Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

The body of a Phoenix Police officer was found late Monday night by Capitol Police in the area of 17th Avenue and Jefferson. Officers say the sergeant was shot and his service weapon was missing. Investigators are searching the area, looking for his weapon and any clues as to what happened.

Read more: Phoenix Police officer killed (http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/2010/10/19/20101019phoenix-police-officer-dead-101910.html#ixzz12nQ8qmBH)

PHOENIX -- A Phoenix police officer was discovered with a fatal gunshot wound near 17th Avenue and Jackson Street in downtown Phoenix late Monday evening.

Unconfirmed reports say the officer is a Sergeant with the Phoenix Police Department and his body was discovered by a Arizona Capitol Police unit just before 11:00 p.m. on Monday. The slain officer's last radio contact was reportedly at 10:46 p.m.

Phoenix Police units quickly formed a wide perimeter around the area and began searching for witnesses and possible suspects who may have been involved in the shooting. A Phoenix Police Air unit assisted officers on foot and K9 units as they searched the area for one of the officer's duty weapons that was reportedly missing from his ankle holster.

No suspect information is currently available and the name of the officer has not been released.

Sorry to hear that, Sarge. It seems you folks there near the border have much more than your share of the battle. Stay safe.

Victim was 12-year veteran Sgt. Sean Drenth, age 34. He as survived by his wife of 13 years and his mother . 4th Phx area officer to die this year (all by gunfire). I believe it's the 6th officer to die in Arizona including a border patrol agent and a Utah deputy pursuing a suspect into Arizona.

This was a strange one with no radio call for his stop and that seems to be why it was so long before he was discovered apparently (initial reports were an hour and he was discovered by different agency). I am not sure if all of phx PD has GPS in cruisers or if Sgt GPS is visible to patrol/dispatch. I hope they get the murderer .

latest story:
Phoenix police officer found shot, killed near Capitol (http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2010/10/19/20101019phoenix-police-sergeant-killed-abrk.html)

RIP

Yep, I hope they get the turd(s).

There was a security camera in the area, hopefully they will get a good view of the suspect(s).

Phoenix PD has some damn good homicide detectives, and I am sure everyone will be hitting the CI’s hard.

Just got putting the shroud on my shield, again. This sucks.

PHOENIX -- Phoenix police have identified the officer who was found shot and killed Monday night as 35-year-old Sean Drenth.

Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said Drenth, a sergeant, is a 12-year veteran of the force who was a decorated patrolman and had won the Medal of Valor for heroism in the line of duty for saving the life of a firefighter in 2003.

Drenth's body was found in an industrial area near the Arizona State Capitol by Capitol police just before midnight Monday, according to officers, adding to a tumultuous two weeks involving city police officers.

Police said Tuesday morning they were searching for suspects and had set up a perimeter around an Arizona Department of Transportation parking lot near 18th Avenue and Jackson Street, where Drenth's car and body were found, police said.

Police spokesman Sgt. Trent Crump said Drenth was shot while on duty between 10 and 11 p.m. and that the he was working alone at the time of the shooting.

"Security and police officers located an abandoned Phoenix police car here in a commercial district. When they approached, they saw that we had an officer down and it was a Phoenix officer," Crump told CBS 5 News.

Trump said Drenth and his car were found in the lot near railroad tracks in an industrial park. He said the sergeant hadn't been heard from for about an hour before his body was found.

Crump said he could neither confirm nor deny that Drenth's weapon was missing.

He said police were trying to determine if there were any surveillance cameras on nearby buildings that might provide video clues.

"This is a case where we were actively looking for this supervisor for some time and that we were unsuccessful in trying to find him, and ultimately he was found with a gunshot wound by the Capitol," Crump said.

He said Phoenix police were searching the area thoroughly.

"We could have someone out here that is armed and dangerous and it is our responsibility to conduct this search," Crump said.

Fallen Officer Was Medal Of Valor Recipient - Phoenix News Story - KPHO Phoenix (http://www.kpho.com/news/25436108/detail.html)

Just got putting the shroud on my shield, again. This sucks.

Jeeze, Chief. A f'ing war zone for you folks. Plz stay safe.

PHOENIX -- A Phoenix police officer was discovered with a fatal gunshot wound near 17th Avenue and Jackson Street in downtown Phoenix late Monday night.

Sgt. Sean Drenth's body was discovered by an Arizona Capitol Police unit just before 11 p.m. after concern over him not responding to radio calls.

Overnight, Phoenix police formed a wide perimeter around the area and began searching for witnesses and possible suspects who may have been involved in the shooting.

Sources tell 3TV Sgt. Drenth was killed with his own shotgun, which was found on top of his body. Another one of the officer’s guns was found several feet away.

Drenth had not been heard from for about an hour before his body was discovered on the ground near the passenger side of his police car in an alley between an ADOT parking lot and the railroad tracks.

Drenth, 35, is a 12-year veteran of the force. He is survived by his wife of 13 years and his mother.

Phoenix police sergeant was killed with his own shotgun | Phoenix News | Arizona News | azfamily.com | Arizona News Headlines (http://www.azfamily.com/outbound-feeds/yahoo-news/Phoenix-police-officer-fatally-shot--105238518.html)

Yep, I hope they get the turd(s).

