UPDATED

Justice Dept. Scathing Report: Native Americans Face Discrimination by Phoenix Police

In a report released on Thursday by the U.S. Dept of Justice, the Phoenix Police Department use discriminatory practices against Native Americans in Phoenix. (Photo/Phoenix Police Department)

BY LEVI RICKERT 

 

JUNE 14, 2024

NATIVE NEWS

In a 126-page scathing report released on Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Phoenix Police Department (PhxPD) was found to discriminate against Native Americans, Blacks, and Hispanics, unlawfully detain homeless people and use excessive force, including unjustified deadly force.

The investigation of the police force in the country’s fifth-largest city began on August 5, 2021.

The findings of the report were announced by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who oversees the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

“The findings that we have issued are severe,” Clarke said, adding, “This is one instance where we can’t count on the police to police themselves.”\

The American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) population of Phoenix is just over 39,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In the DOJ report, the AI/AN population was referred to as the Native American population.

In its executive summary, the Justice Department’s report finds that:

• PhxPD uses excessive force, including unjustified deadly force and other types of force.
• PhxPD and the City unlawfully detain, cite, and arrest people experiencing homelessness and unlawfully dispose of their belongings. This is the first time the Department has found a pattern or practice of conduct that focuses on the rights of people experiencing homelessness.
• PhxPD discriminates against Black, Hispanic, and Native American people when enforcing the law.
• PhxPD violates the rights of people engaged in protected speech and expression.
• PhxPD and the City discriminate against people with behavioral health disabilities when dispatching calls for assistance and responding to people in crisis.

Native American Issues

For much of the report, Native Americans are often included in references to Blacks and Hispanics; however, Native Americans were singled out numerous times when addressing specific offenses. The Native community members faced higher incidences of being stopped by the police, given citations, and arrested.

• Native Americans in Phoenix were 44 times more likely than white people to be cited or arrested for possessing or consuming alcohol. For Blacks, the rate was five times more likely than white people for alcohol-related offenses.
• ​​Native American people are cited almost six times more often than white people for crossing a street against a “Don’t Walk” signal. 
• On a per capita basis, Native American people in Phoenix were 26 times more likely than white people to be cited or arrested for remaining at a bus stop for over one hour in an eight-hour period, though Native American people make up only approximately 7% of the local homeless population while white people make up 68%. 
• PhxPD officers were 14.5% more likely to book Native Americans for trespass-related offenses, while they cited or released white people stopped for the same violation.

The report cites that the PhxPD seems to be oblivious to the problem. The report states: 

“Earlier this year, PhxPD claimed that the department was ‘unaware of any credible evidence of discriminatory policing.This statement is troubling in light of the stark disparities described above. But it is also unsurprising—we saw no evidence PhxPD engages in self-assessment to identify potentially discriminatory policing patterns. However, community groups have raised concerns about PhxPD’s relationship with communities of color. For years, Black and brown communities in Phoenix have had a strained relationship with PhxPD.”

After Thursday’s release of the report, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a statement that city officials would meet on June 25 to seek legal advice and discuss the next steps.

The report states that the PhxPD maintains inadequate internal controls, including through data review or misconduct investigations that would identify discriminatory policing. The report says PhxPD’s data collection practices have been deficient; the agency did not require all officers to document police stops that did not result in citations or arrests until after we opened our investigation

"I will carefully and thoroughly review the findings before making further comment, "Gallego said.

Victims cited in DOJ report on Phoenix police brutality call on city to implement mandated reforms
Terry Tang
Fri, June 14, 2024 





PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix residents who have spoken out against police brutality hailed on Friday a scathing U.S. Justice Department report outlining a pattern of excessive force and racial discrimination, saying it lays blame not just at the feet of law enforcement but the leaders of the nation’s fifth-largest city.

Jarrett Maupin, a Phoenix-based activist known for working with victims of police violence, said the city owes the impacted families an apology and financial compensation.

“The city owes these families an apology. And more than that, they owe them, literally and figuratively, millions of dollars because of the injuries sustained, the deaths they’ve sustained, the losses they’ve sustained,” Maupin said.

The sweeping civil rights investigation found “overwhelming statistical evidence” that Phoenix police discriminate against Black, Hispanic and Native American people, as well as unlawfully detain homeless people and use excessive force. The report says investigators found stark contrasts in how officers enforce certain — especially low-level — crimes depending on a person's race and that officers tended to fire their weapons unnecessarily or “unreasonably delay” aid to those they injured.

Dravon Ames, who received a payout from the city after officers pointed their guns at him and his pregnant fiancée in 2019, told reporters Friday that he finally felt like his voice was being heard. At the time police cited having shoplifting suspicion, but no one was ever charged. The couple says that, unbeknownst to them, their young daughter had taken a doll from a store. He hopes the city of Phoenix will go along with federal court-ordered reforms.

“I think if they sign a decree and get monitoring and get on the right path, there will be a change to happen,” Ames said. “That’s the whole point of their findings. They (the DOJ) have let them know there’s a problem, you know, and it’s 126 pages of problems.”

Ben Crump, the Florida-based attorney who has become the voice for Black people killed at the hands of police and vigilantes, represents the family of Akeem Terrell, a man who died in a jail in Phoenix in 2021. He said he hopes the report's recommendations will mean improving the policing culture.

“While we are still fighting for justice for Akeem, we continue to also fight for those who are still here with us. There shouldn’t be another Akeem Terrell," Crump said in a statement. "It is critical that police departments follow guidance like that of the DOJ to better protect our communities.”

The report does not mention whether the federal government is pursuing a court-enforced reform plan known as a consent decree, but a Justice Department official told reporters that in similar cases that method has been used to carry out reforms. Litigation is an option if the Department is unable to obtain a consent decree.

Interim Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan said in a statement that the force needs time to thoroughly review the findings, and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a statement that city officials would meet June 25 to get legal advice and discuss next steps.

Meanwhile, Darrell Kriplean, president of a local police union, called the Justice Department investigation a “farce” and said it is “only interested in removing control of local police from the communities.”

Phoenix is the fifth-largest city in the country. Similar DOJ investigations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Baltimore and elsewhere have found systemic problems related to excessive force and civil rights violations, some resulting in costly consent decrees that have lasted years.

Maupin believes calling for police accountability, even if it means prosecuting officers, is not anti-police.

“Let me say this clearly, we’re not anti-police,” Maupin said, with some supporters nodding in agreement. “We’re not standing here saying ‘defund the police’ and all that. We want a police department that knows how to be police, protect and serve.”

He also warned that inaction by local Democratic politicians like Mayor Kate Gallego could drive Black voters away.

“I suggest that we think long and hard before we vote for anybody on that city council and including the mayor, who is up for election,” Maupin said. “And I think we vote long and hard about what’s in our best interest.”

Sandra Slaton, a civil rights attorney representing several people in lawsuits against the city over excessive force, acknowledged the Biden administration deserved some credit for the Justice Department following through with the report.

“I am convinced there isn’t any doubt in anybody’s mind that this would not be happening under a Trump Justice Department,” Slaton said.

Terry Tang, The Associated Press

US finds Phoenix Police Dept violates civil rights of city residents