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Sexual harassment at Phoenix Police Department: “Proof provided” for Sheriff candidate

PHOENIX — Tyler Kamp, a candidate for Maricopa County sheriff, sexually assaulted a young female police officer during his final year of service with the Phoenix Police Department, according to a city investigation obtained by ABC15.

The Phoenix Equal Opportunity Department’s investigation was completed after Kamp’s retirement.

He was never disciplined.

“(Redacted) reported that Lt. Kamp sent her sexually harassing text messages. The evidence provided by (redacted) supported her allegations. Although Lt. Kamp denied sending the messages, (redacted) provided screenshots as part of the investigation,” investigators wrote in the conclusion of their final report.

In an interview with ABC15, Kamp criticized the investigation.

“This was not a comprehensive investigation,” he said. “It was not a comprehensive investigation … I believe the text messages you are referring to have been taken completely out of context.”

ABC15 obtained the information about the city’s investigation through a public records request.

As part of the request, the city also provided documents, including a transcript of an interview with Kamp and screenshots of hundreds of text messages sent between him and the officer in training who was in his chain of command.

The city’s final report listed several messages that it classified as sexual harassment.

The texts show that Kamp talks to the officer about sex, comments on her body and appearance, tells her he is aroused, and asks her to warn him the next time she wears yoga pants.

Kamp retired as a lieutenant from the Phoenix Police Department in September 2021.

The proven harassment occurred in 2020 and 2021, records show, but the investigation did not begin until several months after Kamp left the department.

In early 2022, an officer told a supervisor that she was being harassed by Kamp, which led to a formal complaint to police. Police also informed the city’s equal opportunity department.

Kamp claimed that the official had complained retroactively because she had had performance problems.

“This was six or seven months after I had already left the department, retired and moved on,” he said in an interview. “And as I understand it, it was more like a shotgun sting, just to maybe tone down some of her accomplishments, to avoid drawing attention to her.”

The officer no longer works as a Phoenix officer and her name has been removed from the city’s investigation because she is considered a victim.

ABC15 contacted her to inform her that the station had received documents related to the sexual harassment investigation.

She thanked a reporter for the tip and asked ABC15 not to use her name because she has since moved on from the incident.

The woman declined to comment further.

ABC15 also obtained documents showing that Kamp was suspended for one day in 2014 for unlawfully gaining access to a confidential law enforcement database without a legitimate criminal justification.

In addition, he received a reprimand in 2013 for repeatedly using a municipal vehicle for private purposes.

Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at [email protected].