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Phoenix City Council remains tight-lipped on police use of force cases

Harry October 28, 2024

Mayor Kate Gallego won’t say much about Phoenix police officers punching and tasering a deaf black man with cerebral palsy. So are most of the other City Council members.

The strongest words Phoenix elected leaders used to characterize the beating were “Disturbing,” “very discouraged” and “deeply concerned.” Most of the comments came in scripted statements made a week after ABC15’s initial report on the use of force began reporting by national news organizations.

But in the four months since the U.S. Department of Justice charged the Phoenix Police Department with routine brutality and discrimination, use-of-force lawsuits have continued and most City Council members refuse to talk about the issue. In the meantime, they remain adamant that the city can reform the Police Department on its own.

This year, Phoenix police shot and killed 10 people. civil servants I reported Approximately 800 uses of force in 2024.

Three recent use-of-force incidents reflect concerns raised about Phoenix police in the Justice Department report; these include discrimination against people of color, high rates of fatal shootings by officers, and aggressive encounters with children.

Phoenix police faced widespread scrutiny this month after it was revealed that officers punched and used a stun gun to shock Tyron McAlpin in late August. Police officers were called to the scene to deal with a white male agitator, but they went after McAlpin after the aggressor accused him of assault and theft, according to police reports.

The situation quickly escalated, including one of the officers calling McAlpin a rude name, according to body camera footage. The incident ended with McAlpin, 34, being charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest. He spent more than three weeks in jail before receiving help from a nonprofit organization to post bail. His charges were dropped in mid-October following public outcry.

On Oct. 20, officers fatally shot a man at a dollar store after he grabbed the officer’s stun gun and pointed it at them, according to Phoenix police.

officers on 19 October shocked the young man with a stun gun After reports he had a gun at the school dance. There were no weapons; Police said a pen and a comb wrapped in cloth were found in his pocket. Phoenix police recommended the teen be charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

With about a week until Election Day, Mayor Kate Gallego declined repeated interview requests from The Arizona Republic and instead issued a written statement.

“I asked the City Manager and Police Department difficult questions (about McAlpin’s arrest) and was disturbed by the answers,” he wrote. However, he refused to provide detailed information. His office ignored many follow-up questions.

Chiefs of staff for Council members Ann O’Brien and Betty Guardado requested written questions but declined to answer them.

A spokesman for Council Member Laura Pastor said she was unavailable. When the Republic offered more time, the spokesman did not respond. Deputy Mayor Debra Stark said she was dealing with a personal family health emergency. Council member Kesha Hodge Washington did not respond.

Some said they did not want to comment because the incidents were under active investigation. But such investigations take months or longer to conclude and often find no wrongdoing.

Phoenix police chiefs determined that 98.7% of use-of-force incidents in 2021 and 99.4% in 2022 complied with department policy, according to the Department of Justice. Each of the more than 6,000 incidents in which an officer pointed a gun at a person was found to be “reasonable and within policy.”

Inspectors also do not interview individuals involved in use-of-force incidents, such as witnesses and bystanders, and sometimes do not review incidents involving them, the Justice Department reported.

In written statements, Gallego, O’Brien and Guardado pointed to police reforms City Council approved in September. The reforms include changes to the department’s internal accountability systems and require more comprehensive and timely investigations that explain the rationale for findings.

For many on the council, the McAlpin incident was a chance to prove the effectiveness of the city’s new reforms.

Gallego wrote that the city’s work “will not be completed” after reviewing what happened to McAlpin.

“Striving to be the best, most professional Police Department is a never-ending task, but I am committed to it,” Gallego said.

But federal investigators said the problems in Phoenix were so “egregious” that court oversight was necessary to protect residents’ constitutional rights. In August, investigators warned that the Justice Department could sue the city if local leaders did not work with them.

Meanwhile, community group leaders said Gallego and the council’s silence speaks volumes.

“Their job is to protect existing power systems. So technically they are doing their job,” said Lola N’sangou, executive director of the criminal justice reform group Mass Liberation Arizona, about Phoenix leaders’ reluctance to criticize police.

Ben Laughlin, spokesman for Poder in Action, a nonprofit organization that aims to “dismantle systems of oppression,” questioned how long the City Council will stand by and watch police kill and harm people.

“The City Council has been really quiet about the changes that need to be made here,” he said.

