PSJ Subcommittee Minutes 09.03.2025_09.24.2025 FINAL DRAFT.pdf

Attachment A 
 
Phoenix City Council 
Public Safety and Justice (PSJ) Subcommittee 
Summary Minutes 
Wednesday, September 3, 2025 
City Council Chambers 
200 W. Jefferson St. 
Phoenix, Ariz. 
Subcommittee Members Present                    Subcommittee Members Absent         
Councilman Kevin Robinson, Chair 
Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien 
Councilwoman Betty Guardado 
Councilman Jim Waring 
 
CALL TO ORDER 
Chairman Robinson called the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee (PSJ) to order 
at 10:01 a.m. with Chairman Kevin Robinson, Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien, Councilwoman 
Betty Guardado, and Councilman Jim Waring present.  
 
CALL TO THE PUBLIC 
None. 
MINUTES OF MEETINGS 
1. Minutes of the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee Meeting 
Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 4, 2025, 
Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee meeting. Councilman Waring seconded the 
motion which passed unanimously, 4-0. 
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION (ITEM 2) 
2. Proposed Chapter 11 Amendments 
Executive Assistant Fire Chief Tim Kreis and Emergency Management Coordinator 
Rudy Perez presented on this item. 
Chief Kreis spoke about Chapter 11 updates. He noted that Chapter 11 focused on 
emergency management, outlining the powers and duties of the Mayor, City Council 
and City Manager would not change. He emphasized the language updates were 
primarily clarifying in nature.

Mr.  Perez provided an overview of the update to the Emergency Operations Plan, last 
updated in 2018. Mr. Perez shared that six review workshops of the Emergency 
Operations Plan were conducted, with a focus on the whole community. 
Councilwoman Guardado thanked the presenters and departments for their work 
keeping the City safe. 
Chairman Robinson thanked the Fire department and Office of Emergency 
Management for the outreach they have done and for the presentation. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien made a motion to approve the item. Councilwoman Guardado 
seconded the motion which passed unanimously, 4-0. 
INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION (ITEMS 3-5)  
3. Community Safety Plan Update 
Special Projects Administrator Nickolas Valenzuela and Assistant Police Chief Sean 
Kennedy presented this item. 
Mr. Valenzuela provided an overview of the goals, outcomes, and areas of assessment 
for the Perceptions of Safety study, as well as community committee feedback and next 
steps. 
Mr. Valenzuela presented an incident analysis for various areas and reported on 
reductions in overall crime throughout the City and in the community safety plan areas. 
Mr. Valenzuela spoke about community concerns including repeat offenders and slow 
response time for the non-emergency line, Crime Stop. Mr. Valenzuela highlighted that 
there will be a new triage system soon. 
Mr. Valenzuela spoke about how Arizona State University (ASU) was a part of 
facilitating the Community Safety Plan (CSP) and Perceptions of Safety survey and 
shared a number of ASU’s recommendations for the City to improve safety. Mr. 
Valenzuela noted this included engaging community stakeholders routinely, developing 
a flexible structure, periodic monitoring of conditions post public safety intervention, 
expansion of the Real-Time Operations Centers (RTOC) to identify emergency trends in 
crime, enhancing promotion of crime prevention through design, and promoting the core 
principle that public safety is a shared responsibility. 
Mr. Valenzuela highlighted the significant progress made and noted that serious issues 
remain despite reductions in violent and property crimes. Mr. Valenzuela shared next 
steps included quarterly meetings for a number of communities in the City, additional 
CSPs, as well as exploring Real Time Operation Center (RTOC) expansion to 24/7 
operation.

Jeff Spellman thanked the City for work on the CSP. Mr. Spellman questioned whether 
crime was trending down in the area as presented by staff, or if residents have stopped 
calling. He mentioned long wait times for Crime Stop. 
William Brashears shared his concern that the exploration of the deeper causes of 
crimes was not a part of the study. Mr. Brashears mentioned that various factors may 
be missing from the percentages and the statistics presented by staff. 
AJ Marsden expressed support for safety corridors. Ms. Marsden expressed a worry 
that not all activity is documented due to factors such as long call waiting times. Ms. 
Marsden emphasized the importance of continued collaboration to reach sustainable 
solutions for safety.  
Councilwoman Guardado commented that getting RTOC operational was a challenge 
and thanked staff and others involved for the work done. 
Councilwoman Guardado asked where incident data, or reports, came from. 
Mr. Valenzuela responded that Arizona State University analyzed incident reports to 
calculate some of the numbers shared by staff in the presentation. 
Councilwoman Guardado encouraged City residents to continue making calls to report 
crimes. Councilwoman Guardado asked how some of ASU’s recommendations would 
be implemented and what community engagement already exists.  
Mr. Valenzuela confirmed that the study highlighted the City’s successful engagement 
with the community on the CSP. 
Councilwoman Guardado asked how the City will develop a flexible structure with 
CSPs. 
Mr. Valenzuela shared that funding has not been confirmed for additional CSPs for 
other areas in the City but mentioned that the current areas may receive a half-mile 
expansion.  
Councilwoman Guardado commented that more funding is needed to expand RTOCs. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien asked where data for graffiti came from the survey. 
Mr. Valenzuela confirmed that the data was related to the Perceptions of Safety survey. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien asked for clarification on numbers regarding homelessness. 
Mr. Valenzuela noted that the numbers ASU reported indicated a minor decrease from 
one year to the next.

