Phoenix OKs system to ID at-risk officers City’s plan addresses concerns over police
The Phoenix City Council voted Tuesday to move forward with a new Police Department system that will use data to identify officers who are at risk of breaking protocol before they do so.
The decision came after a more than five-hour public meeting called by newly elected Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego to address Police Department criticism prompted by a viral police video.
In addition to the “early intervention system,” the council voted to move forward with a public survey to determine community opinions of the Police Department.
The council also discussed the possibility of a civilian review board — an oversight tool that community activists have asked the council to implement for years — but did not vote on whether to implement one.
Hundreds attended the meeting, but it was much calmer than several recent meetings, which have erupted in discord between supporters and detractors of the department.
Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams began the meeting by laying out a fivepoint action plan to address concerns about the Police Department that the community has conveyed at recent meetings.
Those points are:
❚ Communicate clear expectations to employees.
❚ Modernize technology and processes.
❚ Assess best practices. ❚ Improve training.
❚ Survey community feedback. The chief asked the council to approve moving forward with purchasing an “early intervention system” and to hire a public research firm to survey the community’s perceptions about police.
The bystander video that spurred the current backlash against the Phoenix Police Department shows officers pointing guns and yelling threats at Dravon Ames, his pregnant fiancee, Iesha Harper, and their two young daughters after the couple said their 4-year-old daughter took a doll from a Family Dollar store.
Officers have disputed the narrative, citing a 16-page police report that contends the couple took other items from the store, including underwear. Police said the adults were combative and refused to follow officers’ commands. At one point, officers reported, they thought Ames was reaching for a weapon.
The video is the latest incident in a series of tense relations between the
community and the Police Department.
Last year, Phoenix officers shot at 44 people — more than any other police department in the country.
Recently, an analysis of Facebook posts found 179 questionable posts from 97 current and former Phoenix officers. Many endorsed violence, in some cases against Mexicans, Muslims, women and criminal defendants.
Less than 24 hours before the meeting began, Councilman Sal DiCiccio and Phoenix police released more than a dozen recordings of people upset about the viral video calling Phoenix 911. During several of the calls, the individual threatens to kill or hurt police personnel.
Gallego in her opening comments condemned those threats.
Early intervention systems
The council voted to move forward with implementation of an “early intervention system,” a data-tracking program designed to identify officers who may be at risk of breaking protocol before the infraction occurs.
The council’s “yes” vote Tuesday simply allows city staff to research the systems and get cost estimates. The council will have to vote again in two months to actually purchase a system.
Many police departments across the country use early intervention systems, but their capabilities vary greatly.
According to a city staff report, Phoenix will seek a system that will allow the police department to “store and view all officer performance data in one place,” including records related to use-offorce incidents, internal affairs, training performance, evaluation, community engagement and officer profile.
The Police Department purchased software in 2017 that allows a limited version of early intervention, Executive Assistant Chief Michael Kurtenbach told the council.
But the department’s records are stored in different systems that are not compatible and cannot “talk to each other,” he said. For example, disciplinary records are contained in one format, but training records are kept elsewhere.
A sophisticated early intervention system would allow a “360-degree view” of employees and can recognize when an employee is “going down a bad path,” and allow managers to step in and assist the individual.
Many council members said they were surprised that the Police Department doesn’t already have a system that allows leadership to access all of an employee’s records and information in a single place.
“I just assumed that was something that was addressed in the ’80s or ’90s when we got computers,” Vice Mayor Jim Waring said.
Councilwoman Laura Pastor pushed back on the system, saying that the Police Department already has the tools for intervention, but there is “a lack of will to use these resources.”
Williams disagreed with Pastor’s characterization of the department’s data capability.
“Our current system is not able to do all of the things you are asking me to do,” Williams said.
Many of the community leaders who have criticized the Police Department said they were supportive of an early intervention system, but said the software alone would not change the culture of the department.
“Families have not had justice for years,” Viri Hernandez, executive director of Poder in Action, a Maryvale-based advocacy group, said in Spanish. “This has been happening for years and these families have not had justice. The police have rights, but the rights of families are completely ignored.”
