Anonymous letter alleges incidents of corruption within Buckeye's police department

BUCKEYE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - The City of Buckeye is launching a special investigation, after receiving an anonymous letter that claims widespread corruption within the city's police department.

The allegations are stunning. The said to be Buckeye Police Department employees claim in the letter they wanted to remain anonymous, because those who have spoke up in the past have been reprimanded, even demoted.

There are reportedly numerous claims of wrongdoing in the letter, but these anonymous employees claim they have paper trails, as well as evidence, to prove their claims are true.

A five-page letter landing on the desk of Buckeye's City Manager, Roger Klinger. In the letter were reportedly dozens of allegations of wrongdoing, by several senior police leaders and others. The range of allegations include corruption, hostile work environment, bullying, misconduct and criminal offenses.

One claim details how an officer used city funds to travel to California. The letter states he claimed it was a business trip, when in reality, he was there cheating on his wife.

One of the more damning claims in the letter was that some have falsified crime stats, in an attempt to lower the crime rate. It even claimed one person told others to change the nature of certain crimes to make it a lesser offense, so the property value of his house wouldn't go down.

There are also claims of drinking before driving city vehicles, sexual misconduct, and harassment.

The city sent FOX 10 Phoenix a copy of the letter, but redacted the names of those accused, saying they wanted to wait to release the names, until a full and fair investigation is complete. The investigation into these claims is now underway, with no word yet on when it will be complete.

Officials with the city said they can't comment on this matter, because the investigation into the allegations is ongoing. They did say the city has hired an independent investigator to take a look at the allegations.

FOX 10 Phoenix has also reached out to the Buckeye Police Department, but didn't hear back.