DOJ: Phoenix police systematically used illegal excessive force. Reaction ranges from outrage to caution
The Phoenix Police Department systematically used unlawful force, disproportionately targeted people of color and routinely violated the rights of protesters, unhoused people and others having mental health crises, U.S. Justice Department investigators reported.
The behavior violated the First, Fourth and 14th Amendments, according to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. She recapped findings in the department's scathing 126-page report, which it issued Thursday after a nearly three-year investigation.
The constitutional amendments protect free speech, prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures and guarantee equal protection under the law.
Many city officials and police representatives bristled at the findings, with reactions ranging from disappointment and frustration to anxiety and near outrage. One city leader said federal oversight would "neuter" the department, while a police leader said the report's findings were riddled with "innuendo" and "half-truths."
The city's top leaders, City Manager Jeff Barton and Mayor Kate Gallego, were more cautious, stressing they wanted to read the report fully before substantively weighing in.
Few activist organizations weighed in. There were no protests or demonstrations at City Hall, as has occurred in years past. Poder in Action said in a statement on social media the community was "disgusted, furious and heartbroken" but not surprised.
Clarke said the Justice Department's "pattern or practice" probe of Phoenix policing marks the first time the agency has ever found a violation of the civil and constitutional rights of homeless people. About 37% of the department’s misdemeanor offenses were against unhoused individuals, she said.
Phoenix police slammed: Follow for updates on the Justice Department's findings
Clarke called the findings “unlawful” and "historic," and said it conveys “a lack of respect for the humanity” of the homeless.
“The problems at their core reflect a lack of effective supervision, training and accountability,” she added.
"Our investigation revealed systemic problems within Phoenix Police Department that deprive people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law. We found pervasive failings in Phoenix Police Department's policies, training, supervision, and accountability systems that have disguised and perpetuated these violations for years," the report concluded.
What led to the investigation: DOJ probe into Phoenix police
The report outlined five main findings, saying Phoenix police:
Use excessive force, including unjustified deadly force.
Unlawfully arrest people experiencing homelessness and unlawfully dispose of their belongings.
Discriminate against people of color.
Violate the rights of protesters.
Discriminate against people with behavioral health disabilities.
The report also found "serious concerns" about the department's treatment of children and the "lasting impact aggressive police encounters have on their wellbeing."
Officers with the Phoenix Police Department routinely delayed medical aid and deployed deadly force in their policing, Department of Justice officials said Thursday.
Clarke described an incident in which officers shot a man and he fell. The officers then fired additional rounds and sent a K-9 unit to drag the man back to them. “The pain they inflicted was extraordinary, but for nine minutes, officers failed to provide medical aid,” Clarke said. “Tragically, that man died.”
The report noted Phoenix police inappropriately train their officers to believe "all force — even deadly force — is de-escalation."
In particular, the report cited what investigators called Phoenix's "use-it-or-lose-it" weapons policy. Clarke said the department would take away weapons from officers if they weren’t fired often enough.
Police union officials categorically denied those allegations.
Phoenix Law Enforcement Association President Darrell Kriplean said of the incentive to use weapons: “That was news to me when I heard that. I’ve never heard that.” He added that in his 30 years he's never been taught to escalate a situation.
DOJ recommended 36 reforms
Among 36 recommended reforms, the Justice Department urged the Phoenix Police Department to improve its use-of-force policies and training, enhance its accountability mechanisms, improve data collection on the use of force, and develop force policies that are appropriate for children and people with disabilities.
Specifically, the Justice Department recommended improved training on:
How to use force, including when to use less force as a person’s behavior changes.
Helping officers distinguish between the personal property of unhoused people and abandoned items.
Policing protests, including addressing how to balance protecting public safety and First Amendment rights.
Dealing with behavioral health calls, including better coordination with the mental health nonprofit Solari.
Dealing with youth.
How supervisors should investigate cases involving the use of force.
The investigation delved into claims of activists, protesters, victims and their families, the stories of people who interact with police, and the findings of investigative reporting in The Arizona Republic and elsewhere.
City leaders say they need time to review findings
City leaders on Thursday stressed they needed time to fully read the 126-page report, which was 36 pages longer than the highly scrutinized 2023 DOJ report of the Louisville Metro Police Department, written in the wake of the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego in a statement said she did not want to comment on the report until after she had "carefully and thoroughly" reviewed it.
City Manager Jeff Barton said his staff was reviewing the report on Thursday and that he needed time to come to a conclusion.
"This time right now, it dictates and necessitates that we be open-minded to look at the reforms that are being recommended by the DOJ and to see what we need to do to become better," Barton said.
He added that city officials are "willing to roll up our sleeves and work to implement solutions."
Interim Phoenix police Chief Michael Sullivan said waiting for the investigation had caused "anxiety" internally and that he was happy to now "dig into" the findings and see if DOJ's recommendations aligned with changes the department was already working on.
In January, the Phoenix Police Department released "The Road to Reform," a 53-page document outlining the changes implemented or underway in response to the Justice Department's investigation.
