Tim Norton chose not to participate in a Sheriff Candidate forum held on October 2nd…is the following perhaps part of the reason he did not want to field questions from the public and from his opponent? During the primary, Norton claimed that he had been “exonerated” after being fired from the Phoenix Police Department; however, no proof of the “exoneration” was ever produced.
Follow this timeline - “exoneration” is not the truth:
• Tim Norton was fired from Phoenix Police Department on November 9, 2000 for lying during an investigation.
• Norton requested a Civil Service hearing to appeal his firing; hearing held on June 20, 2001.
• The findings of the Civil Service board: firing was excessive discipline, however Norton was suspended for 240 hours, and found to be “incompetent...inefficient...and lying during an investigation.”
• Additionally, Norton violated two personnel rules:
• #1) 21b1 “That the employee is INCOMPETENT (emphasis added) or INEFFICIENT (emphasis added) in the performance of his duties.”
• #2) 21b3 “That the employee has violated any lawful or official regulation or order, or failed to obey any lawful and reasonable direction given him by his supervisor, when such violation or failure to obey amounts to INSUBORDINATION (emphasis added) or serious breach of discipline which may reasonably be expected to result in lower morale in the organization, or to result in loss, inconvenience, or injury to the City or the public.” (Click for attachment)
• The hearing board also noted in their minutes: (Click for attachment)
• “Mr. Norton was dismissed for failing to notify his supervisor of an incident after he caused injuries to a subject he arrested and released; entering and remaining inside a night club FOR UNAUTHORIZED REASONS (emphasis added) while in a police capacity off duty and in full uniform; engaging in INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT (emphasis added) by kissing a female employee at the nightclub; watching a wet T-shirt contest and female contestants performing table dances, simulated sex acts, and public sexual indecency with bar patrons; FAILING TO NOTIFY A SUPERVISOR (emphasis added) after observing another officer cause injuries to a citizen; and LYING DURING AN INVESTIGATION.” (emphasis added)
• Interestingly, Norton was caught lying because, unbeknownst to him, he was being filmed by an undercover officer due to previous complaints lodged against him. (Click for attachment)
An article in the Arizona Republic on November 10, 2000, titled “Two Police Officers Fired for Lying About Incident” states:
“The Phoenix Police Department has fired two officers after an investigation showed they lied about an incident caught on police undercover videotape where a man was tossed down some stairs outside a central city nightclub....Norton had said he didn’t see the push, but the tape indicated he did.” (Click for attachment)
So, to sum it up....Norton was not “exonerated” but fired and then reinstated only after a Civil Service hearing and in excess of 7 months off the job. The Civil Service board found that Norton had violated personnel rules, was incompetent in the performance of his duties, and that he had lied about the strip club incident. Does the behavior demonstrated by Mr. Norton meet the expectations you would demand of the sheriff for Elbert County?
-Mike Phillips, Editor