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Highlighted Employee

Officer of the Month
November 2007
Officer Matthew Schouten #8285
Officer Thomas Rowan #8611

On November 11, 2007, at 2202 hours, officer Schouten #8285 and officer rowan #8611 were patrolling the area of 1200 East Fairmount Street and observed two subjects in the shadows just east of the intersection. Officer Schouten noticed that the subjects were facing each other and that one of them had taken his hands out of his pockets and was raising them out to his side. He observed a necklace being held by this person while the other subject, identified as Michael Molina, had his hand in his jacket pocket and appeared to be pointing it forward. Officer Schouten believed he may have been observing a robbery in progress and drove towards the subjects to check welfare.

As the officers approached the subjects in their patrol vehicle, the subject with his hands lifted in the air dropped the necklace and the two walked off together. Both officers exited their vehicle and upon making contact immediately conducted a pat-down for weapons. Officer Schouten contacted Molina and while attempting to pat-down the left jacket pocket area Molina kept his left arm pressed against the pocket but officer Schouten immediately felt an object easily identifiable as a handgun in the pocket and was able to secure it.

Officer rowan learned from the victim that Molina had approached him on foot and said “what you got, give me what you got” while pointing the barrel end of the gun through a hole in his jacket pocket. The victim had indicated that he was in fear for his life during his contact with Molina. The victim stated that as the officers arrived in the area in their patrol vehicle Molina had noticed their presence and ordered the victim to walk with him and act normal in an attempt to not be contacted by police.

Officer rowan conducted an interview with Molina who admitted that he in fact pointed the gun at the victim and demanded his property. As a result of their observations, officer Schouten and officer rowan booked Molina into the 4th avenue jail for armed robbery, weapons violations, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and an outstanding probation violation warrant stemming from aggravated assault charges. The victim was uninjured and his property recovered undamaged.

I would like to take this opportunity to commend the officers for their hard work and dedication to service. The quick thinking of these officers helped remove a violent offender from the streets of the city of phoenix and out of the squaw peak community. The actions of these officers are in keeping with the highest standards and traditions of the phoenix police department.

Targeted Hot Spot Success

During the month of August and early September the 73X NET Squad of the Squaw Peak Precinct worked an identified hot spot which included the area of 1500 West Indian School Road. This included the multi-housing complexes at 1517 and 1525 West Indian School Road. These properties were known for their open drug trafficking and deplorable living conditions. These problems spilled over into the surrounding neighborhood and contributed significantly to the increase in violent crime.

Through their efforts they gained access to many of the units in these complexes and observed firsthand the sub-standard living conditions. This allowed us to partner with Neighborhood Services Department (NSD) and our own Abatement Detective to utilize their resources in the resolution of this problem.

Abatement proceedings were begun, and NSD did an onsite inspection of the premises. Their onsite inspection resulted in the properties being declared uninhabitable. They have since been fenced, and all of the residents have been relocated. In addition to securing the property at 1517 and 1525, this operation resulted in a total of 51 arrests with 28 of them being felony arrests. In addition 3 stolen vehicles were recovered with a value of $12,300.00, seized $1,129.00 in cash, recovered approx. ½ pound of marijuana, 1 pound of methamphetamine, and 20 grams of cocaine. In addition there were 38 arrest warrants cleared.