Dressed in shirts that said, “Support the Blue” and waving around small police flags, activists gathered outside of Phoenix City Hall Wednesday afternoon to show support for the Phoenix Police Department amid accusations of police brutality.
The crowd of about 50 people was led by Rally for Law Enforcement, an organization that aims to support law enforcement. Their main goal was to speak positively about Phoenix police at the City Council meeting.
“Last week, those agitators went crazy talking down on the people who serve and protect them and that’s why we’re here today to show our support,” police supporter Glenn Stockard said.
Nohl Rosen founded the Rally for Law Enforcement organization in 2014. Rosen said he grew tired of law enforcement being attacked on a daily basis by anti-police protesters and the media.
The rally was held in response to last week’s protest against the police department where more than two dozen speakers expressed their frustration over incidences of police brutality by Phoenix PD.
During the city council meeting, the Phoenix PD asked to use $425,000 of their budget to pay for nonlethal ammunition and weapons. The motion passed 8-1, District 8 Council Member Carlos Garcia was the only one who voted no.
Garcia said he doesn’t believe the police department should be granted more funding for weapons until they prove that they can be responsible with them and receive more training.
“What we’ve seen in the last couple of months and in the last couple of years has proven that this police department is not able to use these weapons,” Garcia said. “We’re in a lawsuit right now because of it and I would encourage that until we implement a policy to be able to better our officer training that we do not support anymore spending for the police department.”
Andrea Max, a police dispatcher for the Phoenix PD broke down into tears as she explained that the PD does deserve more funding for their nonlethal weapons.
“To have people say that our police officers are bad is heartbreaking to me,” Max said.
In May, Dravon Ames and Iesha Harper were accused of stealing from a Dollar Store and using their 4-year-old daughter as an accessory. A viral video depicts the family being shouted at and threatened by Phoenix police officers.
Max said her family was threatened when the viral video broke out on social media and that the dispatch center was bombarded with aggravated calls.
Ames and Harper are suing the city of Phoenix for $10 million.
“Our cops risk their lives every day, I don’t believe that two criminals taking their kids on a crime spree should be rewarded with $10 million,” Rosen said.
Kat McKinney, a representative of police brutality victims, said the issue of police brutality is systemic.
“We have one of the most dangerous police departments in the country as noted by The Associated Press in 2018,” McKinney said.
Rosen said Harper and Ames were at fault for the incident and the police did nothing wrong. He urged Mayor Kate Gallego to not side with anti-police agitators.
“This is a war on police, and we need to back our officers,” Rosen said.
Contact the reporter at milopez6@asu.edu.
