Where Was The Good Cop?

Surely ONE of the six there could have kept this from happening!

After reading Donald Jeffries The Standing Army of the State Under occupation by militarized police forces I decided to look into the outcome of one incident that made me sick when I first learned about it a few years back.

This is a summary…Daniel Shaver begged officers not to shoot him.

On January 18, 2016, Daniel Shaver, a traveling pest-control worker, was in between shifts at his motel, a La Quinta Inn and Suites in Mesa, Arizona. In the elevator, he met a man and woman who’d just finished their own workdays, the two later testified in court. Did they want to join the 26-year-old Texan for Bacardi shots in his room?

They’d already begun drinking when one of the guests asked about an unmarked case in the corner. Was it a musical instrument? No, it was a pellet gun. He used it while working as a pest control specialist. Part of his job was to go hunt down birds that had flown into businesses including Walmart. Without really thinking about it he was standing by his room’s window showing off his pellet gun to the man. Down below, two motel guests in the La Quinta Inn and Suites hot tub looked up and saw a man with a gun near a fifth-floor window. Someone called 911.

By the time six police officers gathered in the fifth-floor hallway, Daniel was a bit on the drunk side. The other man had already left and gone back to his own room. The woman was still there. When they were ordered out of the room by the police, Shaver appeared confused. I wonder why? He knew he didn’t do anything wrong so why wouldn’t he appear confused?

Still, Daniel exited unarmed, put his hands up, and did his best to comply with the demands of police, who ordered him to lay down on the ground. Soon after that, Officer Philip Brailsford, 26, shot and killed him with a service weapon on which he had etched, “You’re Fucked” on the ejection port door. Brailsford was later put on trial for second-degree murder.

The results of the trial are startling. He was acquitted by the jury and after reviewing the results of the not guilty verdict that is where it gets sketchy. The rifle was not allowed into evidence. After all, a police officer carrying around a rifle that says “You’re Fucked” on it has some pretty negative connotations. As if he was looking for someone to use his weapon on. The worse part of the trial was that I found out that I saw the footage of Daniel being MURDERED after the trial had taken place and after the verdict had been handed down. Why is that you may ask? Well because the VIDEO wasn’t available for the jury to see. You may wonder why? Well because what it all boils down to is that we can’t let the public loose faith in the men in blue because, well, we might devolve into a pack of animals eating one another without them around carrying rifles to protect us that say “You’re Fucked” on them. Oh, and Daniel was a white guy so that also made it less important.

Those two words stick in my mind when I think of the video of Daniel Shaver begging for his life before he was shot and killed by Officer Philip Brailsford of the Police Department in Mesa, Arizona. The two words were etched onto the dust cover of the AR-15 rifle Brailsford used to kill Daniel Shaver:

“You’re fucked.”

If you think I’m over doing it, it is because I want this to STICK IN YOUR MIND. We have seen this play out before. Daniel Shaver was not armed or committing any crime when was he shot to death by Brailsford. Like many previous police shooting videos, this one shows police behaving much more aggressively than Mr. Shaver. Escalate Are Us is who the police seem to becoming more like ever time I turn around. And like previous incidents, a jury acquitted the officer of all criminal charges. But this video showed us two things about policing culture in America that stand out. First, the video shows Shaver begging for his life while he tried to follow contradictory instructions screamed at him by an officer. And Shaver was white. Oh, and the video or the rifle was not shown to the jury that acquitted this cold blooded murderer. Did I mention that? AGAIN, to make it stick in your mind.

But this is not the worse part…having him acquitted. Wait until you read the rest.

Two years after he shot an unarmed man and was fired, former police officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford was rehired by the City of Mesa in order to obtain a special pension. Now, Brailsford is considered medically retired, not fired, according to a Mesa city spokesman.

Brailsford appealed his termination! Later in 2018, he signed an agreement with the Mesa Cit Manager’s Office! The agreement, obtained by a number of sources, included that Brailsford would be rehired temporarily to allow him to apply for an accidental disability pension and medical retirement. The terms prevented Brailsford from performing any job duties or getting paid during the period of reemployment.

"He was eligible for retirement benefits, so he applied for them," City Manager Chris Brady said.

The investigators had asked Mesa city officials whether the Brailsford decision fully complies with Arizona law governing the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System. It says a member "shall file an application for a disability pension within one year after the date the member ceases to be an employee."

More than two years had passed since Brailsford's termination, so he would not have qualified without the special agreement to be rehired. Mesa city officials claim the whole process was held in "abeyance," or put on hold, while Brailsford stood trial. They also say his application for disability retirement came within a year after his acquittal.

