Attachment A - Council Memo re Reforms.pdf

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To: 
The City Council 
From: 
Mayor Kate Gallego 
Councilmember Kevin Robinson, Chair, Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee 
Councilmember Kesha Hodge Washington 
Date: 
September 19, 2024 
Re: 
Continued Public Safety Reforms 
We are committed to ensuring that Phoenix has the most professional, highly regarded 
public safety agencies in the nation.   Achieving that goal is an ongoing process and demands 
continued attention from the City’s elected leadership.  With the guidance of the City Council, 
Phoenix has made significant strides to improve public safety policies over the last several years, 
from revamping the Fire Department’s Community Assistance Program in 2021 to the recent update 
of the Police Department’s Use of Force Policy, which goes into effect early next year. 
The U.S. Department of Justice’s findings report released this summer highlighted 
meaningful opportunities for improvement and made worthy recommendations.  Several of its 
recommendations are consistent with those of the City Council-created Office of Accountability and 
Transparency, which began to issue its own reports and recommendations earlier this year.   
Our commitment to constitutional policing means we must improve the tools to self-assess 
and self-correct and put in place measures that are pivotal for high performing government 
agencies: thorough data collection and meaningful analysis of that data; enhanced levels of 
transparency; exacting reviews of performance and accountability; and to embrace a culture of 
continuous improvement. 
We accordingly ask the full City Council to provide the following direction to staff, which 
aim to enhance—not replace—the current staff recommendations: 
I.
Thoroughly Document Police Activity
•
The Police Department shall more effectively collect data on all stops, searches, arrests and
uses of force to include—at a minimum—the involved citizen’s age, race, gender and
housing status.
•
The Police Department’s Performance Compliance Team shall regularly audit a sample of
police reports to ensure that officers are correctly applying the Fourth Amendment,
including providing sufficient basis for reasonable suspicion in making stops and probable
cause for searches.  Audits shall be used as a tool for identifying training deficiencies and
opportunities.  Findings shall be shared with the City Council and the Civilian Review
Board on no less than an annual basis.
Attachment A

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II. 
Improving the Police Department’s Investigative and Evaluative Process 
 
• The Police Department shall create a new Inspections Sergeant position in all precincts and 
other bureaus who report directly to the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB).  Any 
misconduct that appears could rise to the level of a written reprimand shall be investigated 
by the Inspections Sergeant, which will allow Patrol Sergeants to remain on the streets 
supervising their direct-report officers.  Misconduct that appears may rise to the level of 
suspension, demotion, termination shall be investigated by PSB investigators. 
 
• The PSB manual, which is currently undergoing extensive revisions, shall provide clear 
standards for the thoroughness of investigative reports.  The manual shall also set clear 
standards for reviewing all relevant evidence available in an investigation.  
 
• When conducting investigations, PSB shall review all aspects of the incident—including 
those beyond the scope of the initial complaint—for compliance with Police Department 
policies and training, as well as applicable laws. 
 
• PSB use of force investigations must fully explore whether an officer(s) effectively 
considered de-escalation strategies and tactics during the incident in question.  PSB shall 
further explore and document how an officers perceive their actions and decision-making 
within the framework of policies and training, as well as applicable laws. 
 
• The Police Department shall provide or procure regular and ongoing training for all PSB 
investigators.   
 
• The Police Department’s investigative bodies (such as PSB and the Critical Incident Review 
Board) may not provide mere conclusory declarations such as “sustained,” “unfounded,” 
“unresolved,” “exonerated,” “within policy” or “out of policy.”  The Department shall, in all 
circumstances, provide a thorough and complete analysis and rationale for all investigative 
findings and conclusions.  PSB investigations shall further categorize the totality of the 
officer’s actions as Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 (as defined by Police Department Operations 
Order 3.18) and shall identify opportunities for improvement, if any, during the incident. 
 
• PSB shall set and publish clear deadlines for completing investigative reports.  If a report is 
completed beyond the deadline, the reasons for delay shall be articulated at the end of the 
report.

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III. 
Fully Considering and Analyzing Citizen-Initiated Complaints 
 
• PSB shall collect and record data for all citizen complaints, including the nature of the 
complaint and precinct and officer(s) involved.  The Department shall regularly review the 
data and its trends to determine whether additional training may be necessary throughout a 
particular precinct or the Department, and provide the data (not including personal 
identifying information) and its analysis of the data to the City Council and the Civilian 
Review Board on no less than an annual basis. 
 
• PSB shall provide a written response to the citizen complainant explaining the 
investigation’s findings.  
 
• The City shall create a dedicated hotline for citizens to report potential officer misconduct to 
PSB. 
 
IV. 
Adopting the Highest Standards of Professional Accountability  
 
• The Department shall adopt clear standards and accountability measures for PSB 
investigators, supervisors and commanders to ensure that all potential law and policy 
violations are fully investigated, and—if required—referred to the Critical Incident Review 
Board. 
 
• PSB shall establish a clear policy for forwarding Brady materials as timely as possible to the 
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and other relevant outside agencies. 
 
• When making deviations of discipline from the Disciplinary Review Board, the Police Chief 
shall fully explain the rationale for doing so and explain why the deviation is in the best 
interest of the Department and the community.  The City Manager must approve all 
recommendations for downward deviations of discipline.  In a manner that protects the 
confidentiality of individuals under review, the City Council shall receive an annual report 
regarding the recommendations of the Disciplinary Review Board. 
 
• The Disciplinary Review Board shall add one additional citizen to its membership, for a 
total of three citizens. 
  
V. 
Expanding the Use of Body-Worn Cameras  
 
• The Police Department shall develop and implement a policy for Special Assignments Unit 
officers to use body-worn cameras when engaging with the public and adopt policies 
regarding the disclosure of the unit’s footage in accordance with state public records laws.

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VI. 
Fully Staff the City’s Dispatcher Team 
 
• Continue efforts to prioritize staffing levels for 911 and Radio Dispatchers (including 
evaluating additional increases in pay) to alleviate the current high vacancy rate.  Staffing at 
full levels will create the coverage necessary to improve training opportunities for all 
dispatchers.  
 
• The Fire Department’s Community Assistance Program shall have 24/7 dispatch coverage 
by the end of the first quarter 2025. 
 
VII. 
Update Policies for Appropriately Interacting with Young and Vulnerable Populations 
 
• The Police Department shall create policies with community input regarding interactions 
with young and vulnerable populations including the unsheltered community and those with 
behavioral health challenges that include special considerations for consensual contacts, use 
of force, interviews, and interrogations. 
 
• The Police Department shall provide training to its officers on how to best utilize crisis 
intervention resources (such as the Crisis Intervention Team) as well as services provided by 
the Community Assistance Program and the Office of Homeless Solutions. 
 
• The Police Department shall adopt policies that allow the Crisis Intervention Team to 
prioritize urgent or time-sensitive matters over duties that are not core to the CIT mission. 
 
VIII. 
Other Ongoing Efforts 
 
• The Police Department shall continually survey the best practices of similarly-situation law 
enforcement agencies throughout the nation and update its own policies and training to 
ensure that Phoenix is employing nationally-recognized best practices. 
 
• The Police Department shall enhance customer service training for officers and staff who 
engage with members of the public. 
 
• Professional staff shall update the City Council and the Civilian Review Board on the Police 
Department’s compliance with recommendations by the Office of Accountability and 
Transparency every six months. 
 
• Professional staff shall update the City Council and the Civilian Review Board of its 
progress on the aforementioned public safety reforms in writing every three months over the 
next three years.