For unrelated reasons, the chief of the Globe Police Department has resigned and two other sergeants were placed on administrative leave in recent weeks.
The staffing changes are adding stress to the small Arizona law enforcement agency, which is already in the middle of conducting a major internal investigation.
In November, ABC15 discovered that the Globe Police Department had opened an investigation into potentially dozens of closed cases that weren’t properly investigated and handled by Sgt. James Durnan.
After ABC15’s report aired, members of the public gained the courage to come forward and report allegations of misconduct involving two addition Globe officers.
Those officers, Sgt. Abraham Castaneda and Gabriel Guerrero, are now on administrative leave, sources said.
The issues surrounding Castaneda and Guerrero do not appear to be related to the investigation involving Durnan.
Durnan was a longtime officer with Globe who left the department within the last year and now works as an officer in the nearby community of Miami. Durnan spoke to ABC15 by phone in November and said he didn’t not have enough knowledge of Globe’s investigation and declined to comment further.
Globe Police, which has 19 sworn officers, have not put a time limit on their investigations.
In November, Globe Chief Mark Nipp said several of the cases in question were serious and victims could be put in jeopardy by revealing too much information.
However, Nipp resigned on March 1.
On the phone, Nipp told ABC15 that his departure had no relationship to the officers under investigation.
Nipp said he left due to “philosophical differences” with the city in his vision for the police department.
Globe City Manger Paul Jepson declined to comment further on the police cases because they are open investigations.
Contact ABC15 Investigator Dave Biscobing at dbiscobing@abc15.com.
