PHOENIX – Today, the Department of Justice released a report on their findings after a multi-year investigation into the Phoenix Police Department and the City of Phoenix.
Scott Greenwood, interim executive director for the ACLU of Arizona shared the following comments:
"We are disappointed, but not surprised, at the findings issued today by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding its three year investigation of the Phoenix Police Department. This damning report makes clear that the Phoenix Police Department suffers from an ingrained permissive culture that tolerates and even encourages widespread use of force, including deadly force, against some of our community's most vulnerable people. Moreover, this culture overwhelmingly directs enforcement activity against Black, Brown, Indigenous, and houseless people and harms people experiencing behavioral or emotional health crises.
"The people of Phoenix deserve genuine community safety. Today’s report reflects a failure of leadership by prior chiefs over the last decade and a city government that has neglected or refused to hold them accountable. The most important thing that the Mayor and City Council can do now is to embrace this process as a vehicle for transformative change rather than stick their heads in the sand. Policing can and must be both effective and constitutional. Policing in Phoenix is neither."