Arizona Congressman Ruben Gallego condemns Phoenix DOJ report

PHOENIX — An Arizona congressman, with ties to Phoenix's mayor and a police union endorsement, wrote a letter Tuesday to the U.S. Department of Justice saying he was "deeply concerned" about the DOJ's approach to reforming policing in Phoenix.

In June, the DOJ concluded a three-year pattern or practice investigation, finding Phoenix violated civil rights in several areas including excessive force, racial discrimination, and treatment of people experiencing homelessness. U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said the findings were “historic” and “severe”.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, sent his letter to Assistant U.S. Attorney General Clarke. It said, "It is clear a pattern or practice of civil rights violations does not exist - and it is certainly not the kind of situation Congress envisioned when it gave DOJ the authority to conduct investigations of this type."

Citing the DOJ's findings report, Rep. Gallego references "a mere 120 or so unspecified incidents," which is an "exceptionally small fraction of one percent of all service calls." Gallego added officers from 12 of the 120 incidents were disciplined "demonstrating a clear commitment to upholding the law and the high standards of conduct expected of police."

The ABC15 Investigators are digging deep into the DOJ report into the department. See the full guide breaking down dozens of the individual cases reviewed by the DOJ here.

The letter was posted to Facebook by The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, which is Phoenix's largest officers union.

PLEA's post said, "We've been working with the Congressman for weeks to get his condemnation of the DOJ investigation and subsequent report. He had responded."

Gallego's letter comes one day after the Arizona Police Association, an umbrella police association that includes PLEA, announced its endorsement of Gallego in his U.S. Senate campaign. Gallego is running against Republican Kari Lake.

Lake posted on X about the DOJ's findings back in June, also condemning the report:

"Their assertion that Phoenix PD engaged in discrimination is a politically driven conclusion, & does not reflect the reality of the fantastic work our officers do on the streets," wrote Lake. "This is nothing but the latest power grab by federal bureaucrats intent on taking over & controlling local policing across the country."

Clarke has indicated the DOJ's likely path forward would be a negotiated consent decree to impose wide-ranging reforms supervised by a federal judge and a contracted independent monitor.

In his letter to Clark Tuesday, Gallego wrote imposing a consent decree has "a mixed record at best of improving public safety results" and is "also tremendously expensive." Instead, He urged the DOJ to enter into a technical assistance letter. Past technical assistance letters generally involve fewer reforms and no independent monitoring.

Rep. Gallego is also the former husband of Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. In recent weeks Mayor Gallego has also spoken out in favor of alternatives to a DOJ consent decree.

Later Tuesday afternoon, Phoenix City Manager Jeff Barton released a statement on the DOJ investigation:

“Just over ten weeks ago, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report [action.phoenix.gov] outlining serious allegations regarding the Phoenix Police Department. Since that time, at the direction of the Mayor and City Council, dozens of staff have worked tirelessly, not only reading and studying the report but identifying, evaluating, and sharing information regarding the incidents cited in the report with the community [action.phoenix.gov]. Staff conducted a thorough review and analysis of the recommended remedial measures, comparing them with what we currently have in place or in progress. A detailed project plan to address the gaps, using industry-standard best practices, is now underway. Spending this time and energy learning from the past and from others prepares us to improve the future.

"We look forward to collaborative conversations with the DOJ to identify a plan that works for Phoenix. The City is committed to developing a path that moves our City and its police department forward. This means showing long term and ongoing process improvement, researching and implementing best practices in policing, and holding ourselves and our employees accountable to these standards of excellence. It means improving our data collection and reporting so the community can monitor and follow our progress. Most importantly, it means building trust with all members of our community.

"Significant change is already underway. Under the new leadership of Interim Chief Michael Sullivan, we’ve overhauled our Use of Force policy with community input [action.phoenix.gov] and implemented new, gold standard de-escalation training. Ideas that were once aspirational are now part of the fabric of our processes including monitoring of police investigations through the Office of Accountability and Transparency [action.phoenix.gov] and civilian oversight from the soon to be seated Civilian Review Board. As noted above, an analysis of every recommendation made by the DOJ is currently underway to see where our efforts to change and improve hit the mark and where we need additional improvement to not only meet expectations but exceed them. The results of this analysis will serve as a guide to the City’s long-term path forward.

"I want to be sure our community knows my office, the Mayor and City Council, and the Police Chief have an unwavering commitment to sustained improvement.

"Phoenix can do better and will continue to do better. I will settle for nothing less.”