Three employees from the Scottsdale City Jail have been demoted, and a department police commander was suspended after a 12 News investigation exposed that they had granted special treatment to a former Mesa police lieutenant.
Scottsdale police commander Bruce Ciolli was suspended one week without pay, and detention manager Jeff Landrum, Sergeant Don Vogel, and Seargeant Kris Keilich were all demoted.
Lieutenant Rick Van Galder was supposed to serve three days after being convicted of Super Extreme DUI, but video surveillance from inside the Scottsdale jail showed he never fully served his punishment.
On August 4, Van Galder surrendered to the Scottsdale City Jail to serve three consecutive days as ordered by Gilbert Presiding Judge John Hudson.
However, Van Galder spent almost no time behind bars. A previous 12 News investigation showed that his stint in the jail amounted to more of a staycation.
Scottsdale Police Chief Alan Rodbell seemed blindsided by the revelation that Van Galder was allowed out of his cell, had food delivered and his wife visit, and was even given a key card with access to the whole building.
"Our knee-jerk reaction was there was no way this could be true," Rodbell said initially.
But surveillance footage showed it was true. Rodbell was adamant that those responsible for organizing and executing this plan would be held accountable.
"I'm going to take action that's appropriate for the violations that have occurred," said Rodbell.
He took action against one of his top commanders, Bruce Ciolli, whose suspended 40 hours without pay. Ciolli is not allowed to appeal his suspension.
According to Rodbell, Ciolli asked for permission to allow Van Galder to serve his jail time in Scottsdale. Ciolli approached an assistant police chief who went to Rodbell. Ultimately, Rodbell gave his approval.
Ciolli is a veteran of the Scottsdale Police Department. He started as a trainee on October 25, 1993, and was promoted through the ranks to lieutenant on June 25, 2006. Then, on September 25, 2011, Rodbell promoted Ciolli to rank of Commander.
His personnel file paints a picture of a highly-decorated law enforcement official. He has a number of awards and commendations regarding his work investigating violent crimes, internet crimes against children, gang investigations and more.
On June 12, 2016, just a few months before Van Galder self-surrendered in Scottsdale, Rodbell signed off on a negligible pay increase for Ciolli, which bumped him up to $68.78 an hour. That pushed Ciolli's pay rate to the maximum allowed for his position.
He started his career as a trainee making $13.59 per hour.
Ciolli and Van Galder are friends. The two graduated from the same class of the police academy in 1994, according to a roster we obtained from the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.
During an interview on September 9, Rodbell acknowledged the longtime friendship between Van Galder and Ciolli, even offering up that the two had seen each other at the 2016 Phoenix Open, the same month Van Galder was arrested for driving under the influence by Gilbert Police.
However, Rodbell reserved judgment on Ciolli's actions until all the facts were known.
"There's no testimony from anybody at this point that I am aware of that says that Commander Ciolli gave any direction to anybody in the detention center on how this gentlemen should be treated once he came in," said Rodbell.
It's not known what role Ciolli played in the granting of special treatment to Van Galder. The Scottsdale Police internal affairs investigation will not be released because some of the employees involved have appeal rights. Arizona law specifically prohibits the city from releasing or disclosing any information about an investigation before it's completed, which includes the conclusion of the appeals process.
Ciolli's annual salary is approximately $143,000, according to his personnel file. The one-week suspension cost him roughly $2,750.
If his name sounds familiar, it’s because he made headlines a couple years ago.
In 2014, Ciolli was hired as assistant police chief for the Chandler Police Department. Ciolli was supposed to start with the department on June 16, but on June 11 he backed out of the job after it was publicly announced.
Ciolli's application packet from the City of Chandler reveals that he was scheduled for a physical and drug screen on May 16, 2014, and then a psychological exam five days later on May 19. The date for Ciolli's background investigation and polygraph examination, to be conducted by the Freeman Investigative Group Inc., was listed as to be determined, according to the paperwork.
Debra Stapleton, the administrative services director for the City of Chandler, said she was unsure if the polygraph examination was completed.
