DOJ officials speak candidly with community members on Phoenix police investigation

Department of Justice officials shared the findings from its investigation into the Phoenix Police Department during an hour-long webinar Thursday evening intended for community members in Phoenix.

Around 200 people attended, according to Kit Rees, an investigator with the Justice Department.

Officials explained to attendees how they conducted the investigation — including by reviewing hundreds of hours of body-worn cameras and thousands of documents, conducting statistical analyses of data regarding officer activities, spending over 200 hours riding with officers in patrol cars, speaking with dozens of city officials, hearing from hundreds of community members — and told them it found a “pattern or practice of conduct” in the department that violates the Constitution and federal law.

“We heard some very hard stories,” Rees told attendees. “We know how conflicting it can feel to read these reports and have known this all along. We know it can feel conflicting to have what you’ve experienced be debated in the public eye.”

As the Justice Department and Phoenix move forward with conversations about how they'll address the findings of the investigation, the Justice Department hopes to be in contact with community members about the “types of remedies” they think will work to address the issues identified in the report, said Maureen Johnston, a Justice Department deputy chief.

Because of the “severity of the findings,” the Justice Department believes Phoenix and the Police Department will need to be “held accountable to implement the reforms that are necessary to address this behavior,” Johnston added.

With fifteen minutes remaining in the webinar, officials began answering questions sent to them via direct message. A number of questions were not related to issues within the department’s purview, Rees said.

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“We are not personally the people who are going to investigate any individual incident," Rees said. "We do not represent individual people as part of their cases, and we can’t provide any legal advice, so there were a number of questions sort of in that range.”

One attendee asked why the Justice Department didn’t enter into an agreement in principle that stated the Justice Department and Phoenix would work together to negotiate a consent decree, like has been done in other cities. In response, Johnston said that the Justice Department provided a draft agreement in principle to the city earlier this week when it briefed them on the investigation’s findings. The city said it wants to “continue conversations with us on next steps after it has had an opportunity to study the report," Johnston said.

Another attendee asked if there was anything the Justice Department saw the Phoenix Police Department do well. In response, Rees noted some of the city’s efforts toward reform, referencing Phoenix's "Road to Reform" report released in January, and Johnston said the Justice Department interacted with “many Phoenix police officers that … often did do an excellent job.”

“We have appreciated very much the candor that supervisors, officers, commanders and members of the executive command have shared with us in their concerns about the department and where it’s heading and its focus, and what they’d like to see it do better,” Johnston said. “This is about systems. This is not about individual officers.”

One attendee asked if the investigation focused on the U.S. Attorney’s Office — it did not. Another asked if any of the individuals who conducted the investigation had criminal law enforcement experience, and officials said they worked with over a dozen experts, many of whom had years of law enforcement experience.

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Other attendees asked for examples of other police departments that have been investigated and subsequently implemented the Justice Department's suggestions positively. In Newark, the department recently partially terminated the consent decree because Newark police "significantly ... changed the way it interacts with people in pedestrian stops and traffic stops," said Jeff Murray, who told attendees he worked on the use of force section of the report. In Seattle, Johnston said, the Justice Department has seen a "significant and sustained reduction in use-of-force incidents throughout the life of the consent decree there."

One attendee asked if a monitor would be appointed for oversight. In response, Jean Zachariasiewicz, a Justice Department trial attorney, said that independent monitors are usually appointed as part of a consent decree — a settlement agreement filed in federal court. "We simply can't answer yet ... exactly what is going to happen in Phoenix because ... the city is taking time to review our findings," Zachariasiewicz said.

Officials said the Justice Department would hold more public meetings and shared an email inbox and a phone number for community members to reach the department with questions or input: [email protected] and (866) 432-0335.

“There are a number of opportunities for community involvement,” Rees said, adding that the department would like to hear “as many voices as possible.”

“We would love to hear from you about what you’d like to participate in,” Rees said. “Would you like to know more about policies or training? Who would you like to see involved, and what should that look like? What would transparency on the part of the city, or on our part, look like to you?”

Attendees were also told that the Justice Department will release a complete translated Spanish version of the report.

Reach the reporter at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: DOJ shares Phoenix police inquiry findings with community members