User:RussellTerrier/Phoenix Police Department

Leadership
In 2016, Jeri L. Williams was appointed as the Phoenix Police Chief. While she grew up in Phoenix, she spent time leading the Oxnard Police Department in California, where her she pushed the use of body cameras for the department there. During her time as chief, she lead Executive Assistant Chief Michael Kurtenbach, Assistant Chief Sean Patrick Connolly, Assistant Chief Steve Martos, Assistant Director Jesse W. Cooper, and Reserve Assistance Chief Finical. Chief Williams and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego agreed to participate fully with and cooperate completely with an investigation by the Department of Justice into the Phoenix Police Department starting in August of 2021. Tensions between Phoenix Police Department and the public have risen over the years as citizens feel that civil rights have been breached by Phoenix Police Officers.

Controversies
On August 5th, 2021, The Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs announced an investigation into the Phoenix Police Department. The investigation looks into the use of deadly force as well some allegations of the department's use of retaliatory action, among other things. The goal of the investigation is to look into police-involved shootings and other controversies within the department and ensure that those living in the city of Phoenix feel that the department is living up to its promises, policies, procedures, and the law. Starting in 2017, the Phoenix Police Department has been involved with police officer involved shootings at higher rates than other large cities around the country. Further investigation into why this is and how the department could make changes to remedy this have been talked about, but not yet completed.


 * In December of 2014, a Phoenix Police Officer, Mark Rine, shot twice and killed Rumain Brisbon in a parking garage while he was trying to go pick up food for his family. Rumain was unarmed and witnesses explained that the officer had not stated any reason as to why he stopped Brisbon in the first place. The two men started into a physical altercation, and the officer's stated reason for shooting Brisbon was that he felt a weapon tucked in his waistband. However, Brisbon was unarmed and the City of Phoenix ended up settling with Brison's family for $1.5 million dollars in 2017. Brisbon had a young daughter at the time of his death.
 * In 2018, the Phoenix Police Department reported 44 police officer involved shootings, a number higher than the LAPD and NYPD. While only 23 of these were fatal gun shots, this number was higher than any past year for the department, which released a report with this information in 2018. Additional information from the report details that black and Native American people made up a disproportionate number of the people shot by Phoenix Police Department in 2018. In March of 2018, Arizona police officers were involved with 17 shootings state wide.
 * On May 27th, 2019, Dravon Ames was dragged out his car, verbally harassed and beaten up by a police officer who accused Ames of stealing a toy from a nearby store. In the car at the time were Ames pregnant partner, Iesha Harper, who was threatened by the officer at the scene, and their two young children. It is believed that one of the children may have accidentally taken the toy from the store and that neither Ames nor Harper knew that of the theft. The officer involved was fired, but the family filed a $10 million claim against the Phoenix Police Department for violating their civil rights. Video footage of this arrest and treatment of Dravon and his family made national news, starting protests and conversations around the Valley.
 * In May of 2019, Hector Lopez was shot and killed by Phoenix Police Officers Nick Calandra and Chad Canedy. The officers received a call regarding a complaint of trespassing early in the morning, and while exact details of the incident are unclear, police say they shot Lopez when he reached to pick up a fallen weapon from outside his vehicle, a story. The death of Lopez led to protests in the city of Phoenix and calls to address police brutality within the department. Lopez' family told authorities that Lopez was disabled, nonviolent, and did not deserve to die. While there is no video footage of this particular incident, Hector Lopez' family points to the footage of Phoenix PD's treatment of Dravon Ames and his family as evidence of the lack of respect with which these officers are treating residents of the Valley.
 * On May 21st, 2020, Ryan Whitaker was shot and killed by a Phoenix police officer Jeff Cooke when he answered his apartment door armed with a weapon. Whitaker was not using the gun in a threatening way, but was armed while officers were responding to a noise complaint at the complex. While the officer who killed Whitaker was eventually fired from the department, no charges were filed against him. This event stirred protest throughout Phoenix by those who felt that losing employment was not enough of a penalty for taking someone's life.
 * On May 25th, 2020, Dion Johnson was shot and killed by an Arizona Department of Public Safety Trooper, George Cervantes, in an incident that made national news. The Phoenix area overall received a strong push for change after the killing of Dion, who died at the age of 28 years old.
 * On July 4th, 2020, James Garcia was shot inside his parked car at a friend's house in Phoenix. While officers claimed that Garcia refused to put a weapon down that was aimed at them, body camera footage released later showed the officer reach in and take the weapon out for Garcia. IT was also later admitted by officers that Garcia in no way matched the description of the person that they were searching for at the time of the shooting. Protesters showed up in large numbers after the release of information regarding Garcia's death, and the incident underwent a long and thorough investigation. Chief Jeri Williams was pressured to respond and act to the indecent as it came during the Black Lives Matter protests already ongoing throughout the country. Garcia's family filed a claim against the city for $10 million.
 * In January of 2021, the Phoenix Police Department announced its total officer involved shootings at 25 shootings at least throughout 2020. This is significantly less than the numbers from 2018, but still high on average for the state or compared to other states. It is also considerably higher than the numbers from 2019, which had dropped from 2018.