Vice Mayor O’Brien commented on the importance of tracking the number of Crime 
Stop and 9-1-1 calls dropped and how RTOCs are helping officers do their work and 
solve crimes. She recommended the City strengthen a partnership with Arizona 
Department of Transportation (ADOT) and continue to use technology to address 
issues. 
Councilman Waring commented that the City needs more police officers to address 
issues. Councilman Waring expressed concern of the number of visits from staff to offer 
services for people who refuse services and shared that he believes it was not an 
efficient use of resources and unacceptable when local businesses are negatively 
impacted. 
Chairman Robinson commented that an expansion of RTOCs would be helpful and 
shared a concern about dropped 9-1-1 calls.  
4. Police Department Overtime Overview 
Police Assistant Director Jody Wolf and Deputy Budget Director Aaron Mertz presented 
this item. 
Police Assistant Director Jody Wolf shared that challenges around recruitment, 
retention, and managing overtime (OT) while meeting service demands are not unique 
to Phoenix and are consistent across other cities. Assistant Director Wolf spoke about 
two main categories for OT, mandatory which represents 81 percent of all OT, and 
discretionary, which represents 19 percent of all OT. She noted the largest category of 
overtime between the two was related to minimum staffing.  
Assistant Director Wolf mentioned policy revisions, including limiting work hours in a 24-
hour period and requiring at least one day off each week. She also noted additional 
policy revisions including requiring documentation and supervisory review of overtime, 
timely submissions for overtime requests, and executive level approvals for exceptions 
to policy. 
Assistant Director Wolf highlighted the Police Department’s continued engagement with 
the City Auditor’s Office. She shared that the department will replace the 20-year-old 
system Leave and Overtime Management System (LOTS) for overtime management, 
which would allow the department to be proactive with overtime management. Assistant 
Director Wolf commented that consistency with application of overtime policy across 
supervisors is critical. 
Deputy Director Mertz spoke about the financial implications of overtime, including: 
having to absorb the cost burden in the General Fund for the  Public Safety Specialty 
Fund (PSSFs), increased overtime costs, and increased costs of fringe benefits. He 
highlighted the relationship between overtime use and filled position count, noting that 
staffing shortages typically lead to overtime needs.

Deputy Director Mertz shared that there were many factors leading to increased costs in 
overtime, including the Classification and Compensation Study, department 
enhancements, additional contract equipment costs, and other personnel services. 
Deputy Director Mertz explained why vacancy savings from unfilled positions would not 
fully cover the costs of overtime, noting the budget additions and Public Safety Specialty 
Fund Transfers partially balance out these expected savings from position vacancies. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien asked for an explanation of the Public Safety Specialty Funds 
(PSSF) and for an explanation of why funds are transferred from one location to 
another. 
Deputy Director Mertz explained that these specialty funds are voter approved and 
separate from General Funds. He noted these funds are earmarked for certain 
positions. Deputy Director Mertz explained these funds would not cover the full amount 
needed for the positions and the positions outlined would require subsidization from the 
General Fund. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien sought further clarification of the specialty fund and asked if it was a 
voter approved tax meant to pay for a certain number of positions, and whether the 
language for the tax failed to account for increases in cost to support those positions, 
necessitating the use of General funds to fill the gap in expenses. 
Deputy Director Mertz confirmed this was the case and shared that the increasing 
personnel and pensions costs were the main drivers leading to the need for additional 
subsidy from General funds for PSSF-funded positions. 
Chairman Robinson asked whether the number of officers includes recruits. 
Deputy Director Mertz confirmed that the number of sworn filled included recruits. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien asked for the number of recruits in the training academy. 
Assistant City Manager Lori Bays answered that there were 101 recruits in the 
academy. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien asked when the new time and labor system would be implemented. 
Assistant Director Wolf shared the procurement for the new system was in progress and 
would be implemented soon.  
Vice Mayor O’Brien asked how overtime was being forecasted for the future, especially 
when special dignitaries visit. 
Deputy Director Wolf answered that an understanding of current staffing levels and 
utilizing a data driven model to estimate the resources needed to address the calls for 
service was used for forecasting. She shared that for visiting dignitaries and large