"While it is standard practice for new hires for sworn positions to undergo a polygraph examination, the city does not have that report," she said.
Stapleton acknowledged that the city did have the Medical Examination Report and the Pre-Employment Psychological Evaluation in Ciolli's application file, but those documents are not subject to disclosure under Arizona's public records law. Even if the results of the polygraph examination were in the file, which Stapleton says it's not, they are protected from release as a public record by the Arizona Peace Officer Bill of Rights.
Ciolli would offer little to no explanation as to why he turned down the job, leaving a lot of speculation.
In an email Ciolli sent from his iPhone to David Fairchild in Chandler's Human Resources division, Ciolli thanked Fairchild for, "considering me for the position of assistant police chief for the city of Chandler," and went on to write that he would like to withdraw his application for the job.
The fallout from Van Galder's visit to the Scottsdale jail continued with the demotion of three jail employees who were working.
Employee | Current Hourly Rate of Pay | Prior Hourly Rate of Pay |
Landrum, Jeff | $34.74 | $41.80 |
Keilich, Richard | $25.92 | $33.36 |
Vogel, Don | $25.92 | $33.36 |
Detention Manager Jeff Landrum, who is directly responsible for the safe, secure operation of the jail, was demoted to detention sergeant after the internal investigation.
It was in Landrum's office, which is in an unsecured area on the property, that Van Galder stayed once he was freed from his jail cell.
Before being demoted, Landrum was commanding $41.80 an hour with nearly two decades of employment at the Scottsdale City Jail.
Prior to that, Landrum worked as a corrections officer, transportation officer and gang supervisor for the Arizona Department of Corrections for nearly ten years, according to the resume he used when he applying with the City of Scottsdale.
In 1998, Landrum was hired as an entry-level detention officer at the Scottsdale City Jail. He was promoted to detention supervisor in 1999. Then in 2006, he was ultimately promoted to detention manager. For the last decade, Landrum has been in charge of the jail.
His yearly salary was approximately $86,900. The demotion and title change will cost him approximately $14,600 per year.
Landrum does not have the right to appeal. The decision is final.
SPD Sergeant Ben Hoster says the acting detention manager is Lieutenant Eric Rasmussen from the department’s patrol division.
In addition to Landrum's demotion, Sergeant Don Vogel and Sergeant Kris Keilich were demoted to detention officers. Keilich and Vogel have the right to appeal their demotions.
Keilich, in his application packet, wrote that he worked for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office as a detention officer at the Durango Jail. He was hired as a detention officer by the City of Scottsdale on December 23, 1996. It would be almost ten years before Keilich was promoted. According to his personnel file, on August 7, 2005, he was promoted to detention sergeant.
Kielich saw a pay raise on June 13 of this year, in which Chief Rodbell signed the paperwork. Now, he's been stripped of his title due to the misconduct involving Van Galder's supposed jail stint.
Before Vogel was hired by the City of Scottsdale he worked as a deputy sheriff for MCSO in the early 90s. But according to records, his employment there didn't last long.
He began his employment at the Scottsdale Jail as a detention officer on Oct. 9, 1995. At the time he was making $11.86 per hour. Ten years later, Vogel was promoted to detention sergeant on Oct. 16, 2005. That's the title he's held ever since.
His personnel file shows that he's also assisted the Scottsdale PD DUI task force, operating the intoxilyzer. Vogel is also fluent in Spanish and has served as a translator.
Vogel also got a pay raise on June 13 of this year, again the paperwork was signed by Chief Rodbell.
Prior to their demotions, the two sergeants were making $33.36 per hour or approximately $69,000. Now their hourly rate has been reduced to $25.92, a loss of more than $15,000 from their annual income not including overtime pay.
In the end, it's income lost, the consequences for giving special treatment to the now former Mesa Police Lieutenant Rick Van Galder.
Gilbert police refused to give Van Galder special treatment when they arrested him in February, despite his pleas for them to show him professional courtesy.
Whether Van Galder will be sent back to jail to serve his time behind bars will be up to Judge Hudson, who sentenced him.