10-4-23-PSJ Subcommittee Minutes - Final Draft.pdf

Phoenix City Council 
Public Safety and Justice (PSJ) Subcommittee 
Summary Minutes 
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 
City Council Chambers 
200 W. Jefferson St. 
Phoenix, Ariz. 
Subcommittee Members Present                    Subcommittee Members Absent         
Councilwoman Ann O’Brien, Chair 
Councilwoman Betty Guardado 
Councilman Kevin Robinson 
Councilman Jim Waring 
 
CALL TO ORDER 
Chairwoman O’Brien called the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee to order at 
10:01 a.m. with Councilman Jim Waring, Councilwoman Betty Guardado, and 
Councilman Kevin Robinson present.  
CALL TO THE PUBLIC 
None. 
MINUTES OF MEETINGS 
1. Minutes of the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee Meeting 
Councilman Waring made a motion to approve the minutes of the Sept. 5, 2023, Public 
Safety and Justice Subcommittee meeting. Councilwoman Guardado seconded the 
motion which passed unanimously, 4-0. 
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION (ITEM 2)  
 
2. Neighborhood Block Watch Program Update and Request for Appropriation of 
Block Watch Funds 
Chairwoman O’Brien introduced Police Assistant Chief Charmane Osborn, 
Neighborhood Services Department Director Spencer Self, and Street Transportation 
Deputy Director Jesse Duarte to present on this item. 
 
 
Assistant Chief Charmane Osborn provided background on the Block Watch Grant 
Program and the goals of Block Watch Grants. She announced applications will open 
on Nov. 1 with a maximum grant of $15,000. She recalled during the May 10 Public 
Safety and Justice (PSJ) Committee meeting; members requested staff to evaluate how 
to address additional public safety needs through the Block Watch Program and 
included staff recommendations to increase funding to the Gated Alley Program,

increase funding to gate open culverts in washes, and to increase “no trespassing” and 
other relevant signage.  
 
Mr. Self provided background on the Gated Alley Program and a chart illustrating the 
growth in funding. He stated recent funds would support 77 alleys to be gated for this 
fiscal year. He explained staff is asking for more funding for this program due to 
demand from residents and to increase public safety.  
 
Mr. Duarte explained public safety concerns in washes including excess trash, illegal 
dumping, encampments, and occasional fires. He explained staff has identified three 
areas of high concern based on PHX Community Action Response Engagement 
Services (C.A.R.E.S.) cases, and areas include Greenway Wash, Cave Creek Wash, 
and Scattered Wash. He explained results from the pilot program featured a decline in 
calls for service and reduced cleanup costs in the newly gated washes. He also 
explained additional “no trespassing” signs would assist police in enforcing these 
issues.  
 
Assistant Chief Osborn summarized staff’s recommendations and asked the 
Subcommittee to make these recommendations to Council. 
 
Councilman Waring mentioned he is concerned District 2 will not benefit from the Gated 
Alley Program due to the lack of alleys in the district. He requested the program allocate 
an equal amount of money to gating washes and underpasses. He also expressed his 
concern about a previous incident where an individual cut through a City fence via an 
underpass, and stated he hoped staff would build more resilient fences through this 
program.  
 
Chairwoman O’Brien clarified the recommendation is for $1.25 million to be allocated for 
gated washes and $750,000 for gated alleys. 
 
Councilman Waring mentioned he is concerned the funds allocated to District 2 for the 
Gated Alley Program would need to be given to another district with more alleys. He 
stated he hopes if issues come up about washes within District 2, staff will gate the 
wash whether it is on a list of recommended washes to gate or not. 
 
Mr. Duarte listed the washes staff recommended for gating. He stated covers on locks 
have been added to ensure people could not break through fencing around the wash, 
and there have been no further issues. 
 
Councilman Waring named other washes he is concerned about and asked these 
issues to be taken seriously by staff. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien asked staff to ensure concerns with washes in District 2 are 
addressed. She asked if the previously mentioned washes are in District 3.

Mr. Duarte clarified staff is working to identify all washes and culverts in each district.  
 
