To: ******************************************** From: "Kevin Walsh" dmitrovgeorgi at yahoo com Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 19:49:49 -0800 (PST) Subject: [azsecularhumanists] After 7 years, banned from the Industrial Commission Building One of the conditions of my probation is that I must report all contact with law enforcement, even contact which does not result in an arrest or civil or criminal citation, to my probation officer. There was such an incident today, so I will need to call my probation officer tomorrow. I was at a jobsite at 801 W Washington Street in downtown Phoenix. During my lunch break, I decided to go to the cafeteria at the Industrial Commission Building at 800 W Washington, right across the street from my jobsite. It was there that I had the encounter with two officers of the Capitol Police. The Sixth Floor of the Industrial Commission Building is the headquarters of the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, where I worked from November 1996 to July 1998. I was fired for neglect of duty, although it was never mentioned which of my duties I supposedly neglected, having been declared by the psychologist who examined me for the state, Dr. Stephen Carson, to be psychologically unfit for duty and a moderate risk of violence in the workplace, and having been declared by Captain Jay Swart, commander of the Capitol Police, to be a grave an imminent danger to my co-workers. I was not charged with any criminal offense over this, and I was never told, either verbally or in writing, that I was banned from the Industrial Commission Building. I just never had any reason to reenter that building until today. I remembered that the cafeteria was open to public business and that the food was good and reasonably priced. I figured after 7 1/2 years no one would remember me, and my presence would cause no trouble. I entered the building with no problem. I entered the cafeteria with no problem. I ordered my lunch, paid for it, and sat down and ate it undisturbed. I did not see anyone in the cafeteria whom I recognized, but evidently someone recognized me. As I ascended the stairwell to the main entrance to return to work, two officers of the Capitol Police were waiting for me. One of the officers asked, "Do you have a hearing today?" I said, "No." She asked, "What business do you have in this building?" I said, "I'm working at a jobsite nearby, and I decided to come to the cafeteria to buy lunch." She asked, "Do you know you are trespassing?" I said, "This is a public building during regular business hours. How could I be trespassing?" She said, "This is a state building, not a public building." I said, "And I am a citizen of this state." She asked, "Is your name Kevin?" I said, "Yes." She said, "Please come with us to the exit." I walked out of the building with them, as that was where I was going in the first place. When we were outside the entrance, she continued, "Did you ever work in this building?" I said, "Many years ago I did." She asked, "What did you do here?" I said, "I was a clerk-typist III for the Arizona Registrar of Contractors." She asked, "When you were terminated, were you told that you were banned from the building?" I said, "No, no one ever told me, either verbally or in writing, that I was banned from this building." She said, "Well, you are banned from this building. Unless you have state business, you may not enter this building. You are not welcome here. If you return, you will be cited for trespassing." I said, "If I'm banned from this building, I want to be officially notified in writing." She said, "No, your notification is only verbal. Since you are not being arrested or cited, there will be no written notification." At that, I departed and returned to work. It would seem some state bureaucrats have very long memories. I never planned to harm anyone in that building, even in 1998, and I no longer bear anyone working there any malice. Most of those whose conduct I criticized have retired or changed jobs since then and are no longer in that building. I am very suspicious of the officer's reluctance to notify me in writing that I am banned from the building. It sounds a lot like the Capitol Police and the Industrial Commission both know that a policy banning people from public buildings is illegal and so don't want to officially acknowledge the policy. --Kevin Walsh