(The Center Square) – Reports of sexual harassment and misconduct concerning Maricopa County Sheriff candidate Tyler Kamp are coming to light with the election only a couple days away.
Kamp has previously dodged questions concerning a brief sexual harassment report that was released by the city from his time working as a lieutenant at the Phoenix Police Department. Now, a lawsuit has forced the release of hours of audio interviews and text messages between him and an officer in training who eventually became a probationary officer and reported directly.
The investigation substantiated that between November 2020 and July 2021 Kamp sexually harassed the female officer, whose identity has been redacted, and was in violation of both city and Phoenix Police Department policies prohibiting discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
“The entire time I felt that Kamp was trying to control my job [by making] me feel like I could get in trouble if I didn’t respond, if I [wasn’t] cordial with him and [if I didn’t] put up with his behavior,” said the officer in an interview conducted by investigators.
The officer provided screenshots of text messages between her and Kamp to the investigators that began on Nov. 30, 2020.
The officer obtained Kamp’s personal cell phone number and reached out to Kamp to discuss work-related issues. However, on Dec. 3, Kamp asked the officer to share pictures of her hunting. Kamp responded to the photo saying that he was “turned on” and asked her out for drinks. The officer said that she made clear she was not interested in a relationship with Kamp and did not think it was appropriate as she was in training and Kamp was married with children.
Kamp also sent a message to the female officer asking her what she was wearing, to which she responded that she was wearing black clothes and he replied that “black clothes on a blonde are such a good look.”
Following further advancements from Kamp, the female officer sent him a message stating that she was not interested and wanted to focus on work. However, only about a week later, he messaged her, “Yoga pants??? Shoot I missed it… ummm a little heads up next time pls!!”
Another time Kamp asked her to come to a party on New Year’s Eve, to which she said she was working. He responded by saying, “oh and my apologies in advance for thurs night in case I text u something a tad inappropriate after a few drinks.”
A few days later, he texted her, “Hey! Aren’t you proud of me??? I didn’t send u anything inappropriate on NYE.”
Following this incident, the female officer said that Kamp began to make her feel uncomfortable and that she was “in trouble” with him.
When the female officer graduated to being a probationary officer and reported to Kamp, he began to track where she was by keeping track of her schedule, where she was assigned and which vehicle she took. He would meet her while she was on duty to discuss personal matters.
The report also states that Kamp would intervene in the officer’s training and work opportunities, saying that she would get special attention and people would be jealous because of “her looks.”
The female officer again confronted Kamp about his behavior over a text message to which he responded by saying, “ Ok deal. So next time I comment on u bending over or flirting with your eyes (intentionally or unintentionally) just tell me to knock it off and grow up ….”
However, Kamp continued to harass her, going so far as to discuss his sex life with her. It went on until Kamp retired from the Phoenix PD and moved to Ghana. The female officer then changed her phone number and reported the incident. She said in the report that she was too scared to report Kamp before then as he was her Lieutenant and she didn’t want to lose her job. She said that she did everything she could to avoid Kamp – hiding when she saw him and staying in her patrol car until the very end of her shift.
In response to this full investigation being released, Kamp’s campaign has said that he never participated in an interview during the investigation. However, audio files have been obtained that prove otherwise.
During the interview, Kamp stated that he has no recollection of inappropriate conversations with the female officer and that he cannot provide proof of text messages because he lost his phone in South Africa.
“Any conversations, if you want to call it flirty or banter, were completely mutual and solicited from her,” Kamp said, claiming that he would have these types of conversations with any of his co-workers and saying that he “doesn’t understand the younger generation.”
He said that, even if the allegations the officer made were true, he doesn’t see how it could be considered sexual harassment.
“I might have friendly banter with another guy or another girl,” Kamp said. “It doesn’t mean I’m attracted to them. It doesn’t mean I want to get in their pants.”
This was not Kamp’s first instance of violating the department’s administration regulations.
An investigation found substantiated evidence that in 2013, Kamp used police resources to conduct an Arizona Criminal Justice Information System query on the husband of a female co-worker he was having an “intimate relationship” with.
The female co-worker had asked Kamp to search up her husband’s driver’s license as her husband did not have his wallet on him and needed the number. During an interview, the husband said that he did ask his wife if she could obtain the information, but was not aware that Kamp had conducted this search.
Kamp received a suspension of eight hours without pay.
Kamp’s campaign released a statement saying that the release of these records is the “desperate” attempts of Republican candidate Jerry Sheridan.
However, this actually came from a public records request from Maricopa County resident Brian Anderson.
Anderson requested these records in March after hearing rumors about Kamp’s misconduct and told The Center Square that he has no ties to Sheridan’s campaign. Anderson added that he filed the request for the records in March, when neither Sheridan nor Kamp were the nominees.
Anderson was compelled to file a lawsuit after six months of the Phoenix Police Department neglecting to provide Kamp’s personnel file.
“Whether Kamp’s personnel file reveals something is an entirely different question from the point of the lawsuit, which is that the government shouldn’t be putting its thumb on the scale of elections by withholding records,” Anderson said. “When you have candidates especially for this office where they’re overseeing law enforcement for four four and a half million people, it really is important that voters have timely access to public records to know how people would behave in a public office.”
Read the full report below.
