Attachment A PSJ Minutes_10.01.25_FInal DRAFT.pdf

Attachment A 
 
Phoenix City Council 
Public Safety and Justice (PSJ) Subcommittee 
Summary Minutes 
Wednesday, October 1, 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 Robinson, Vice Mayor O’Brien, and Councilman Waring 
present. Councilwoman Guardado attended virtually. 
 
CALL TO THE PUBLIC 
None. 
MINUTES OF MEETINGS 
1. Minutes of the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee Meeting 
Vice Mayor O’Brien made a motion to approve the minutes of the September 3, 2025, 
Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee meeting. Councilman Waring seconded the 
motion which passed unanimously, 4-0. 
INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION (ITEMS 2-3) 
2. Fire Department Lockbox Program Update 
Assistant Fire Chief Justin Alexander presented this item. 
Chief Alexander discussed the Lockbox Program which started as a pilot program in 
2023 in District 1 and became a permanent program in early 2025. He shared program 
enhancements and highlighted the partnership with Phoenix Realtors, which has 
provided lockboxes free of charge to City residents to allow first responders easier entry 
access to households participating in the program.

Vice Mayor O’Brien thanked the Fire Department for commitment to the program and for 
being resourceful and collaborative to expand the program citywide. 
Councilwoman Guardado shared that the program information was not available for the 
elderly who may speak Spanish and she asked what steps needed to be taken to 
ensure that the Lockbox Program information was available in Spanish. 
Fire Chief Michael Duran III expressed commitment to ensuring the program’s 
information was available in Spanish. 
Councilwoman Guardado asked if Chief Duran had overseen the program since 2023. 
Chief Duran confirmed he had overseen the program since it began as a pilot in 2023. 
Councilwoman Guardado expressed her concern on the equity aspect of the City 
program for Spanish-speaking residents who may not have been able to access to this 
program.  
Chairman Robinson asked when this program went citywide. 
Chief Alexander shared that his department has been responsible for rollout of the 
program citywide since January 2025 once it became a permanent program.  
Assistant City Manager Lori Bays clarified the Fire Department began this program in 
partnership with Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien’s Office as a pilot program, modeled after a 
similar program at the City of Scottsdale. She noted this program had become 
permanent in January 2025. Assistant City Manager Bays explained the roll out of this 
program was nontraditional, and when she and Chief Duran had learned about the 
information not being translated, they immediately began developing and implementing 
a plan for Spanish translation. 
Councilwoman Guardado thanked Assistant City Manager Bays for the explanation and 
City staff for their work.  
3. Community Assistance Program (CAP) Expansion Implementation Report 
Assistant Fire Chief Ray Ochoa and Community Assistance Program (CAP) 
Administrator DC Ernst presented this item. 
Ms. Ernst shared recruitment and operational updates for CAP, noting that Behavioral 
Health Units (BHU) were available 24/7. Ms. Ernst highlighted Crisis Response Unit 
(CRU) and BHU co-response and collaboration with the Police Department and Fire 
Department. She also shared information on call volume and response time for CAP. 
Councilwoman Guardado expressed her appreciation to City staff for their work. 
Chairman Robinson asked what typically happens with individuals who are assisted by 
BHU or CRU.

Ms. Ernst informed that it depends on the need of the individual, which may include 
transportation to services or clinics, receiving help to connect with their case managers, 
to connect individuals to services if they were not yet receiving services, and to petition 
to have individuals evaluated, when needed. 
Chairman Robinson thanked City staff for the presentation and work done. 
INFORMATION ONLY (ITEMS 4-5) 
4. Phoenix Police Department Recruitment, Hiring and Attrition Update 
Information only. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien made a request for year-over-year attrition data since 2020 and 
shared that this information was not available online further than a year ago. 
Chairman Robinson highlighted that the City was receiving roughly 450 applications for 
the Police Department. Chairman Robinson asked how many applications the City was 
able to go through in a timely manner. He highlighted that getting back to applicants in a 
timely manner could lead to quicker processing of applications and hiring. 
Assistant City Manager Bays shared that 2020 to present day year-over-year attrition 
data and application processing timeline information was scheduled to be shared in the 
next presentation in December, but could be shared in the next report, if requested by 
City Council. 
Vice Mayor O’Brien requested that the data be shared in the next report in November. 
5. Phoenix Fire Department Staffing and Response Time Update 
Information only. No Councilmember requested additional information. 
CALL TO THE PUBLIC  
Brady Curran proposed a 60-minute training program on Parkinson’s disease and other 
neurological issues for City Police Officers. 
Dianne Barker expressed concern about Police overtime and City traffic and noise. 
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 
None. 
 
ADJOURNMENT 
Chairman Robinson adjourned the meeting at 10:39 a.m. 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
Cecilia Alcantar

Management Fellow