The council voted 7-1 to move forward, with Vice Mayor Jim Waring voting no.
Public survey of the community
The council voted to hire a public opinion research firm to “solicit community input to help guide the creation of policies and strategies for the Police Department.”
According to city staff, the research will focus on “attitudes and opinions” about the department, which could help the department refine its community approach in certain geographic areas of the city.
Phoenix has not conducted a citywide statistical survey since 2012. City Manager Ed Zuercher said the city previously conducted citywide surveys about all city services every two years, but the expenditure was cut during the economic downturn.
Pastor supported the survey, saying that Phoenix has diverse populations that have different interactions with police officers.
Councilman Michael Nowakowski asked that the results of the poll be broken down by zip code so the city can determine special action plans for specific geographic areas.
Councilman Sal DiCiccio, a staunch defender of the Police Department, supported the survey, saying it’s important to identify divisions in public opinion across the city.
“I would really caution that we try not to politicize that divide,” DiCiccio said. “There very well may be a divide. But how big is that divide in the public?”
Less than an hour before the meeting, DiCiccio tweeted out an edited video of threatening 911 calls directed at police staff. DiCiccio and the Police Department had released portions of about a dozen calls Monday night.
DiCiccio later tweeted that the meeting was a “Big Dud” because the “antipolice crowd failed to show in any big numbers.”
The council voted 7-1 to fund the public survey, with Waring voting no. The council will vote in the future to approve the cost.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to find here,” Waring said. “We don’t have an unlimited pot of money.”
Members of Poder in Action criticized the survey as unnecessary and said they believe a survey will not adequately reflect the opinions of communities of color, which do not trust the city or department and may not respond.
Civilian review
Phoenix currently includes civilians in its disciplinary process, but does not have a dedicated civilian board.
The city’s disciplinary review board, which makes recommendations on discipline if an officer is found to have violated policy, includes two civilians on the seven-member board.
The city’s Use of Force Review Board has three civilians on the six-member board. The board reviews use-of-force incidents and determines whether the incident was out of policy.
If an officer is fired or suspended, they can appeal to the Civil Service Board, which consists entirely of civilians. That board can overturn the discipline decisions.
According to a Phoenix staff report, there are more than 100 variations of civilian review around the country.
About half of the country’s 50 largest U.S. police departments have some form of civilian review, according to the report.
There are three general categories of review, according to the report:
Review
This type of board reviews a police department’s original review of an incident and issues its own conclusions and recommendations. The board’s recommendations are advisory in nature — the police chief is not required to implement them. This is the least costly and staff-intensive model.
Cities that use this model: San Antonio, Charlotte, Indianapolis, San Diego, Albany and St. Petersburg. Auditor/Monitor
This type of review begins with an auditor who reviews police data to identify concerning trends, like spikes in use-of-force incidents. The auditor makes his or her findings public and recommendations to correct issues come from review boards, the police chief, city manager or city council directly. The cost of this model depends on the number of auditors assigned to review police data.
Cities that use this model: Tucson, New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Denver and San Jose. Investigations
The investigation model is the type of review board most activists have been asking the Phoenix City Council to implement. These boards have the power to investigate complaints, subpoena the police department, compel officers to testify and issue disciplinary action. This is the most staff-intensive and costly model.
Cities that use this model: Boise, Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh.
Council will continue discussion
The council did not vote on implementing a civilian review board, but the discussion will continue.
Assistant City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. told the council that city staff will come back to the council with civilian review board options. If the council decides to move forward, it must pass an ordinance that defines the scope of the board and who it reports to.
He said the city will also have to make sure the board complies with state laws that protect employee rights.
Pastor asked Dohoney to look at Tucson and Chandler as models for Phoenix’s review system. Both cities have civilian review.
Newly elected Councilman Carlos Garcia, who previously led a nonprofit that was frequently critical of the Phoenix Police Department, said the city needs to implement a civilian review board with subpoena power and disciplinary authority.
“Families have not had justice for years . ... The police have rights, but the rights of families are completely ignored.” Viri Hernandez, Executive director of Poder in Action, a Maryvale-based advocacy group