Phoenix police misleads officers, promotes unneeded use of force, DOJ report says

The Department of Justice blamed the Phoenix Police Department for misleading its officers about the law and promoting violence, in the pattern or practice investigation released Thursday.

Use of force remains one of the most common issues law enforcement agencies have been investigated for by the Justice Department.

Police violence has led to lawsuits, protests and major policy changes. In Phoenix, it became a top concern after the department led the nation in fatal police shootings in 2018. That concern spilled out onto Phoenix streets in 2020 during the national protests against police brutality.

The Phoenix Police Department’s use-of-force policy has changed at least twice in the past five years and was one of Interim Police Chief Michael Sullivan's first major projects.

The DOJ reviewed thousands of records and investigative materials as it looked into use-of-force cases dating to 2016, but not every record was turned over.

Some investigative records of police shootings after February 2022 were not “made available” to the investigators, and the Police Department “also did not provide all the requisite information for police shootings in 2023 or 2024,” according to the report.

Phoenix police use unreasonable deadly force and unreasonable less-lethal force, and weak oversight has led to a pattern of excessive force, the Justice Department found.

How people die at the hands of Phoenix police

The Justice Department report finds that the Police Department has one of the highest annual rates of fatal police shootings in the country.

Between 2018 and 2023, there were 74 fatal shootings, according to the report. Reasons for the high number of deaths include shooting people who pose no threat to officers and delaying aid to injured people.

The report cites an example in which an officer shot a man who held a knife against his own throat. The man was shot when he stepped within 20 feet of the officer after he was ordered not to come closer.

Investigators also found that officers place themselves in unnecessarily dangerous locations, escalating situations.

In one case, officers used their SUVs to block a gunman in a car. Instead of finding cover and removing bystanders, the report reads, officers approached the driver-side window while another officer broke the passenger window, causing the man to flinch.

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“Almost immediately, the first two officers fired 16 rounds into the car, killing the man,” the report read.

The report also recounted the case of Ali Osman, who was shot when officers exited their cars while Osman was throwing rocks at them.

Though a call for officers with less-lethal weapons was dispatched, the police at the scene didn’t wait and instead approached Osman with guns drawn and shot him when he threw a rock.

In some cases, officers waited unreasonably long periods of time to provide aid to wounded people, and in others, officers routinely used neck holds that put people at risk of injury, according to the report.

The report explained that "compression restraints" are dangerous because they stop the chest from taking in air, which can lead to serious injury or death.

Compression restraints include pressing on the back of the neck, pushing down on the back, putting a knee on the neck, or grabbing and holding from behind in ways that press on the neck or back.

Because of the risk these restraints pose, police agencies advise that people who are handcuffed be turned on their side.

But Phoenix police officers routinely keep handcuffed people face down, according to the report.

In one case detailed in the report, police pressed a deaf man’s neck down for more than 20 minutes after he had been handcuffed. Even though police had been told he was deaf, they repeatedly shouted orders at him when the man tried to turn on his side.

In one Phoenix police training video, an instructor explained, “The idea of compassionate restraint is, I decide how compassionate I am going to be based on the given circumstances,” according to the report.

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DOJ: Phoenix officers use less-lethal force when it's not needed

The report describes officers using force immediately, regardless of the crime or threat level. At times, officers will use force even before speaking to the person.

The report found that officers use pepper spray balls, Tasers and other projectiles without much warning, and in many cases, officers fail to recognize how a person’s disability could impact their understanding of commands.

“Officers fire Tasers at people with their hands up, after they surrender, or when they are restrained,” according to the report.

The report also found that canine handlers would let dogs bite people for dangerous amounts of time.

In some cases, people were confused and could not respond to officer commands in time, and officers would say the subject was "resisting" to justify using force, the report read.

Other cases of unreasonable, less-lethal force had to do with the way officers restrain people, sometimes hog-tying them.

In one case, one man accused of assault had been hog-tied in the back of a police car and put face down. The man began to throw up and suffocate, according to the report.

The report reads that the man told the officers he couldn’t breathe and begged for water. One officer responded, “Stop being a baby.”

Report: Phoenix police training gives bad information on use of force

The Justice Department directly blamed the Phoenix police for incorrectly teaching the law and promoting using force quickly and without careful consideration, leading to excessive force.

Officers are trained to prioritize, in order, the safety of hostages, innocents, law enforcement, and, lastly, suspects.

Justice Department investigators found that in several cases, instructors train officers to use force against a lone person because a bystander might show up.

Police trainers also instructed officers to use stun guns against people in behavioral crisis if they don’t comply because they pose a future threat, according to the report.

DOJ investigators “reviewed hundreds of lesson plans and PowerPoints, interviewed members of Phoenix police's Training Bureau, and personally attended dozens of hours of classroom and scenario-based training in Phoenix,” according to the report.

They found the Police Department teaches a misguided notion of de-escalation.

“Phoenix has trained its officers that all force — even deadly force — is de-escalation,” the report reads.

The report states that one Phoenix police trainer suggested that using immediate force stops a situation “before you really have to hurt someone,” and that he said that “de-escalation, like talking nice, will get someone killed.”

Justice Department recommendations on use of force for Phoenix police

The report also made five recommendations on how the Police Department can improve its use of force.

They included improving reporting and training, adding more accountability mechanisms, improving data collection and creating force policies for vulnerable groups.

The report recommended that the Police Department create a policy detailing when and how to use each type of force available to officers, with built-in ways to track every type of incident. It also recommended that Phoenix require supervisors to review cases in which force was used.

In 2023, the Police Department created a new use-of-force policy with direct input from the Justice Department that addressed many of these recommendations.

The new policy created guidelines for every level of force, ranging from minimal to lethal. Each level has its own review agency to investigate incidents and collect data.

The policy addressed the use of force against children but, as of yet, does not include a policy for people with disabilities or people experiencing homelessness.

The Department of Justice commended the Phoenix police for this new policy but pointed out that it has yet to be fully implemented, a reason the DOJ gives for believing the department still needs some federal oversight.

Reach the reporter at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix police policies on excessive force: What the DOJ report says