GOODYEAR – A former Goodyear police officer who resigned during an investigation into alleged misuse of law enforcement databases would have been terminated had he remained employed, the department announced October 23.
The administrative investigation sustained three policy violations against former officer Kristopher Jackson: abuse of authority, failure to comply with body-worn camera requirements, and dishonesty. A separate criminal investigation by Glendale police found insufficient evidence to establish criminal wrongdoing.
The case began in July, when a routine Internal Affairs audit of activity in the Flock Automated License Plate Reader system identified potential policy violations. The department immediately placed Jackson on administrative leave and restricted his access to department computer systems.
After an initial review raised concerns about possible criminal wrongdoing, Goodyear asked the Glendale Police Department to conduct an independent criminal investigation. Once Glendale completed its review, Goodyear resumed its administrative investigation.
Jackson resigned effective September 17, 2026, but the department continued reviewing the allegations. Its Discipline Review Board subsequently presented its findings to Police Chief Brian Issitt.
Investigators sustained the following violations:
- Abuse of authority, Class 2: Improper use of authority or information obtained through the officer’s official position.
- Body-worn camera policy, Class 0: Failure to follow department requirements governing camera use.
- Dishonesty, Class 3 — dismissal: Providing false, inaccurate or misleading information, or deliberately withholding information related to department business or an investigation.
Based on those findings, including the dishonesty violation, Issitt determined that termination would have been appropriate had Jackson remained with the department.
“Accountability does not end when an employee resigns,” Issitt said.
The chief said officers have a responsibility to follow the law, uphold department policies and exercise sound judgment, particularly when accessing sensitive law enforcement information. He emphasized that resignation does not erase misconduct or end the department’s obligation to investigate it.
The department said it will continue enforcing policies governing access to law enforcement databases and the appropriate use of investigative technology.
The Goodyear Police Department has been plagued with failing performance standards and corruption issues for over 10 years now.
One of the root causes is that Goodyear Police do not cultivate, hire and train new police officers. Goodyear Police hire the majority of their officers as “Lateral” transfers, mostly from out of State and from Blue States. The Officer also have received Training in States that sometimes refuse to instill a proactive police type mentality. Some Blue State police training actuality train their Officers, not to be Police, but to be a Social Worker on the Street. In Arizona, acting like a Social Worker when doing police work will get an Officer hurt or killed.
Why does this matter” Its called Espirit de Corps. Someone that hasn’t been in from the ground up has less vested interest in maintaining morale and/or improving morale. This type of officer transfers around when he/she doesn’t like certain management styles, hard work, or the work environment.
Until the Goodyear Police start “raising” new Officers from scratch and training them in Arizona, they’ll always have less than optimum loyal employees.
In order to look at the performance of a Police Department all the public needs to look at the yearly statistics of the the the number or the lack of;
1) Major Narcotics Case;
2) Loss of a Criminal case in Court;
3) Proactive Police statistics(i.e. taking illegal guns off the street, warrant arrests, gang enforcement etc).
Comapre Goodyear Police to Phoenix Police and the performance is like night and day. Phoenix has a very proactive police mindset and their street enforcement statistics show this. This is due to the management style at the Phoenix Police Department. Mindset comes from the police supervisors. Have you ever tried speaking with a Goodyear Watch Commander for Assistant Chief. They’re like scared Ghosts when it comes to concerns from the public.
Maricopa County is a major narcotics transshipment area. Major Narcotics cases are almost non-existent in the City of Goodyear. Maybe this is due to the proverbial Ostridge Head in the Sand tactic. I hope I’m wrong