PHOENIX — A former Phoenix homicide detective has forfeited their license to be a police officer in Arizona after ABC15 revealed repeated mistakes in handling evidence in her cases.
During its regular monthly meeting, the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (AZPOST) voted Wednesday to accept Jennifer DiPonzio’s voluntary relinquishment of her certification.
AZPOST opened an investigation as a direct result of an ABC15 report.
Earlier this year, we revealed that DiPonzio’s mistakes in handling evidence impacted at least 37 active court cases and 61 police investigations.
She failed to properly document, impound, and handle various types of evidence over a several-year period, records show.
DiPonzio, who’s married to a Phoenix assistant chief, went on medical leave in 2021 when she was confronted with her mistakes by a supervisor, records show.
She officially retired under a confidential disability claim on December 27, 2022.
When Phoenix police officials notified AZPOST about her leaving the department, they omitted that she was the subject of an ongoing internal investigation, which is required under state law.
According to AZPOST guidelines, “Law enforcement agencies are required to submit a Termination Notice to POST any time an officer ceases to be employed by the agency. The form requires that a box be marked if the agency “is aware of conduct that may violate Arizona Administrative Code R13-4-109(A)(1-9).”
Phoenix marked “no” on DiPonzio’s termination notice even though the department had opened an internal investigation file related to her mishandled evidence more than a year earlier, records show.
That internal investigation wasn’t finalized and submitted until after AZPOST saw ABC15’s reporting and inquired why it wasn’t disclosed to the board.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
