Mental health care can reduce violence. More police won’t

Britt London wants you to believe that crime in Phoenix is a result of a reduced police force.

It’s not. Crime in Phoenix is a public health problem.

Last month, Britt London, the Phoenix police union boss, wrote a reckless op-ed that attempted to incite fear by cherry-picking data about violent crime and assaults on officers. London picked specific data and presented it out of context to mislead readers into believing there is a problem.

He misled readers into believing that assaults are on the rise, when in fact changes to the way crime is counted contributed to the increases in the assaults. The FBI expanded the definition of aggravated assault in 2016, leading to significant rises in reported cases.

With the way the Arizona statute is written, a person doesn’t even have to touch an officer to be charged with aggravated assault. What would be a more compelling stat is how often the charge of aggravated assault on an officer is dropped.

Sworn officer attrition rates have not led to an increase in crime. London conveniently failed to mention that his own chart shows the overall crime rate has decreased since 2011. The decline in crime coincided with a drop in the number of police officers.

London also noted that there has been a nearly 30% increase from 2011 in assaults on officers with a weapon, and that the trend has been rising with each passing year. Once again, London misled readers.

The National Police Foundation report from 2018 shows that assaults have gone up and down, without correlation to the number of officers, size of police budget, number of officer-involved shootings or violent crimes.

London is the president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association police union. His job is to make sure police officers have as many protections from accountability and transparency as possible, while also increasing police pay and reducing police work.

London has a problem. No one wants to be a cop.

London would have you believe that anti-police rhetoric and efforts to defund the police are to blame.

London would have you ignore that the police budget has increased more than $200 million since 2016, and dozens of civilian positions within the department have been created to reduce the work of police officers.

When the Phoenix City Council passes its annual budget this June,the police department will likely receive more than $800 million, their largest budget ever.

He would also have you ignore that since 2016, Phoenix Police:

Killed more people than any other department in the country in 2018 and 2020.

Faced lawsuits over claims of sexual assault, wrongful death, civil rights violations and wrongful arrests.

Collaborated with MCAO and city council member Sal DiCiccio to unlawfully target Phoenix residents protesting police violence with trumped-up gang charges.

Came under federal investigation by the DOJ over concerns of ongoing racism, excessive force, first amendment violations, and policies and practices harming unsheltered and disabled communities.

Increasing hourly wages and investments in recruitment and retention will not solve the hiring problem in Phoenix. People don’t want to be cops because, we believe, Phoenix Police have repeatedly acted with violence and not held accountable.

And it’s because people across the U.S. are demanding a safer, happier, healthier world, and it’s clear that policing is a failed strategy for getting us to that world.

Let’s be clear. Increasing police numbers simply will not reduce violence or crime. Police respond after the harm has happened.

What reduces violence and harm are investments in mental health care, substance use resources, housing, neighborhood services, parks, after-school programs, day care programs and the decriminalization of basic human needs.

There are dozens of other ways the city could be addressing violence and harm, and better supporting the people of this city.

But London wants more cops. And he’s willing to lie to you to get them.