The local five-member PSPRS board, which includes Brady, voted in October 2018 to grant Brailsford an accidental disability pension. physical or mental condition that the local board finds totally and permanently prevents an employee from performing a reasonable range of duties within the employee's job classification and that was incurred in the performance of the employee's duty.

"He [Brailsford] had a PTSD claim prior to his termination, so in fairness, he was given the opportunity to make that appeal to the board," Brady said.

One of Brailsford's attorneys, Michael Piccarreta, told reporters the PTSD stemmed from the Shaver shooting incident and the resulting criminal prosecution. Can you believe this shit?

State statute says an officer is eligible for an accidental disability pension, "if the member's employment is terminated by reason of an accidental disability." The disability can be a physical or mental condition "incurred in the performance of the employee's duty."

In Arizona, other officers have received benefits after a PTSD diagnosis. However, Brailsford was originally terminated for violations of Mesa police policies, not for any medical diagnosis. On Tuesday, Mesa City spokesman Steve Wright confirmed that Brailsford is now considered to be "medically retired."

Brailsford, who was 28 years old during this time, receives a monthly check for $2,569.21. He will receive the pension for the rest of his life, unless the local board requests a new medical diagnosis and it shows a recovery from PTSD symptoms.

According to Brailsford's agreement with the city, he will also receive a "neutral reference" if a future employer calls. Through its insurance provider, Mesa will also spend up to $3 million for Brailsford to defend himself and pay settlements in lawsuits related to the Shaver shooting.

Piccarreta declined reporters request to interview Brailsford about the pension. He said the former officer just wants to put it all behind him.

"Each employer has their own account within PSPRS and this means that the fiscal impact of Mesa’s local board decision rests with the employer and doesn’t impact any other employers," PSPRS Communications Director Christian Palmer said in an email. Palmer also said PSPRS reviews all local board decisions to award disability benefits, including the application approved for Brailsford. Emails from PSPRS staff, obtained through a public records request, show that staff had questions about Brailsford's application because of the original 2016 termination date; however, he was approved after Brailsford and Mesa city staff made appropriate documentation of his 2018 reemployment.

"The PSPRS Board of Trustees can request a rehearing for local board decisions, but needs a statutory reason to do so," Palmer said. "In this case, the application process was done according to state law, which requires the use of an independent medical examiner."

According to the PSPRS, Brailsford currently receives $2,569 a month, which is nearly $31,000 a year. If he lives to the average life expectancy, 78 years old, he could get 50 years of pension payments. PSPRS has a maximum annual 2 percent cost of living increase. With the yearly maximum COLA, Brailsford could receive more than $2.5 million in pension money in his lifetime.

"I think it's very inappropriate that the city would rehire an officer under that kind of cloud of controversy and that much pain represented in that case to allow him to, in essence, dip into public funds," said Rev. Jarrett Maupin, a community activist who's outspoken on police brutality issues. "It's unthinkable that Mayor Giles and others would go along with that."

The ABC15 Investigators reached out to Mesa Mayor John Giles and every other city council-member for comment today, but a spokeswoman said none would respond on Thursday. She explained the mayor was out of town and the rest of the council was on break.

Mesa also issued a statement in response to this story:

Philip ‘Mitch’ Brailsford was terminated by the Mesa Police Department on March 21, 2016. Mr. Brailsford, through his attorney, requested an appeal of his dismissal on March 22, 2016. The appeal was held in abeyance until the criminal case against Mr. Brailsford was concluded. On December 7, 2017, Mr. Brailsford was acquitted. On August 23, 2018, a settlement agreement between the City of Mesa and Mr. Brailsford allowed him to file for accidental disability and a medical retirement with the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System Local Board. This agreement eliminated the need for a Mesa Personnel Appeals Board hearing. During the time that Mr. Brailsford was making his application for medical retirement, he was not paid and was not assigned any police officer duties. The one-year timeframe to apply for an accidental disability pension began for Mr. Brailsford once the trial concluded. The PSPRS Local Board determined that Mr. Brailsford met the qualifications for medical retirement citing information provided by multiple independent medical professionals. Mr. Brailsford is now medically retired through PSPRS.

One thing did come out of all this which the taxpayers of Mesa and the insurance providers must pay, an $8 million settlement between the City of Mesa and Laney Sweet, the widow of Daniel Shaver.

So as disgusted as I was about the original incident is, when I looked into the results of all this insanity, I find out that the guy who murdered Daniel is basically rewarded for his crime? Yeah, tell me that isn’t upside down.

I look at Daniel as one of many innocent people who have been mowed down by the standing armies in our midst.

Bye Daniel, sorry to see you had to leave us at so early of an age due to total incompetence and the psychopathic control freak interaction you had to endure.

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