🧬 Subtitle: By refusing to fingerprint arrestees or collect DNA, Phoenix VA Police are allowing suspects tied to sex crimes, unsolved murders, and other serious federal offenses to avoid being entered into national justice systems—effectively burying cases that could be solved and endangering lives through willful inaction.
📌 OAWP COMPLAINT UNCOVERS SERIOUS BREAKDOWN
A complaint filed with the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OAWP) in January 2024—Case 24-Phoenix-23807—revealed shocking procedural failures at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Police Department. Officers are not fingerprinting arrestees, not collecting DNA, not filing proper charges, and not coordinating with the DOJ or U.S. Marshals. These gaps allow violent offenders, including sex crime suspects, to avoid justice and escape national law enforcement databases.
"There’s no VA policy requiring fingerprinting," investigators concluded.
But the law doesn’t require policy—it demands compliance.
📋 SYSTEMIC NEGLECT, NOT ISOLATED INCIDENTS
This report documents a pattern—not a mistake. Phoenix VA:
- Possesses a LiveScan fingerprint machine (since 2020)
- Has legal obligations under DOJ regulations
- Routinely downgrades felony-level crimes to citations
- Fails to follow Rule 4 and Rule 5 of federal criminal procedure
- Releases suspects without fingerprints, DNA, or federal complaints
Instead of processing offenders, they simply hand them a citation—or let them walk.
🧬 DNA LAWS IGNORED, FEDERAL PROTOCOLS BROKEN
Under the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 (34 U.S.C. § 40702) and 28 CFR Part 28, the VA must collect DNA from anyone arrested, facing charges, or convicted. But without fingerprinting, those DNA samples can’t be processed or tracked by FBI systems like CODIS.
DOJ regulations even state: "DNA collection may be limited to individuals from whom an agency collects fingerprints."
No fingerprints = no match = Rapists and Murder suspects living thier best lives!.
📎 NO NCIC ENTRY, NO CODIS HIT, NO RECORD
Despite repeated warnings, Phoenix VA continues to:
- Ignore DOJ expectations
- Refuse to present offenders to magistrates
- Fail to submit AO 91 criminal complaints
- Operate outside federal coordination with USMS and USAO
This is not just poor practice. It’s a federal procedural void.
⚖️ OFFICERS SILENCED, REFORM BLOCKED
Attempts to correct this problem began in 2020. But senior law enforcement officials at Office of Security and Law Enforcement (OSLE) and Office of Senior Security Officer (OSSO) rejected those efforts. Officers were told to stop pushing reform. Multiple insiders reported feeling "handcuffed by leadership."
They’ve seen colleagues and nurses assaulted—yet were directed to issue a citation and send the suspect home. No prints. No charges. No protections.
💥 COULD THIS HAPPEN AGAIN? REMEMBER SUTHERLAND SPRINGS
In 2017, the Air Force failed to report a violent offender’s fingerprints. That man killed 26 people in Texas. The DoD IG said the tragedy was entirely preventable.
Phoenix VA has been warned. They’ve ignored the same red flags.
📄 WE DEMAND IMMEDIATE ACTION
- 🔹 DOJ and FBI-compliant fingerprinting at all VA police units
- 🔹 Federal audit of arrest procedures at Phoenix VA
- 🔹 Mandatory retraining on AO 91 and Rule 5
- 🔹 Congressional and OIG investigation into failures
🛑 THIS IS WILLFUL NEGLIGENCE
Phoenix VA has:
- The fingerprint machines
- The DOJ guidance
- The ability to coordinate with federal prosecutors
They choose not to.
And while they do nothing, offenders slip through the cracks—and sex crimes, rapes, and murders remain unsolved.
✍️ Sign this petition. Demand oversight. Demand justice. Before it’s too late.
