Protesters gather in Phoenix last June demanding that the Phoenix City Council remove the Phoenix police. Matt York / AP hide caption
Toggle caption
Matt York / AP
Protesters gather in Phoenix last June demanding that the Phoenix City Council remove the Phoenix police.
Matt York / AP
The Justice Department opens an investigation by the Phoenix Police Department into allegations of excessive use of force and abuse by the homeless.
“When we conduct sample or field investigations to determine whether the constitution or federal law has been violated, our goal is to promote transparency and accountability,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the investigation Thursday afternoon. “This increases public trust, which in turn increases public safety. We know law enforcement agencies share these goals. ”
Earlier this year, a local ABC investigation found that some in the department were circulating “challenge coins” showing a protester shot in the groin with the words “GOOD NIGHT LEFT NUT” on one side and “MAKE” AMERICA GREAT AGAIN ONE “NUT AT A TIME” on the other hand.
The coin also had the date of a 2017 protest when former President Donald Trump spoke in Phoenix.
Another incident that year involved video of a police officer repeatedly beating someone on the floor in a homeless camp.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said Justice Department attorneys were looking for evidence of excessive violence, discrimination against people with disabilities, and whether law enforcement officers violated the rights of the homeless when they throw away their belongings.
Clarke said this could conflict with the fourth and fourteenth amendments. It could also represent a new front for federal civil rights activists as cities across the country regularly search homeless camps.
This is the third police civil rights investigation conducted by the Biden government. The department also investigates police practices in Louisville, Kentucky and Minneapolis.
In the coming months, civil rights investigators will spread to Phoenix.
Garland said the Phoenix mayor and police chief had pledged to cooperate in the investigation.
“I applaud the Justice Department’s review of the Phoenix Police Department,” said Democrat, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, in a statement. “Comprehensive policing reform in Phoenix City has been a priority since I first took office.”
Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said in a press conference Thursday, “Every police department has room for improvement; mine is no different.”
“We have reformed this police department from top to bottom,” she added, noting that if the Justice Department tells them to do something else, they will do so.
Phoenix City Director Ed Zürcher said: “We look forward to this step” and will “work fully with the Justice Department”.
He also praised the Phoenix cops, saying, “I know that good cops don’t want to work in a system that allows bad practices.”
Comments are closed.