THE MESA TRIBUNE | JUNE 13, 2021
The Mesa Tribune is published every Sunday and distributed free of charge to homes and in single-copy locations throughout the East Valley.
Times Media Group: 1620 W. Fountainhead Parkway, Suite 219 Tempe, Arizona, 85282
CONTACT INFORMATION Main number: 480-898-6500 | Advertising: 480-898-5624 Circulation service: 480-898-5641
Publisher: Steve T. Strickbine Vice President: Michael Hiatt ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Senior Account Sales: Ryan Brown | 480-898-6482 | rbrown@timespublications.com Local Advertising Sales: Chris Ross | 480-898-5649 | cross@timespublications.com Classifieds/Inside Sales: Elaine Cota | 480-898-7926 | ecota@evtrib.com TJ Higgins | 480-898-5902 | tjhiggins@evtrib.com Advertising Office Manager: Lori Dionisio | 480-898-6309 | ldionisio@evtrib.com Director of National Advertising: Zac Reynolds | 480-898-5603 | zac@evtrib.com NEWS DEPARTMENT Executive Editor: Paul Maryniak | 480-898-5647 pmaryniak@timespublications.com Managing Editor: Tom Scanlon | 480-278-6903 | tscanlon@timespublications.com Reporter: Kevin Reagan | 480-898-5638 | kreagan@timespublications.com Sports Editor: Zach Alvira | 480-898-5630 | zalvira@timespublications.com Get Out Editor: Christina Fuoco-Karasinski | 480-641-4518 christina@timespublications.com Photographer: Pablo Robles | probles@timespublications.com Designer: Ruth Carlton | rcarlton@timespublications.com Production Coordinator: Courtney Oldham | 480-898-5617 production@timespublications.com Circulation Director: Aaron Kolodny | 480-898-5641 | customercare@evtrib.com The Mesa Tribune is distributed by AZ Integrated Media, a circulation service company owned by Times Media Group. The public is permitted one copy per reader. For further information regarding the circulation of this publication or others in the Times Media Group family of publications, please contact AZ Integrated Media at circ@azintegratedmedia.com or 480-898-5641. For circulation services please contact Aaron Kolodny at aaron@azintegatedmedia.com.
The content of any advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. The Tribune assumes no responsibility for the claims of any advertisement.
© 2020 Strickbine Publishing, Inc.
NEWS
3
AZPOST takes action against former Mesa cop BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
A
fter a �ive-year period during which he was hit with one suspension after another, an of�icer is no longer with the Mesa Police Department. And proceedings have started to make sure he will not work in law enforcement elsewhere in the state. Cory Cover was found guilty of one of the gravest charges a police of�icer can face: putting fellow of�icers in danger. Cover abruptly resigned from the Mesa Police Department in October, noting “It has been a pleasure to work here for the last 19 and a half years.” His resignation letter was dated Oct. 7, 2020, and his last day of work was two days later. Seven months later, the Arizona Peace Of�icer Standards and Training Board (AZPOST) began the procedure of revoking Cover’s certi�ication as a police of�icer in the state at its May 19 meeting. Billy Caldwell, a compliance specialist, told the AZPOST the Mesa Police Department conducted two internal investigations “that resulted in sustained allegations of neglect of duty against Of�icer Cover. “One investigation determined that between October 2019 and March 2020, he failed to complete required written reports in 17 separate incidents, failed to �ile criminal charges in a timely manner in four separate cases, and, after conducting a shoplifting investigation in December 2019, he neglected to place counterfeit money and suspected methamphetamine into evidence until May of 2020,” Caldwell
told the board. “A second investigation determined in three incidents in January 2020, Of�icer Cover’s actions placed fellow of�icers into possibly unsafe situations.” On Jan. 28, 2020, a dispatcher urgently requested Cover return to the police department to assist with a man who threatened to shoot another of�icer. “Of�icer Cover brie�ly conferred with another of�icer, then left to take his lunch break. The suspect was arrested with help from other of�icers,” Caldwell said. Two days later, according to Caldwell, Cover lingered more than two hours for a lunch break at a retirement ceremony “while his squad was extremely busy with incidents including emergency calls. Supervisors of other units handled these calls while he was out of service.” The next day, a dispatcher asked Cover to assist an of�icer attempting to arrest a suspect. “Of�icer Cover acknowledged the call but approximately 9 minutes later told the dispatcher he would handle a business alarm that had come in and requested another unit handle the of�icer who was out with a wanted person,” Caldwell said. “GPS records indicated during those 9 minutes, Of�icer Cover’s vehicle was stationary and parked in a Starbucks parking lot.” According to Caldwell, Cover told an internal investigator “he struggled with case management and could have handled some calls better but he denied being complacent. “Chain of command recommended termination citing disciplinary history as an
aggravating factor.” The AZPOST board voted unanimously to “initiate proceedings against Mr. Cover’s peace of�icer certi�ication.” The board may take �inal action against Cover when AZPOST meets again Wednesday, June 16. According to records provided by the city, Cover had multiple disciplinary actions over his 20-year career. On Aug. 27, 2015, an internal investigation found him guilty of �ive counts of “unsatisfactory performance.” He was suspended without pay for two weeks and placed on disciplinary probation for a year. He received a written reprimand March 3, 2017, for “failure to complete (a) written report.” On Aug. 30, 2017, he was suspended without pay for 10 hours, for “unsatisfactory performance.” The following April, he received another written reprimand, this time for violating department policy not to post any investigative materials on social media or the internet. On Oct. 22, 2018, Clover received notice he was being suspended without pay for 30 hours, for “failure to properly search a prisoner,” “insubordination,” “wilful disobedience of department rules or orders,” “incompetence and/or inef�iciency” and “untruthfulness.” He was also placed on disciplinary probation for one year. The city suspended Clover without pay for 20 hours April 10, 2020, for “being absent from duty without permission.”
this year,” said Mesa Mayor John Giles. “We are proud to continue Mesa’s tradition of offering spectacular �ireworks to celebrate the holiday.” The �ireworks will be displayed while 94.5 KOOL-FM plays patriotic music. Food, non-alcoholic beverages, water, chairs and blankets are permitted. There will be no vendors at the event. The following are prohibited from the drive-in show: alcohol; glass bottles; grills or heating equipment for cooking food; �irearms; �ireworks/sparklers/�irecrackers; laser pointers. For more information, visit azcelebrationoffreedom.org.
Mesa plans another “Drive-in Fireworks Show” at 9 p.m. July 3 in the Fiesta Mall parking lot. (City of Mesa)
Drive-in �ireworks show scheduled TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF
T
he city of Mesa is not quite ready for a full-scale, “pre-pandemic” Independence Day blowout. Instead, it plans a “drive-in �ireworks show” similar to last year’s celebration. The event will be held at 9 p.m. Saturday, July 3, in the parking lot of Fiesta Mall, 1425 W. Southern Ave. The parking lot will open at 7 p.m. “Last year’s Arizona Celebration of Freedom Drive-In Fireworks Show was an amazing success and we’re thrilled to provide the safe option of watching the show from inside or just outside your car again
