Attachment A Final Draft May 2025 PSJ Minutes.pdf

Attachment A 
 
Phoenix City Council 
Public Safety and Justice (PSJ) Subcommittee 
Summary Minutes 
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 
City Council Chambers 
200 W. Jefferson Street 
Phoenix, AZ 
Subcommittee Members Present                    Subcommittee Members Absent         
Councilman Kevin Robinson, Chair                 Councilwoman Betty Guardado 
Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien 
Councilman Jim Waring 
 
 
         
 
CALL TO ORDER 
Chairman Robinson called the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee (PSJ) to order 
at 10:32 a.m. with Councilman Waring present. Vice Mayor O’Brien attended virtually.    
CALL TO THE PUBLIC  
Orla Bobo advocated for additional funding towards the Phoenix Fire Department and 
Police Department.  
MINUTES OF MEETINGS 
1. Minutes of the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee Meeting 
Councilman Waring made a motion to approve the minutes of the April 2, 2025, Public 
Safety and Justice Subcommittee meeting. Vice Mayor O’Brien seconded the motion 
which passed unanimously, 3-0. 
INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION 
2. Reappointment of Phoenix Municipal Court Judge and Chief Presiding Judge 
Councilman Waring made a motion to recommend reappointment of Phoenix Municipal 
Court Judge Alex Navidad for a four-year term. Vice Mayor O’Brien seconded the 
motion which passed unanimously, 3-0.  
Councilman Waring made a motion to recommend reappointment of Phoenix Municipal 
Court Chief Presiding Judge B. Don Taylor III for an annual term. Vice Mayor O’Brien 
seconded the motion which passed unanimously, 3-0. 
3. Approval of the Neighborhood Block Watch Oversight Committee’s 
Recommendations for the 2025 Grant Program Awards                                 
Assistant Police Chief Jeff Benza, Neighborhood Services Director Spencer Self, and 
Assistant Human Services Director Nichole Ayoola presented on this item.

Assistant Chief Benza provided an overview of the Block Watch Program, noting 
Phoenix voters approved the Neighborhood Protection Ordinance in October 1993. 
During that time, the Neighborhood Block Watch Grant Program (NBWGP) Oversight 
Committee was established to solicit, evaluate, and recommend grant proposals for 
funding to the Mayor and City Council. In April 1994, the City Council adopted the 
format and guidelines for this process. The membership of the Oversight Committee 
can consist of at least 10 members but no more than 20 and currently holds the 
following composition: two Phoenix residents recommended by each member of the 
City Council, the President of the Phoenix Block Watch Advisory Board or their 
designee, and the Police Chief or their designee. Chief Benza stated the goal of the 
Block Watch Grants is to enhance safety and quality of life through the empowerment of 
community groups, as well as provide resources to create new and innovative programs 
and activities to prevent and reduce crime. 
Moreover, Chief Benza stated program eligibility requires the applicant be a 
neighborhood block watch group or neighborhood organization. Additionally, 
homeowner associations, educational or faith-based organizations, and City 
Departments may apply as a co-applicant group. Further, Chief Benza stated the 2025 
Grant Application Process was open from November 1, 2024 to December 5, 2024. The 
scoring criteria consists of crime prevention/quality of life factors (50 percent), budget 
evaluation (20 percent), community involvement (20 percent), and project 
viability/feasibility/ability to complete the project (10 percent). The minimum score 
required to be considered for funding should total at least 5.25 out of 10. There was a 
total of 177 applications received and 171 were recommended for funding. He noted the 
Oversight Committee voted to request an increase in funding for the NBWGP from 
$2,000,000 to $2,154,711 annually.  
Councilman Waring asked if training or advice is provided for those who applications did 
not meet the scoring criteria.  
Chief Benza confirmed a grant coordinator assists those groups require additional 
guidance.  
Mr. Self provided an update on the Gated Alley Program, noting that the City Council 
allocated $3 million in Block Watch Funds to support the program over a two-year 
period. As of May 7, 2025, a total of 166 alley segments have either been gated or are 
currently in progress, with an additional 48 new requests submitted. He anticipates that 
the full $3 million will be allocated by August 2025. Mr. Self highlighted the program’s 
significant impact, including an increase in monthly gated alley requests from 15 to 25, a 
15 percent reduction in overall calls for service, and an 11.4 percent decrease in violent 
calls. Notably, the 1,000th gate was installed in March. 
Mr. Self requested $2.25 million of the NBWGF annually contingent on fund availability 
which would allow approximately 200 alley segments to be gated each year. He added

