Phoenix does not have a civilian review board, and residents are looking to change that by writing letters to City Council members.
A handful of Phoenix residents gathered at The Coronado coffee shop on Tuesday to write letters to their council members in order to establish a civilian review board, an independent body that aims to keep the police accountable.
“Many of our members were talking about the experiences they were having with police and they try to file a complaint — or when someone in their family had been harmed by the police, they were having these really dehumanizing experiences,” said Ben Laughlin, the policy director at activist group Poder in Action. “We just don’t think police should be able to investigate themselves when it comes to police misconduct.”
One of those in attendance was Marti Winkler, a Phoenix resident of 40 years and a victim of police violence in 2014. After an incident with police, Winkler was hospitalized for four days and struggled for years afterward to fight for justice.
In order to make a difference for victims of police violence, a civilian review board should be able to subpoena the police department and recommend charges, said Winkler.
“Anything else is just whitewash,” she added.
The letters will go to Mayor Kate Gallego and City Council members. According to Laughlin, at its policy session next Tuesday, the Council will have a vote on what form of civilian review board Phoenix should implement. What forms they are considering have not been made public at this time.
The call for a civilian review board has been going on for years, but came into light in 2019. After a protest against police misconduct, Gallego called for a special meeting to consider implementing a board.
“Phoenix needs an independent CRB now more than ever. As we have seen a drastic rise in the past several years of dangerous policies and often fatal encounters between police and everyday Phoenicians,” read a statement by the event hosts.
“Phoenix is among the last big U.S. cities without independent civilian oversight of police,” Samuel Walker, a professor emeritus of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska, told the Associated Press in 2019.
While many residents may be in favor, the Phoenix Police Department has opposed the creation of a board in the past.
“If you create an all-or-nothing review process composed of either all city employees or all civilians, you actually limit the ability of either of those groups from coming up with credible decisions,” said Lt. Ben Leuschner, the president of the Phoenix Police Sergeants and Lieutenants Association, in a statement in 2019.
It should also be considered that there are inconsistencies between what civilian review boards are able to do.
Sixty-one percent of civilian review boards across the United States “reported the ability to conduct independent investigations,” according to an investigation by the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. In addition, the report said, “Roughly 43% of review-focused agencies and 50% of investigative agencies reported having the authority to audit complaint investigations by the police.”
In addition to The Coronado, other organizations hosting the meeting included Poder in Action, Black Lives Matter Metro Phoenix and Black Phoenix Organizing Collective, all of which support holding the police force accountable.
Contact the reporter at hrein@asu.edu
Hailey Rein is the Education Editor at Downtown Devil and a senior at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass communications. In addition, she is a digital producer at azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic. In her free time, she enjoys being with her dogs and watching a rom-com.
