TEMPE, AZ — A retired police officer claims he faced retaliation after filing whistleblower complaints about the misuse of public dollars, and brand-new equipment that sat unused for years inside Tempe Police Department.
Officer Anthony Chiaro worked for Tempe police for more than 20 years and spent nearly a decade in the department’s Technical Services Unit. This unit handles all technology-related issues for police officers.
Chiaro sent a notice of claim to the City of Tempe earlier this year, alleging he faced harassment and retaliation after he filed a whistleblower complaint.
“Not only did TPD take actions against Officer Chiaro to make his working conditions intolerable, but it also removed all support Officer Chiaro had in the workplace, ensuring that it would be impossible for him to perform his job,” the claim stated.
Chiaro filed his first whistleblower complaint in 2021 against the former manager of the unit about misuse of public funds, failure to supervise, and historical leadership challenges. The complaints were substantiated in a 2022 internal affairs report that ABC15 reported in the past.
Records show hundreds of brand-new laptops for officers sat unused in boxes for years, technology projects took years to complete, and the department was working with dated technology.
The 2022 internal affairs report on the former manager discovered failures in maintaining technology programs that set the department behind in many areas.
The notice of claim alleges that following the resignation of the former manager, retaliation and mistreatment continued with new managers.
In May 2023, Chiaro filed a new whistleblower complaint with the city about two other managers.
The claim alleges that Chiaro informed city officials that the mistreatment was getting worse, writing in an email to the Diversity Director “I feel like things are ramping up.”
“On June 22, 2023, only a few weeks after filing his whistleblowing complaint and following up with the Diversity Office, Officer Chiaro was wrongfully accused of creating a hostile work environment—the very thing he had been seeking reprieve from for two years—and was forced to face a fabricated internal investigation that contained multiple untrue allegations,” the notice of claim stated.
It goes on to say that Chiaro reached out to the city’s diversity director again about how the continued retaliation from whistleblowing, in an email he wrote, “Our entire team has been placed under investigation which I believe is a direct retaliatory action.”
The email went on to say, “I am kindly asking for your urgent intervention….like I stated before in the previous email(s), this is ramping up and getting completely out of control. Can you help me?”
The ABC15 Investigators have spoken to another former employee who worked inside the Technical Services Unit, who also filed a whistleblower complaint in 2021 about project delays and mismanagement of funds. He told ABC15 he felt the problems continued until he decided to retire.
After that report in February, the city disclosed in a past statement that Chiaro had filed a notice of claim against them.
Chairo’s attorney claims that the Tempe Police Department retaliated in clear violation of Arizona law.
“I think there's a lot of things that would indicate that this is systemic, multiple people making complaints, individuals making multiple complaints,” said Chiaro’s attorney, Joshua Black.
Along with Chiaro's two complaints, his notice claims that his supervisor of the unit also filed a whistleblower complaint with the city.
“If we speak up about something, the understanding is the agency is going to fix it, the department's going to correct it, but if we're having to speak up to three times making these complaints over and over, that is in itself systemic that shows that there's a lack of resolution in this process," Black said.
Black added that his client was not ready to speak publicly because of what he went through, so he is speaking on his behalf.
“There's been multiple whistleblower complaints filed against the city at this point, and it's done exactly what it's supposed to do, it’s brought this to the attention of the public,” he said.
Chiaro sent the notice of claim in January, and since the city did not respond by the deadline a lawsuit is now being considered.
We reached out to the City of Tempe about the allegations, they provided the following statement:
“Anthony Chiaro began his employment with Tempe Police Department on Sept. 18, 2000. He started his work with the Technical Services Unit in 2010. From Aug. 28, 2023 until Jan. 9, 2024, he was either on personal leave, vacation or reported in sick. He worked on Jan. 9, took leave on Jan. 10, and then retired on Jan. 11. He refused the opportunity to provide information during an administrative investigation of the Technical Services Unit.
“Chief Kenneth McCoy began his leadership of the Tempe Police Department in June 2023, overseeing a team of nearly 500 people and dozens of specialized units. With the exception of one day, Chiaro was on leave, on vacation or sick, and did not work from Aug. 28, 2023, until his Jan. 11, 2024 retirement. During this time, the previously mentioned administrative investigation was already being conducted.”
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