There was a security camera in the area, hopefully they will get a good view of the suspect(s).

Phoenix PD has some damn good homicide detectives, and I am sure everyone will be hitting the CI’s hard.

Just got putting the shroud on my shield, again. This sucks.

Security Camera info. Nothing to report.

Phoenix police treating officer's death as a homicide | Deseret News (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700075101/Phoenix-police-treating-officers-death-as-a-homicide.html)

Latest:
Phoenix officers' DNA taken amid probe of sergeant's death (http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2010/11/23/20101123phoenix-police-officer-drenth-investigation.html)

Short version if you haven't been keeping up:
Sgt. Drenth and 3 other officers were targets of a Grand Jury proceeding regarding off-duty work. 25 more are under internal investigation. Phoenix PD apparently lets officers run their own off-duty details including payment (I thought off duty security was purchased through the city and officers are paid through the city.) Sgt. Drenth was found dead from gunshot wound 1 week before the indictments were handed down. Phoenix PD has requested through court order DNA samples from a number of officers including those that were not on the scene but are part of the off-duty investigation. Official from PD says they are looking at a suicide or a murder staged to look like a suicide.

Hopefully they will clear it quickly and they can remove this shadow. They need to move on quickly if this precinct is going to survive. It's the same precinct where an officer was recently charged in the death of domestic violence suspect. They already replaced command structure. I would be tempted to redraw the precincts and rename it after this blows over. Officers don't need to deal with "guilt by association" on top of the crappy neighborhoods.

Do you know what they were being indicted for? Some off duty work might be against regulations, but not illegal.

Many of the officers who did not respond to the crime scene and were asked to provide DNA samples are under internal review for an alleged scam in which officers pocketed thousands of dollars in off-duty security work they did not perform at a low-income housing complex in south Phoenix.

Three officers and a former patrolman were indicted last week for their alleged roles in the off-duty security ring, and Drenth was implicated in the investigation.

Crump said the timing of the search warrants for DNA - days after the indictments - was not a coincidence. The announcement of the indictments led to investigators receiving more information about Drenth's death that they pursued.


Read more: Phoenix officers' DNA taken amid probe of sergeant's death (http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2010/11/23/20101123phoenix-police-officer-drenth-investigation.html#ixzz16EzdD3qO)

Do you know what they were being indicted for? Some off duty work might be against regulations, but not illegal.

The officers were charged with felony theft (all three were under $2k). A former officer was charged with fraud and theft. The work was legitimate. The problem was billing and collection related. Phoenix is setup so that payment and billing is apparently done by the officer in charge of the detail. That officer resigned a few years ago when the investigation started. I believe the complaint was about being billed for work that wasn't done and that triggered the internal review. Apparently, the internal review was forwarded to the attorney general when the investigators believed it rose to a criminal level. All of the activity happened years ago.

Phoenix police officers indicted on fraud, theft charges (http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2010/11/18/20101118phoenix-police-officer-investigation-arizona-attorney-general.html)

I would doubt that the theft was what he was killed over. But who knows, they're have been murders for a whole lot less. I've seen people killed over parking spaces.

I would doubt that the theft was what he was killed over. But who knows, they're have been murders for a whole lot less. I've seen people killed over parking spaces.

Yep, some people take parking spaces way too serious!


Be Safe.

I would doubt that the theft was what he was killed over. But who knows, they're have been murders for a whole lot less. I've seen people killed over parking spaces.

I could see avenue of investigation where he may have been thought to be a witness against others in return for a reduced sentence. We all know people will do some crazy sheot to avoid jail/prison. I can only imagine what goes through a cop's head when facing that inevitability.

I could see avenue of investigation where he may have been thought to be a witness against others in return for a reduced sentence. We all know people will do some crazy sheot to avoid jail/prison. I can only imagine what goes through a cop's head when facing that inevitability.

I wouldn't want to work around any cops that thought like that. That's a huge step from padding work sheets to murder, fear of prison or not. If it's true, PPD needs to reevaluate their psych exam.

I never worked IA, but they used to give criminal type IA complaints to us to work first since we never invoked Garrity. I was only involved in one personally where they was jail time, but like most ones we did, it was a drug and/or drug related case. I admit I kept a shotgun laying right beside my bed at night until it was over, but that was just a precaution, deep down inside I really didn't think I was in danger.

A couple of my colleagues did a couple of cases where there was serious prison time involved though and deals were cut with some to testify against others and nothing came close to happening.

I'm not saying it's a huge conspiracy of all involved or that it involves another cop at all, but at this point it is something that has to be looked at. What other reason would there be for compelling DNA from those involved in the OT scam and getting shoe impressions from all personnel that were at the scene? The PIO stated they're looking at a few cops after the indictments came out and the PD was given more info on the killing.

I would doubt that the theft was what he was killed over. But who knows, they're have been murders for a whole lot less. I've seen people killed over parking spaces.

Still could be a lot of things besides murder too. Possibly a witness. Possibly someone the Sgt thought would help him stage it as a murder but backed out, etc. It could be just Drenth vaguely testifying he felt "threatened" and the homicide detectives have a ton of homeless people DNA from the scene and they are chasing a lead that is extremely remote.

Photos: New photos released in Drenth death case (http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/new-photos-released-in-drenth-death-case)