this would help meet growing demand, enhance public safety, and reduce calls for 
service.  
Ms. Ayoola presented on the proposed Youth Prevention Pilot Program. According to 
the 2023 American Community Survey, youth aged 5 to 19 make up 24.1 percent of the 
City of Phoenix's population, totaling 391,964 individuals. She added according to the 
Phoenix Police Department Crime Reduction Plan issued in 2024, there was a total of 
985 arrests in 2023 which included aggravated assault, weapons, robbery. The offenses 
impacted the neighborhoods of Maryvale, South Phoenix Alhambra, and Central City. 
Ms. Ayoola provided various reasons for why prevention is important. These include 
reducing crime which in turn make neighborhoods safer, saves law enforcement, 
reduces incarceration and rehabilitation costs, empowers at risk youth with education 
and mentorship, strengthens family and community bonds, and ensures the health and 
prosperity of communities.  
Ms. Ayoola shared the proposed prevention program areas include violence prevention, 
substance abuse prevention, after-school enrichment, mental health services, dropout 
prevention, family support, and youth empowerment. Additionally, the program areas 
can lead to the execution of the program area impact goals: decrease juvenile offenses, 
gang activity, and violent crime, prevent substance abuse related criminal activity, 
diversion through engagement, address untreated mental health issues, reduce chronic 
absenteeism, and keep youth out of the criminal justice system. Lastly, if the funding is 
approved, the next steps will include assessing local needs and identifying the most 
effective programs for implementation in Summer 2025. This will be followed by a 
solicitation for evidence-based program designs in Fall 2025, contracting with 
community-based organizations in January 2026, and evaluating program outcomes in 
January 2027. 
Chief Benza outlined the staff recommendations which includes fully funding 158 
applications and partially funding 13. The recommendations also propose increasing the 
annual budget for the Neighborhood Block Watch Grant Program from $2,000,000 to 
$2,154,711; allocating $2.25 million annually for the Gated Alley Program, contingent 
upon fund availability; and setting aside $500,000 in Block Watch funds for the Youth 
Prevention Program Pilot. 
Apolonia Morales asked for guidance in submitting an application for the NBWGP.  
Councilman Waring made a motion to approve the Neighborhood Block Watch 
Oversight Committee Recommendations for the 2025 Grant Program Awards. Vice 
Mayor O’Brien seconded the motion which passed unanimously, 3-0. 
4. AZ Justice Project   
Arizona Justice Project Executive Director Lindsay Herf and Strategic Litigation Counsel 
Hope Delap presented on this item.

Ms. Herf explained the role of the Arizona Justice Project is a nonprofit organization 
dedicated to exonerating the innocent and correcting cases of manifesting justice. She 
stated the presentation is intended to provide eyewitness identification best practices 
and recommendations and aims to ensure that the collection and preservation of 
eyewitness evidence is as accurate and reliable as possible, while also minimizing the 
risk of misidentification. The recommendations are based on research conducted by 
experts in the field.  
Ms. Delap began by clarifying the distinction between a "culprit," who is the actual 
perpetrator of the crime, and a "suspect," who is the individual under police investigation 
and may or may not be the culprit. She then outlined the first six recommended best 
practices. 
The first recommendation calls for a pre-identification procedure interview. Officers 
should conduct cognitive interviews using open-ended questions and should interview 
the witness as soon as possible after the crime occurs. This allows for timely 
documentation of the suspect’s description and the surrounding environment. At the end 
of the interview, witnesses should be provided with clear direction on the next steps.  
The second recommendation requires that evidence-based suspicion be established 
before including an individual in a lineup. There must be articulable, documented 
grounds suggesting that the individual matches a specific description given by the 
eyewitness, rather than a general one. 
The third recommendation advises that only one suspect be included in each lineup. 
The suspect’s position should vary with each lineup or photo array to avoid any 
unintentional patterns. 
The fourth recommendation concerns the use of lineup fillers. It calls for five non-
suspect individuals to be included in each lineup to prevent the actual suspect from 
standing out. New fillers should be used if the same eyewitness views another lineup 
including the same suspect. 
The fifth recommendation is to implement a double-blind procedure, meaning neither 
the eyewitness nor the lineup administrator knows who the suspect is. If this is not 
feasible, an alternative “blinded” method should be used to ensure the administrator 
cannot see which lineup member is being viewed, thus avoiding any influence on the 
witness’s choice. 
The sixth recommendation states the importance of avoiding pre-lineup instructions that 
could bias the witness. The lineup administrator should not imply that the culprit is 
present or suggest that someone in the lineup has been arrested. Instead, they should 
inform the witness that the suspect may or may not be in the lineup, that it's acceptable 
to respond with “I don’t know,” that their confidence level will be asked, that clearing

