Many people already viewed the 24‑hour unpaid suspensions that Phoenix cops received in 2024 — after they falsely arrested an innocent Black man while responding to a call about a belligerent white man inside a convenience store — as a slap on the wrist.
That perception was especially strong because the Black man, Tyron McAlpin, who is deaf and has cerebral palsy, spent 24 days in jail after he could not afford the $6,500 bond.
But the city’s Civil Service Board decided even that punishment was too harsh. Earlier this year, the five-member board quietly overturned the suspensions of officers Kyle Sue and Benjamin Harris without offering any explanation.
A Silence That Speaks
Last month, ABC15 investigative reporter Dave Biscobing, who broke the initial story, confronted the Civil Service Board during a public meeting and demanded to know why it reversed the discipline…