Unions, county attorney slam DOJ report finding Phoenix police routinely violate civil rights

Photo via Cronkite News

In a press conference on Tuesday, police unions and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office slammed an extensive Department of Justice investigation into the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department that concluded officers regularly violated civil and constitutional rights and used excessive and illegal force.

The Arizona Police Association, a police union that represents officers in departments around the state, including the Phoenix Police Department, said that the findings of violence and misconduct in the investigation are misrepresentative.

“The DOJ focused on a precious few cases,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said. “They used a tiny, tiny sample to find exactly what they wanted to find. The report doesn’t even pass the smell test.”

Multiple law enforcement agencies and advocacy groups have come out against the report, which found that Phoenix PD violated the constitutional rights of homeless people, protesters and minority Phoenix residents.

On Tuesday, the APA claimed that the report could result in the department being placed under a consent decree, which would task the federal government with overseeing changes to the department. Law enforcement groups, and even former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions , have heavily criticized the benefits of consent decrees.

“The Department of Justice, based on their own numbers, has a 30-year track record of totally disastrous failures,” said APA President Justin Harris. “Why bring that into this city?”

There is little conclusive evidence that consent decrees cause increases in crime, but research does indicate that they can improve accountability in police departments, and public satisfaction with those departments.

The Department of Justice has not said whether or not Phoenix PD will be placed under a consent decree, but the city has asked federal officials to forgo the consent decree in favor of a “technical assistance letter,” which would only give the DOJ the authority to make recommendations to the department instead of enforcing their findings.

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