. 16 meeting was a particularly productive session as the board doled out punishments like Halloween candy. Its members suspended the licenses of five officers for between five and 36 months and revoked the licenses of two others.

One investigation that was not opened — at least not yet — was a probe into the two Phoenix police officers who beat Tyron McAlpin, a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy, in August. After the meeting closed, Phoenix New Times asked AZPOST Executive Director Matt Giordano if he had seen the video of the beating. He confirmed that he had and added that the agency plans to open a case for Ben Harris and Kyle Sue, the two officers involved.

“We almost always open a case initially on those, then we wait for the internal affairs investigation,” Giordano said. “I don’t know if we’ve officially opened it yet, but we will be opening one.”

Here are the most notable cases the board decided this month.

Horny for police work

The most eyebrow-raising offenses by an officer discussed during the meeting were committed in January and February 2023 by Dustin Moreland of the Gilbert Police Department.

According to Assistant Attorney General Joe Dylo, Moreland took pictures of his penis while in uniform and on duty, sending them to his girlfriend. He also sent his girlfriend footage from his body-worn camera that showed his interactions with two women. The department fired Moreland on June 27, 2023.

The board voted to suspend Moreland’s peace officer license for three years, at which point the license will lapse. Moreland will now have to be horny on someone else’s dime.

Marital argument gets violent

One case, about a rural sheriff’s deputy who allegedly strangled his wife, consumed about an hour and 20 minutes of deliberation.

On May 15, 2022, Greenlee County Sheriff’s Deputy Tomas Montoya got into a heated argument with his wife. According to an administrative judge’s decision read at the meeting by Assistant Attorney General Mark Brachtl, Montoya threw a plate of food and pushed over a chair before he reached out and grabbed his wife by the neck with both hands, thumbs extended upwards. He then shoved her into a kitchen countertop.

Montoya’s wife, who was not named at the meeting, left their home and called the police, reporting that she was choked and shoved. Montoya denied choking his wife, saying he did not “impede her airway” when he put his hands on her neck, Brachtl said.

The Greenlee Sheriff’s Office suspended Montoya for 20 work days. He initially was prosecuted for domestic violence and disorderly conduct, but the county attorney instead required Montoya to participate in educational counseling.

Montoya’s attorney and Greenlee County Sheriff Tim Sumner argued before the board that his 20-day suspension was punishment enough. Sumner noted that he had recently fired other employees but said Montoya was “an exemplary deputy” and a “great asset to Greenlee County,” which has fewer than 10,000 residents and is Arizona’s smallest county.

“I don’t take this lightly at all to come and stand before you and testify on behalf of Deputy Montoya,” Sumner said. “He took full accountability for his actions. We dealt with that, I believe, appropriately.”

Board members initially appeared unsure about what action to take. Eventually, Tempe Police Detective Joseph Krajcer motioned for a 24-month suspension, commending Montoya “for going through the steps to better himself” while also noting the board might have considered “termination” if he hadn’t. Somerton Police Chief Araceli Juarez seconded Krajcer’s motion.

“We’re setting a standard,” Juarez said. “We send a message to the community.”

The motion failed, with only three board members voting in favor, prompting more discussion. Ultimately, Chief Deputy Attorney General Bill Mundell motioned for a five-month suspension, which passed. Montoya declined to comment to Phoenix New Times about the suspension, but Sumner expressed his displeasure.

“I would say I was disappointed at the lack of standard that was in that boardroom today,” Sumner said.

A tearful goodbye to policing

Also at the meeting was former Peoria police officer Alice Balandis. In March 2022, Balandis was investigated by Peoria police for her role in two officer-involved shootings. That same month, as AZPOST compliance specialist Mark Post told the board in May, she began a “relationship that evolved from professional to personal to romantic” with the internal affairs officer investigating her.

Balandis was later determined to have lied about the relationship to investigators, prompting AZPOST to open an investigation.

Appearing at the Oct. 16 meeting, Balandis noted previous awards she had received from the city for her work as a police officer and said she was there “to take ownership” of her mistakes. She also told the board that she “was not my best self” and “did not hold myself to the standards I have” in part because, at the time, her father had chosen to stop treatment in the face of a terminal cancer diagnosis.

But if there’s one thing AZPOST seems to have no mercy for, it’s dishonesty. The board swiftly and unanimously revoked Balandis’ law enforcement license. “Ms. Balandis, good luck to you,” said board chair and Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels. Balandis rushed out of the meeting in tears.