Phoenix police discriminate, violate civil rights and use excessive force, Justice Department says

Phoenix police violate people’s rights, discriminate against blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans in law enforcement and use excessive force, including unjustified deadly force, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.

The government found a “pattern or practice” of violations, saying the police department illegally detains homeless people and disposes of their belongings and discriminates against people with behavioral disabilities when it sends calls for help and responds to people who are in crisis. And the Justice Department said Phoenix police violated the rights of people involved in protected expression.

The comprehensive investigation – which KPHO-TV, Phoenix’s CBS affiliate, reports cost the city at least $7.5 million — found “widespread failures” that “disguised and perpetuated” problems for years, according to the report.

The Justice Department said certain laws, including drug and low-level felonies, were enforced more harshly by Phoenix officers against blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans than against whites who engaged in the same conduct.

Investigators found that Phoenix police use “dangerous tactics that lead to unnecessary and unreasonable force.”

“Our investigation also raised serious concerns about PhxPD’s treatment of children and the lasting impact that aggressive police encounters have on their well-being,” another part of the report read, according to KPHO-TV.

Phoenix police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Attorney General Merrick Garland called the report’s release “an important step toward accountability and transparency.”

“We are committed to working with the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department on meaningful reform that protects the civil rights and safety of Phoenix residents and strengthens trust between police and the community,” he said in a statement.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said the findings “provide a plan and roadmap that can help transform the police department, restore community trust, and strengthen law enforcement efforts.” public safety in one of the largest cities in America.”

The investigation was launched in August 2021. The Phoenix police force has been criticized in recent years for its treatment of protesters in 2020, the deaths of people who were restrained by officers, and the high number of police shootings.

The report also concluded that Phoenix police arrest and detain homeless people without reasonable suspicion of committing a crime and illegally dispose of their belongings.

“A person’s constitutional rights do not diminish when they are homeless,” the report states.

The Justice Department focused on the city’s 911 operations. Although the city has invested $15 million to send non-police dispatchers to mental health calls, the city has not provided necessary training to 911 dispatchers and dispatchers.

“Too often, they send police alone when it would be appropriate to send behavioral health teams,” the Justice Department said. Police officers assume that people with disabilities are dangerous and resort to force rather than de-escalation tactics, leading to force and criminal consequences for those with behavioral disabilities rather than finding care for them, the Justice Department said.

The Department of Justice found that police use unjustified force against people who are handcuffed and accused of low-level crimes.

“Officers rely on less-lethal force to attempt to resolve situations quickly, often when no force is necessary and without any meaningful attempt to de-escalate,” the report states.

Police fire projectiles at people without proof that the person is an immediate threat, the report said, citing the case of a man who was accused of stealing his mother’s car without permission.

“The man was leaving a laundromat when an officer immediately fired Pepperballs at him and continued shooting after the man knelt down and rolled his body to the sidewalk,” the report said.