June 8, 2020 - Michael Pooley, Tempe Police Department, Assistant Chief, gave us an excellent overview of how his department is coping with COVID-19 and protesters. His presentation can be seen by clicking here.
Michael is a native Arizonian, born and raised on the Navajo reservation. He attended both ASU and NAU. He has served in several capacities in the Dept over his 19 year career and was promoted to Assistant Chief in December. He spoke very highly of the department and said that the officers are all trained to avoid the kind of incident that occurred in Minneapolis. Michael is currently heading the Emergency Operations Center to deal with the CORONA-19 virus. The Department had intelligence about the virus in December and began to prepare very early. The Emergency Operations Center also deals with protests resulting from the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He said that the protesters were mostly peaceful and they let the Department know when and where they plan to assemble and march. There were a handful of instigators from out of state but the protesters were instrumental in keeping them in check. Michael's presentation was excellent and generated many questions from club members. We have invited him to attend one of our regular meetings so he can meet us in person.