City leaders mostly cooperated with the federal investigation by handing over roughly 180,000 documents, more than 22,000 body-worn camera videos, 20 terabytes of data and 200 emergency 911 calls to the feds. Federal officials conducted more than 130 interviews with city employees and took part in 200 hours' worth of Phoenix police ride-alongs, as of February.
Nonetheless, the Justice Department reported that police did not turn over all of the internal investigative reports from police shootings after February 2022.
Justice Department: Phoenix's current reforms are good but not enough
Justice Department investigators acknowledged Phoenix's efforts toward self-reform, which became a hallmark after Sullivan took over as interim chief in 2022.
"Some at Phoenix Police Department have acknowledged the need for change, and current leaders have committed to important reforms," the report found.
But, federal investigators concluded, those efforts had not gone far enough, fast enough.
"In a 2024 report detailing these and other changes, the department admitted that many of its reforms are still in the planning stage. This leads us to believe that the Phoenix Police Department will need to be held accountable to implement the reforms we identify," the report stated.
Clarke said Thursday the findings were "severe" and showed "we can't count on police to police themselves." She said the Justice Department would continue conversations with the city and hopefully reach a mutual resolution.
Federal investigators documented some shocking details. Among them:
In 2021 and 2022, Phoenix police officers pointed a gun at someone 6,013 times. Supervisors wrote that every instance was justified.
Looking at all uses of force, including some highly criticized uses of restraints and holds, as well as bean-bag rounds and Tasers, supervisors determined that almost all uses complied with departmental policy.
Supervisors are required to document the use of force, but reviews are "perfunctory and boilerplate" and "many use-of-force incidents do not receive even cursory supervisory reviews."
Police stopped one unhoused man 97 times between 2016 and 2022 and arrested or cited him at least 20 times between 2019 and 2022.
Police threw out homeless people's personal treasures, including in one incident an urn containing the ashes of one man's family member.
Next steps: Work together or litigation
The Justice Department's findings mark a turning point in the saga between city officials and the Justice Department as federal and city officials must now plan next steps.
Clarke said consent decrees have been the typical solution.
City leaders have consistently and vocally opposed this prospect for months while expressing frustration over the federal investigation. In a statement, the mayor said Thursday the city got the report at the same time the public did.
While Justice Department officials would prefer a mutually negotiated consent decree, enforced by a judge and overseen by an independent monitor, City Councilmembers have expressed a preference for reform without court enforcement or federal oversight.
Councilmembers Ann O'Brien and Jim Waring doubled down on their opposition to consent decrees on Thursday.
"I just don't believe that the only path to improvement in the city of Phoenix is through an onerous consent decree and an outside monitor that has no real benefit in ending that consent decree," O'Brien said.
Waring said a consent decree would "neuter" the department, make Phoenix more dangerous and give officers an incentive to quit.
Councilmember Kesha Hodge Washington acknowledged the report "undoubtedly recalls painful incidents affecting our community, but it also offers an opportunity to see what reforms the city and the Police Department can implement moving forward."
If Clarke and city leaders cannot find a mutual resolution, the parties will all but certainly wind up in litigation. The outcome could lead to a court order binding the Phoenix Police Department to agency oversight for years to come.
Clarke said a consent decree and independent monitor "have proven to be the kind of reform measures needed to ensure lasting and meaningful reform," and that the police cannot police themselves.
Police union slams the DOJ report
Some in the city were not happy with the Justice Department's report.
"The Phoenix Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 2 could not be more disappointed in the U.S. Department of Justice and its so-called 'pattern and practice investigation' into the Phoenix Police Department." said Lou Manganiello, president of the Phoenix Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 2.
"The investigative summary released by the DOJ today is full of half-truths, unsubstantiated accusations, and haphazard, illogical conclusions."
Professional Law Enforcement Association President Kriplean said he was “frustrated and appalled” that federal officials released the findings publicly before giving a copy of the report to city leaders.
Kriplean said the city’s police force has a “long history of self-assessment and self-correction” and asserted a consent decree would only “enrich” federal monitors, increase crime and decimate officer morale.
“In the end, our taxpayers are fleeced, and our community will be less safe,” he said.
What brought on the federal investigation into Phoenix police?
The investigation, announced on Aug. 5, 2021, came after a headline-grabbing stretch of police shootings and several incidents that drew national attention and sharp criticism of Phoenix police from activists.
In 2018, police in Phoenix shot at more people than police in any other U.S. city. Out of the 44 shootings, 23 ended in death. From 2013 to 2023, Phoenix police were involved in 142 fatal shootings, second only to the Los Angeles Police Department, according to the Mapping Police Violence project.
The controversies extended beyond shootings and fatalities.
There were racist social media posts by officers. People experiencing homelessness complained police were throwing away their possessions. A challenge coin mocking protesters circulated throughout the department. People demonstrating against police use of force were arrested and falsely prosecuted as gang members.
In 2020, The Arizona Republic published a 10-year analysis finding that the Phoenix Police Department discriminated against Black, Native American and Latino people by using force against those populations at higher rates compared with white people. In 2019, officers used force five times more often against Black and Native American people, the investigation showed.
Taylor Seely covers Phoenix for The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com. Reach her at [email protected] or 480-476-6116.
Miguel Torres covers public safety for The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com. Reach him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix police slammed in 126-page Justice Department report
