PHOENIX — They are a hip-hop artist, a high school principal, and a mother.
While they come from different backgrounds, they all have a common bond: They are all pushing for changes in the Phoenix Police Department.
But two years into a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the city and its police department, they are skeptical that substantive change will result.
Jacob Raiford, a community organizer, started leading protests in Arizona in the summer of 2020 as demonstrations spread across the nation after police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis.
One year later, the DOJ announced a widespread investigation into the Phoenix Police Department.
DOJ officials said they would focus on five areas:
- Excessive and deadly force;
- Discriminatory policing;
- Retaliation against protesters;
- Response to people in a behavioral health crisis
- The treatment of those experiencing homelessness.
Raiford stayed involved after the DOJ announcement, speaking at city meetings when the police department was discussed. He was eager to see if change would happen.
He said he feels no safer now than two years ago.
“We’re still seeing loss of life because of the Phoenix Police Department,” he said. “We’re still seeing a lack of accountability.”
Phoenix officer-involved shootings are on the rise with 21 so far this year compared to 24 in all of last year, according to the department’s data. Phoenix is on pace to have more police shootings this year than any year since 2018 when Phoenix had more officer-involved shootings than any city in the United States.
The department says of the 21 officer-involved shootings so far this year, 16 of the suspects were armed with a firearm or replica firearm. Twelve suspects were prohibited possessors, meaning they were illegally carrying weapons.
The rise in officer-involved shootings alarms Kenneth Smith, a high school principal and a community organizer with Unity Collective, a coalition of non-profit, mental health and Civil Rights groups.
Smith organized a march to the Arizona Capitol in the summer of 2020. He stayed involved, sitting down with DOJ officials soon after the investigation started.
He was cautiously optimistic at first.
He said he’s heard nothing since.
“I'm really disappointed we haven't had any updates in terms of the community's involvement,” he said. “And how we’re going to move things forward.”
One thing that has changed is police leadership. Police Chief Jeri Williams retired last year. Interim Chief Michael Sullivan now leads the force.
Earlier this summer, Sullivan released a Crime Reduction Plan aimed at four areas: the most violent people, the most active areas, prohibited possessors and violent offenders with arrest warrants.
When he took the job, he told ABC15 he was committed to building trust.
“I’m focused on getting better every day,” he said. “Reform is about becoming a self-reforming, self-assessing agency. That’s what we’re going to do to partner, regardless of what this Department of Justice investigation finds.”
But some community organizers are doubtful the DOJ report will lead to real reforms.
Patricia Pagliuca, a community organizer with Mass Liberation Arizona, a group that supports criminal justice reforms, believes the problems are too deeply ingrained to be solved with a leadership change.
She doubts the federal investigation of Phoenix will result in meaningful change.
“The Department of Justice is here. It’s largely theatrical,” she said. “It’s been two years. We’ve seen nothing happen.”
The DOJ declined ABC15’s request for an interview and wouldn’t say how much longer the investigation will take.
The Phoenix Police Department released a video on its website this week, giving an update on the DOJ investigation.
In the video, Sullivan said when he took over the department last year there was a “dispute” between Phoenix and the DOJ over how to share sensitive information and still comply with federal law. He said the DOJ initially declined several solutions Phoenix proposed for sharing information, which slowed the process. But he said that issue has since been solved.
He said the department continues to provide information to the DOJ, including more than 20,000 body-worn camera videos and more than 80,000 requested documents.
Sullivan said the DOJ has been to Phoenix seven times so far over two years, most recently this spring.
He described those meetings as “productive.”
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on Twitter and Facebook.