events, the City reviews similar events in the past and election cycles to understand 
how to best prepare. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien asked for clarification on the other category for overtime. 
Deputy Director Wolf provided an example of what could be considered to fall under the 
other category for overtime, such as supporting special activities or events, which 
doesn’t fall into one of the other subcategories. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien commented that there should be further delineation between the 
subcategories for overtime so that the ‘other’ subcategory for overtime is only selected 
rarely. 
Ms. Wolf explained that there were index codes that go into further detail for 
categorizing overtime. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien requested further detail into the overtime categories to be shared 
with the subcommittee. 
Chairman Robinson thanked the departments for their work. He shared his thoughts 
that supervisory accountability and oversight for the amount of overtime being used is 
critical, especially considering the tight budget.  
5. Phoenix Police Department Recruitment, Hiring and Attrition Update 
Commander Will Jou and Commander Leif Myers presented this item. 
Commander Jou shared in June 2024, the department began talking with applicants 
and worked with the Human Resources (HR) Department to streamline improvement on 
the application to become a Police Officer with the City. Commander Jou presented on 
the City’s police demographics and how City police office demographics closely mirror 
the community. 
Commander Myers presented on Academy Field Training Staffing, sharing numbers on 
applications and recruits for the year versus the past calendar year 2024.Commander 
Myers shared that current trends included greater retention rates compared to previous 
years. 
Councilman Waring asked staff to share what is being done to retain police officer 
recruits. 
Chairman Robinson asked whether the 30percent of recruits that separate are all the 
way through the field training process or have graduated. 
Commander Myers shared that the number includes those within the academy and 
within their first year.

Chairman Robinson recognized sometimes recruits don’t know whether the job is right 
for them until they experience certain aspects of the job. 
Councilman Waring suggested if some recruits can’t handle certain aspects of the job, 
perhaps their skills can be used for other tasks that they are comfortable with. 
Commander Myers commented that exit interviews have improved since 2024 to 
capture the reasons for separation.  
Assistant City Manager Bays shared the amount of attrition is comparable to other 
cities, and that Phoenix is working to reduce attrition. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien recommended that cadets get more exposure to the job through 
ride-alongs and asked for clarification of whether report writing was a concern.  
Commander Leif Myers confirmed that pre-hires are being encouraged to participate in 
ride-alongs and that cadets receive writing training to help mitigate concerns with report 
writing.  
Vice Mayor O’Brien asked when this practice was started. 
Commander Myers shared it was started two months ago. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien suggested the use of artificial intelligence to help with report writing. 
She also asked whether mental health support services and coaching are still available 
for officers. 
Commander Myers confirmed that mental health resources are still offered. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien expressed concern about retention of officers that have been a part 
of the Police Department for a number of years and requested more information on this 
in future reports. 
Chairman Robinson asked whether staffing shortages have impacted the number of 
applications processed. 
Commander Jou confirmed this was a challenge. 
Chairman Robinson emphasized the importance of getting back to applicants in a timely 
manner to recruit them and asked whether the breakdown of recruits by demographics 
was being compared against Maricopa County workforce or population data. 
Commander Jou answered it is census data for the total population in Maricopa County. 
Chairman Robinson commented that retention rates have improved.

Councilman Waring asked how the number representing the shortage of officers is 
calculated. 
Assistant City Manager Bays responded that the target is 3,125 positions. 
Councilman Waring mentioned that the target number of 3,125 officers is unrealistic 
because that number is likely not enough when looking at per capita needs for the City 
with increased population. Councilman Waring suggested that the City calculate a new 
target number based on national standards. 
INFORMATION ONLY (ITEMS 6-7) 
6. Community Assistance Program (CAP) Expansion Implementation Report 
Information only. No Councilmember requested additional information. 
7. Phoenix Fire Department Staffing and Response Time Update 
Information only. No Councilmember requested additional information. 
 
CALL TO THE PUBLIC  
None. 
 
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 
None. 
 
ADJOURNMENT 
Chairman Robinson adjourned the meeting at 12:14 p.m. 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
Cecilia Alcantar 
Management Fellow