Council member: Talks of police use of force have shaken municipality’s finances

Three council members who spoke to the Republic — Council members Kevin Robinson, Jim Waring and Carlos Galindo-Elvira — expressed dismay at the way officers used force on McAlpin. But they also said they want to see what the city’s investigation finds.

Robinson said it was “disturbing how quickly things happened.”

Waring said the incident “could have been handled better.”

All three said they would support changing the policy if the Police Department’s investigation found that officers followed protocol. They also agreed that disciplinary measures would be appropriate for officers if the investigation found non-compliance.

But they stopped short of saying the use of force was wrong or saying the city owed McAlpin an apology, citing the open investigation.

“Just watching something in a video may not tell us the whole story. Sometimes there are things that led to it. We need to understand a little more the mindset of the individuals involved and why decisions were made,” he said. Robinson worked for the Phoenix Police Department for more than three decades. “So I’d rather wait a minute.”

Waring said the City Council needs to consider the financial implications.

“We’re also city attorneys, so we’re meeting with lawyers,” said Waring.

He said city leaders generally do not confess to wrongdoing on behalf of city actors because that could lead to demands for larger sums of money.

“It sounds harsh, but part of our role is to limit the amount we pay,” he said. “When that’s not true, it probably makes us look like someone who doesn’t care or isn’t compassionate. … We owe it to other taxpayers not to undermine our own position.”

Police expert: Dollar Tree incident posed risk to officer

31-year-old Essex Jackson was shot and killed by Phoenix officers on Oct. 20. Inside a Dollar Tree in West Phoenix An officer died after gaining control of a stun gun, police said.

Employees called police because Jackson was carrying a large knife, according to police.

After police arrived, Jackson ran into a warehouse and climbed into the freezer. Officers were able to get him down, but when they tried to handcuff him, a struggle ensued that included applying a stun gun to Jackson with “minimal effect,” police said.

Police said Jackson gained control of one of the officer’s stun guns and pointed it at an officer, “resulting in officer-involved shooting.”

Michael Scott, director of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing at Arizona State University, said that because of a report of the man carrying a knife, officers would likely enter the store to consider it a very high-risk situation.

“Ideally, unless there is information that the person is actively stabbing people, the officer will want to stand by as a backup so multiple officers will arrive to make initial contact with the suspect,” Scott said. “Their top priority would be to gain control of that knife and their second would be to take the person into custody and make sure that person is safe before continuing the investigation.”

The ineffectiveness of verbal commands and non-lethal force does not mean officers automatically proceed to lethal force, but every situation is different, Scott said. He said Jackson’s possession of a stun gun in this case created a risk of receiving a firearm from a police officer.

“The key factor here is that if the suspect tries to move the taser away from the officer, and is potentially successful in doing so, the police concern is whether the person will be able to use the taser against the officer,” Scott said. “The officer may be at least temporarily incapacitated, making the officer’s firearm accessible to the suspect.”

Two days after the shooting, people arrived at the bustling Dollar Tree area in West Phoenix to find it was still closed. Jane Almeyda, who lives in the neighborhood, said she normally feels safe coming to the store day or night.

“There are families and kids who come here all the time, so you wouldn’t expect that,” he said.

Almeyda usually stops by on her way home from work to buy household goods and gifts for her grandchildren.

“They have dangerous jobs,” he said of the police after the shooting was reported to him. “If he’s there with a knife, they should stop him. That’s what happens.”

Another Dollar Tree customer, Tracy Alexander, said she saw a lot of police activity in the area.

“There’s so much crime now. It seems like everyone has a knife or a gun,” he said. “I think the police have gotten tough on this.”

But Poder in Action’s Laughlin said repeated exposure to dangerous situations is no excuse.

“We’ve seen this over the years, we’ve heard about it from community members, and it was later reflected in the Department of Justice report: The Phoenix Police Department is not interested in or capable of de-escalating situations,” he said.

Laughlin called the continued deaths at the hands of police “heartbreaking.”

“The city and the Police Department insist that they are a self-evaluating and correcting agency, and as we see with ongoing events, that is simply not the case,” he said.

N’sangou, of Mass Liberation Arizona, compared the situation to students grading themselves.

“Police will never be able to police each other to be less violent,” he said. “Because the institution itself is problematic and harmful, and is designed to do exactly what it does.”

Reporter Richard Ruelas contributed.

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