innocent individuals is just as important, and that the investigation will continue 
regardless of the identification outcome.  
Ms. Herf continued with the remaining recommendations. 
The seventh recommendation is to immediately obtain and record a confidence 
statement from the eyewitness after an identification decision is made. 
The eighth recommendation warns against showing the same suspect to a witness 
more than once as this can contaminate the witness’s memory and increase the risk of 
misidentification. 
The ninth recommendation advises that witnesses be separated during the process and 
be instructed not to discuss the case with one another. The suspect’s position should 
also vary across different lineups. 
The tenth recommendation calls for video recording the entire identification procedure to 
preserve a clear and complete record of the process and statements made by the 
witness. 
The eleventh recommendation is to avoid “show-up” procedures which is a file or one-
on-one identifications involving the presentation of a single suspect to a witness without 
any fillers. If such procedures must be used, safeguards should be in place to minimize 
risk. 
The twelfth recommendation proposes sequential lineups, where individuals are shown 
one at a time, and simultaneous lineups be used. While the Arizona Justice Project and 
other experts do not take a definitive stance on which method is best, both are 
recognized as valid depending on context. 
Chairman Robinson asked whether any police departments have fully implemented all 
twelve recommendations. 
Ms. Herf stated that based on the Arizona Justice Project’s research and public records 
requests, no agency in the state has yet adopted the full set of recommendations. 
However, several have implemented some of them. 
Chairman Robinson asked if any specific recommendations stand out as particularly 
critical.  
Ms. Herf highlighted the importance of Recommendation 5, emphasizing that double-
blind procedures are essential to preventing unintentional influence. She also stressed 
the value of Recommendation 8, which aims to prevent the overuse of the same 
suspect and the risk of wrongful convictions.

Ms. Delap added that she considers Recommendation 2 especially significant, noting 
that failure to require evidence-based suspicion is now recognized as a major risk factor 
for wrongful convictions. Previously, a major risk was cross-racial misidentification.  
Chairman Robinson asked the presenters to define cross-racial misidentification.  
Professor Laura Smalarz, Associate Professor of Forensic Psychology at Arizona State 
University, explained that this occurs when an eyewitness and the suspect are of 
different races. Research shows that people are generally less accurate when 
identifying individuals of other races compared to their own. 
Professor Smalarz also stated the recommendations are interdependent and most 
effective when implemented together, as they complement each other to form a 
comprehensive framework. 
Chairman Robinson expressed his commitment to ensuring that the Phoenix Police 
Department becomes a model of best practices in law enforcement. He requested that 
staff develop a timeline to assess the department’s current alignment with the 
recommendations. 
Chairman Robinson asked what kind of training will be provided to support the 
implementation of the recommendations. 
Ms. Herf responded that she envisions statewide training programs, followed by 
collaboration with individual agencies to implement the best practices effectively. 
INFORMATION ONLY 
5. Phoenix Police Department Recruitment, Hiring and Attrition Update 
Information only. No councilmember requested additional information. 
Teresa Hill expressed appreciation for the support that has gone into addressing hiring 
and recruitment efforts. She advocated for additional funding towards public safety.  
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 11:22 a.m. 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
Destiny Dominguez 
Management Fellow