Phoenix city leaders meet with DOJ on civil rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Phoenix’s acting police chief and city manager met Friday with leaders of the U.S. Department of Justice for the first time since the release of a scathing federal report in June.

This DOJ report revealed a pattern or pattern of civil rights violations by Phoenix police officers and personnel. Federal investigators said the constitutional violations included deadly excessive force, racial discrimination in policing, suppression of the First Amendment right to protest, and excessive policing of homeless people and people with disabilities. behavioral problems.

It’s unclear how long Friday’s meeting lasted or whether any decisions were made.

According to Phoenix spokesman Dan Wilson, city staff “approached this meeting knowing that this would be the first of many discussions with the DOJ as we work to identify a plan that works for Phoenix.”

Related: Complete ABC15 coverage of the Phoenix DOJ report

DOJ officials want the city to enter into a consent decree. It is a multi-year reform plan overseen by a federal judge and a third-party monitor.

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Interim Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan maintains the department is self-evaluating and self-correcting. City Council members have resisted the idea of ​​a consent decree and have delayed a direct response to the DOJ report until now.

To demonstrate why a lengthy, enforceable consent decree may not be necessary, Chief Sullivan, City Manager Jeff Barton and other city staff are bringing several existing plans to the negotiating table:

• THE Road to Reform report which addressed changes to use of force protocols, as well as programs to better serve homeless and disabled populations
• A draft new policy, released Friday, on protecting freedom of expression rights
• This week’s memo from Phoenix City Council members directs city staff and the police department toward improvements in accountability, including responding to citizen complaints and disciplining officers.

If a binding, mutual reform agreement cannot be reached, DOJ officials have indicated they may file a lawsuit against the City of Phoenix to impose reforms that better protect residents’ civil rights.