Assistant City Manager Lori Bays stated the washes being recommended to be gated 
are first priority due to the volume of resident calls, but any additional funding allocated 
for the program can be used to gate other washes. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien clarified the entire $1.25 million will be needed for the 98 gates for 
the three washes previously mentioned. 
 
Councilman Waring reiterated his concern about these issues not being solved in 
District 2 and funds being used in other districts.  
 
Ms. Bays suggested the proposal could be modified to expand the services to include 
additional funding for other washes before taking the proposal to Council for formal 
approval. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien asked what districts these washes were in. 
 
Mr. Duarte responded all are in District 3. He then clarified the Scattered Wash is 
located in District 1 and the Greenway and Cave Creek washes were primarily in District 
3 but included some areas of District 2.  
 
Councilwoman Guardado discussed the positive outcomes of the Gated Alley Program 
in District 5. She thanked residents and staff for working on these issues. She explained 
she would be supportive of expanding the funding for this program to provide more 
opportunities for other districts to benefit from this program.  
 
Chairwoman O’Brien asked if the Subcommittee could make a motion to move forward. 
 
Ms. Bays recommended the Subcommittee make a motion to move forward with 
recommending these programs to Council without a dollar amount pending later 
discussions addressing the concerns of each district. 
 
Councilman Waring asked to know how many calls for service received for specific 
washes in District 2. He stated his concern regarding calls for service in that area going 
unaddressed.  
 
Councilwoman Guardado made a motion to approve the item with no set amount. 
Chairwoman O’Brien seconded the motion, which passed unanimously, 4-0.  
 
Chairwoman O’Brien thanked staff for their work and expressed her support for 
continuing this program.  
 
INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION (ITEMS 3-5)

3. Phoenix Police Department Hiring, Recruitment, and Attrition Report and 30x30 
Initiative Update 
Chairwoman O’Brien introduced Police Assistant Chief Charmane Osborn and 
Commander Sarah Garza to present on this item. 
 
Commander Garza provided a timeline for improvement strategies and successes 
Phoenix Police have had in hiring since June. She stated there are currently more than 
2,500 sworn employees and 560 sworn vacancies. She provided data on attrition and 
hiring across the last five years and listed possible reasons for the improvement in 
hiring. She provided demographic statistics and diversity recruitment tools and stated 
one of the goals in hiring is to create a Police Department that reflects the community’s 
demographics.  
 
Commander Garza continued by discussing hiring process improvements and the goal 
of the 30 by 30 initiative, which is to have a 30 percent female recruits by 2030. She 
explained the success of workgroups created through this initiative with the goal of 
hiring more female officers. She also discussed the advertising priorities for the current 
website redesign and new marketing opportunities including updating recruiting 
materials, a billboard in Chase Field, and new vehicle decals. Finally, Commander 
Garza reviewed current recruiting unit strategies and emphasized community outreach 
efforts. 
 
Councilman Waring stated concern with the pace of hiring when compared to the City’s 
rate of growth. He also emphasized his hope the recruitment team are hiring all qualified 
candidates. 
 
Commander Garza confirmed Phoenix Police are hiring the most qualified applicants, 
and clarified the presentation was meant to highlight diversity recruitment efforts. 
 
Councilman Waring asked about the previously mentioned 13 percent rate of 
applications that end in the employee being hired. He expresses concern this is low and 
asked how to improve this percentage.  
 
Commander Garza explained this rate is improving, but she does not have the exact 
data. She stated Phoenix Police are in communication with other cities to understand 
best hiring practices to increase the number of applicants who are hired. 
 
Councilman Waring stated he hopes there is collaboration between jurisdictions in the 
area regarding hiring. He asked for these efforts to be considered within the context of a 
regional model with the goal of hiring more officers in the Phoenix area. 
 
Commander Garza mentioned there is a regional effort for hiring and determining best 
fit for applicants.

Councilman Robinson stated it is important to keep in mind the goal of the organization 
in the long-term and where the best recruitment sources will be. He suggested looking 
at schools with robust criminal justice programs and recruiting from there. He asked for 
an update at the next PSJ meeting on what efforts the Police Department is making to 
recruit from these schools. He also asked for clarification on when the website design 
will be done.  
 
