PHOENIX — Taking action to get answers, ABC15 is going one-on-one with Interim Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan on the recent officer-involved shootings within his department.
According to Phoenix Police Department, its officers have fired their guns during ten incidents so far this year, which outpaces where we were by mid-March in any other year since 2017, the first year the City of Phoenix kept a database on police shootings.
It also comes as the U.S. Department of Justice investigates Phoenix police for their use of force policy, among other things.
As Chief Sullivan promises reform, he sat down with ABC15 to give answers and his take on the number of officer-involved shootings.
"We are taking a deep dive into our use of force policy, making sure we have the best use of force policy in the nation," explains Chief Sullivan. "I also said we would bring in training from around the country. The trainers trained our folks - the entire department is getting ready to go through that training. It's scenario-based training to teach us how to deal with these situations, to increase the number of less lethal tools that are out there. I saw this as something we need to attack head-on. I attacked it head-on right after I got here. And we are facing those challenges."
Chief Sullivan went on to say seven of the ten officer-involved shootings the City has seen so far this year involved suspects with firearms who were not legally supposed to have guns. He points to these "prohibited possessors" as a major obstacle and says finding them and prosecuting them will take cooperation from his department, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, as well as officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
"You have to look at each situation individually and we will, but the armed individuals that our folks are confronting on the streets, I'm proud of the work that they do every single day," Sullivan said. "Some of the situations we've been involved in was after a violent attack on a citizen of this community. Officers are engaged and will continue to be engaged. But we are going to continue to make sure we have the tools and training we need to be successful and to be safe."
Chief Sullivan says policing has always been dangerous, but with the recent number of officer-involved shootings, there are everyday people who worry things are getting more dangerous for them as well.
"I was out covering the officer-involved shooting at (27th Avenue and McDowell Road) last Wednesday, and a number of people came up to me and our crew and said they are concerned. They don't want to see these officer-involved shootings. They're worried. They don't want this in their community. What would your response be to them?" ABC15's Nick Ciletti asked Chief Sullivan.
"Officers, and the police department and myself don't want to see officer-involved shootings as well. We want to see successful resolutions. We don't want to see officers have to be involved in these situations. We don't want communities and families to have to endure this and we don't want the community as a whole," Chief Sullivan responded. "And that's why I'm going to focus on prohibited possessors, making sure we hold those folks accountable and folks will know that we take that seriously. But once again, our officers are going to be out there engaged, and if we're engaged with folks with firearms, what I would ask the individuals to comply with the officers when they're in those situations."
