Garcia was terminated by City Manager Ed Zuercher for actions that amounted to insubordination, City Councilman Michael Nowakowski told The Arizona Republic.
Garcia met with Zuercher before holding his news conference. During that meeting, Zuercher asked Garcia not to make statements, but Garcia went ahead with his media event, Nowakowski said.
Zuercher said the decision was not based on Garcia's performance.
"I think Chief Garcia has done a good job, all the men and women of the department have done a good job," Zuercher said, "but let me be clear, this issue is about following orders, about obeying an order from a supervisor.
"I gave him an order not to have a press conference, but he directly disobeyed. He's a good man, but I'm disappointed in his choices."Joseph Yahner, a veteran of the department who served as acting police chief before Garcia was hired, is the department's new acting chief, effective immediately, Zuercher said.
The chief's demand for a new contract came amid a barrage of union attacks, a city councilman's public call for his ouster and a controversial officer-involved shooting.
In a Thursday afternoon interview, Garcia defended his 2 1/2-year tenure at the department, citing a continual reduction in crime. Garcia said he has upheld the highest standard of officer accountability at a time of plummeting levels of trust among the public and their police departments.
The demands came as police unions hold a "no-confidence" in an effort to spur his firing, and weeks after City Councilman Sal DiCiccio called for his termination.
Garcia said the contract would protect him from politically charged feuds initiated by the unions. He said he also penned a letter to Zuercher, asking that DiCiccio be investigated for violating city charter by calling for his removal.
Garcia was the pick of former City Manager David Cavazos after a 33-year run with the Dallas Police Department.Garcia's tenure has been punctuated by frequent clashes with police unions, stemming from personnel changes, a new uniform choice, a request that officers to re-take their oath of office annually, and a pilot program that would replace officers' four-day, 10-hours-a-day-per-week schedule to a traditional five-day, eight-hour-a-day workweek. The workweek changes were never implemented.
Brewing resentment came to a head last month, when union leaders at the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association and the Phoenix Police Sergeants and Lieutenants Association jointly called on their members to cast "no-confidence" votes in their chief. The move was buoyed by the suicide of a former officer who had been fired by Garcia for a DUI. Ballots are due by Jan. 5.
Garcia's public-relations woes escalated this month when an officer shot and killed an unarmed black man after the officer mistakenly believed the man was clutching a gun.
