City Council rejected a measure to allow civilians to investigate Phoenix Police Tuesday for using tear gas following President Donald Trump’s Aug. 22 rally.
In an 8-1 vote, the City Council rejected the petition, which was submitted by Phoenix resident Leonard Clark at the Aug. 30 Formal City Council Meeting.
Clark said he had been working on this issue for almost seven years, but it became even more urgent following the controversy over police response to protesters outside Trump’s rally.
“We keep getting a lot of talk and no action,” Clark said. “We just want the Phoenix Police to stop investigating themselves.”
Rev. Reginald D. Walton, a Phoenix resident and senior pastor of Phillips Memorial CME Church, spoke in support of creating a civilian panel and described it as an attempt to “make the city the best that we can.”
“We are not attacking the police in asking for a civilian review board; however, we are critical,” Walton said. “And you can be critical of something and love it.”
Sara Joehnk, the founding board member and president of People Demanding Action, echoed Walton’s sentiments. She said a civilian oversight would help to alleviate some of the distrust and conflict associated with the efforts of police and their advocates.
“When they’re enforcing the rules on us, we have to have a voice to say whether we’re okay with the way they’re enforcing those rules,” Joehnk said. “I feel like there’s no outlet for the average civilian without some process like this.”
Some of those opposed to the petition said there were many programs already in place and the creation of a civilian review board was unnecessary.
According to an analysis conducted by city staff, civilian oversight already occurs through the City Council and City Manager, as well as civilian participation on the Use of Force Board, Disciplinary Review Board and the Civil Service Board.
Phoenix Law Enforcement Association President Ken Crane said the current system is already working and questioned the idea that law enforcement should be regulated by civilians with no experience in the profession.
“Doctors, nurses and airline pilots can all make mistakes that cause serious injury or death, yet they are regulated by peers who are professionals within the same career field,” Crane said. “Why then the belief and constant pressure among some that law enforcement has to be reviewed by a civilian panel with no firsthand knowledge of what the job entails?”
District 6 Councilman Sal DiCiccio criticized the petition in a politically charged statement released Friday and described it as a “new attack on our police.”
“After losing their last call for an investigation of our brave men and women in blue, the radical left is planning another all-out assault on the integrity and conduct of our officers….,” DiCiccio said in a statement.
City staff will continue an analysis of civilian oversight models recommended by the Community and Police Trust Initiative back in February. Research from that analysis will be used to facilitate a discussion in the fall, but DiCiccio said the message sent Tuesday was clear.
“This idea of a civilian review board is dead,” DiCiccio said. “It may not die tonight, but it will die.”
Contact the reporter at derekhall@asu.edu.