Commander Garza provided details on the steps left for finishing this project and stated 
the website update is close to being finished. 
 
Councilman Robinson stated he appreciated the efforts of the Phoenix Police’s Advisory 
Boards, but stated it is important to gain new ideas for recruitment.  
 
Chairwoman O’Brien agreed with Councilman Robinson and mentioned feedback from 
young people at colleges would be beneficial for understanding the issues in hiring 
Officers. She asked if there are any men on the 30 by 30 initiative committees.  
 
Commander Garza answered that there are no men currently on these committees to 
provide a safe space for women to speak freely, but men will be invited to join as the 
process continues. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien emphasized it is important to bring men into the conversation 
because the need to understand the benefits of increasing the number of female 
officers. She stated she was surprised to learn a police officer cannot be part time in the 
state of Arizona, and she hopes Phoenix will take the lead on trying to amend this law to 
attract and retain more female officers. She asked to know more about how recent 
changes have impacted recruitment so far in future PSJ Committee meetings. 
 
4. Traffic Safety and Enforcement Strategies 
Chairwoman O’Brien introduced Police Assistant Chief Sean Kennedy and Street 
Transportation Director Kini Knudson to present on this item. 
 
Assistant Chief Kennedy provided a history of the Police Traffic Unit and how it has 
expanded throughout the past 100 years. He explained the current Traffic Unit officer 
makeup and noted there is a reduced number of officers in the unit. Chief Kennedy 
described recent Traffic Impact Program efforts to provide proactive enforcement, 
Radar Trailer Program efforts, and presented collision data that illustrated a decrease in 
collisions across the City since 2021.  
 
Mr. Knudson provided background on the Yellow Light Timing Study discussed at the 
June 13 City Council Policy meeting. He provided the history of automated enforcement 
and noted the program ended in 2019 due to the lack of Council consensus at the time. 
He provided statistics on injuries and deaths from red-light running and noted these 
incidents have increased since 2019. Mr. Knudson explained the program options for 
automated enforcement programs including red-light running, speed on green, fixed

mid-block speed, portable speed towers, and mobile speed vehicles. He emphasized 
the program methodology should be data-based and explained different possible pricing 
models for the program. He then asked the Subcommittee members for feedback and 
noted he would be providing a presentation to the Transportation, Infrastructure and 
Planning (TIP) Subcommittee. 
 
Councilman Robinson asked for any information shared with the TIP Subcommittee to 
also be shared with the PSJ Subcommittee.   
 
Mr. Knudson clarified they will not be providing a recommendation at the TIP 
Subcommittee meeting, but there will be a few more slides describing the research for 
the suggested programs.   
 
Councilman Waring asked if every light in Paradise Valley featured automatic 
enforcement. 
 
Mr. Knudson answered he does not know, but he knows there is a strong automatic 
enforcement presence. 
 
Councilman Waring stated there are license plate readers all through Paradise Valley in 
addition to the automatic enforcement mechanisms. He stated his concern about this 
level of surveillance in Paradise Valley and asked how many intersections with traffic 
lights are within Phoenix. 
 
Mr. Knudson explained staff has strategized regarding where these red-light cameras 
would be placed, and he emphasized they would be placed at intersections deemed 
dangerous through data analysis. He mentioned this program’s goal would be to 
address safety and it would not be viewed as a revenue stream and that there are 1200 
intersections within the City.  
 
Councilman Waring mentioned the previous red-light program did not place these 
automatic enforcement tools at the most dangerous intersections. He recalled the 
tickets were affecting people differently based on where they lived within the City, and 
he mentioned there was a bipartisan vote to get rid of the program. He also expressed 
concern if these automatic enforcement tools are only placed at a small percentage of 
lights, people will simply change their behavior at those intersections. He mentioned 
mobile officers would be what would make a difference. He asked if there are statistics 
regarding behavior change since the number of Transit Unit officers have decreased 
and asked about the efforts to increase numbers of officers monitoring speed. 
 
Assistant Chief Kennedy agreed Police presence would be helpful, but technology can 
improve these efforts as a force multiplier. 
 
Councilman Waring asked about data on if collisions happen more often in an 
intersection or in a stretch of road that is not in an intersection.

Assistant Chief Kennedy answered he can provide that data at a later time, but he 
stated Police see collisions on many different roads and not only at intersections. 
 
Councilman Waring stated focusing on Police presence would be the best solution to 
improve road safety. He added the issues surrounding automated enforcement from 
2019 still remain.  
 
Mr. Knudson explained automated enforcement is only one tool to help address road 
safety. He stated proposed programs are based on where high injury network data 
shows the most collisions happen. He explained the major cause for injuries and 
fatalities are speed and failure to yield, which often happen at intersections. 
 
Councilman Waring mentioned he is concerned about officers being moved from District 
2 to handle areas with higher crime. He is concerned these cameras will not be utilized 
in his district, yet residents will still pay for these programs without the benefits.  
 
Councilwoman Guardado acknowledged concerns from the previous program in 2019 
and provided her support for the Vision Zero Plan and road safety. She acknowledged 
the community education staff has done regarding concerns. She mentioned she asked 
if red-light cameras were a part of Vision Zero from the beginning and staff told her no. 
She stated her concern about red-light cameras in general and mentioned she does not 
believe they reduce dangerous behaviors. She stated the infrastructure within the City is 
encouraging dangerous driving behaviors and does not think red-light cameras will 
improve safety. She requested staff research what other cities are doing to reduce 
injuries and fatalities. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien noted changing the behavior of drivers is important and she 
agreed putting more officers at dangerous intersections might also lead to an equity 
issue. She is concerned about speeding in Phoenix and her constituents have 
mentioned their fear of collisions at dangerous intersections. She stated if one person’s 
life could be saved with automated enforcement it would be worth it. She asked for the 
collision data mentioned earlier by Councilman Waring to be sent to all the 
Subcommittee members. She thanked Mr. Knudson for his service to the City. 
 
5. Train Derailment and Emergency Response 
Chairwoman O’Brien introduced Emergency Management Director Brian Lee and 
Assistant Fire Chief Tim Kreis to present on this item. 
 
Mr. Lee provided an overview of the presentation and explained why it is important to be 
prepared for a train derailment emergency. He provided details on the recent train 
derailment incident in Ohio and how it was handled. He explained City staff has a 
partnership with the two major rail companies in Arizona and coordinate with them 
often. He provided details about a recent train derailment in Tempe and Williams and 
the response from emergency responders. He detailed the roles of the Office of 
Emergency Management and Police in a possible train derailment incident.

Assistant Chief Kreis explained how Fire would respond in a train derailment or 
hazardous materials emergency operations. He provided details on required training all 
firefighters receive and how it relates to a possible train derailment incident.  
 
Mr. Lee detailed how emergency notifications would be handled during an incident and 
listed the organizations involved and how collaboration will work. He provided an action 
summary for what would happen in a train derailment incident.  
 
Councilman Robinson asked what the reasoning for the train derailments have been 
and if there has been any criminal activity involved in these issues.  
 
Mr. Lee stated a response to this incident would be handled locally unless it is 
discovered there is terrorism involved, and then the Federal government would be 
involved. He stated he is not aware of any recent incidents where this was a concern. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien thanked staff for their effort in creating this presentation. 
INFORMATION ONLY (ITEM 5) 
6. Community Assistance Program Hiring, Recruitment and Service Report  
Information only. No Councilmember requested additional information. 
7. Phoenix Fire Department hiring, Recruitment and Response Time Monthly 
Report 
Information only. No Councilmember requested additional information. 
 
CALL TO THE PUBLIC  
None. 
 
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 
Councilman Waring requested statistics on the number of recruits that become officers 
in other cities. He also asked for another update on Light Rail safety and what has been 
done since the previous PSJ Subcommittee meeting.  
 
ADJOURNMENT 
Chairwoman O’Brien adjourned the meeting at 12:12 p.m. 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
Chloe Baldwin 
Management Fellow