10 Jan 8th-Jan 14th, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Reporters obtained data on officer certification in Arizona that showed Phoenix police hired Bach as a lateral officer. That data was obtained through the work of the National Police Index, a project of Invisible Institute, Human Rights Data Analysis Group and Innocence & Justice Louisiana that tracks officer employment history. Experts warn that these incentives provide openings for officers with histories of misconduct to cross jurisdictions, fueling a hiring environment that over- looks dangerous or even criminal past behaviors. “Every agency is screaming for more police officer applicants, and so that makes hiring and the acceptance of officers who may have questionable backgrounds a problem for us,” said Patrick Solar, a former police chief in Illinois and a crim- inal justice professor at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. A program of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis illustrates the issue. In 2021, Florida used four-figure hiring bonuses to lure officers who felt “mistreated” by reform policies in New York, Chicago and departments on the West Coast. As a result, Florida depart- ments hired officers who have been arrested and charged with murder and kidnapping, or were hit with complaints for excessive force, false imprisonment and sexual extortion. In Memphis, the police department spent millions of dollars on recruitment bonuses and requested dozens of waivers from the state to hire officers who would not otherwise meet hiring standards. In January 2023, five Memphis police officers beat Tyré Nichols to death during a traffic stop. All five had been hired under reduced standards as part of the department’s hiring push, including one accused of brutality and other misconduct in his past job at a Shelby County correctional facility in Tennessee. “As a business decision, hiring former officers can offer benefits for any police department,” the late Dorothy Moses Schulz, a former police captain and professor emerita at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, wrote in a 2022 report published by the conservative Manhattan Institute. “BUT THESE DEPARTMENTS MUST CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY THAT THEY ARE ATTRACTING OFFICERS WHO ARE RUNNING AWAY FROM PROBLEMS.” “I’m concerned about these incentives overall,” she said in a 2023 interview. “You’re recruiting from the same pool. This one’s offering $5,000, this one’s offering $7,000. But these smack to me of desperation. And I think it’s very sad that we’ve come to a point where police have to be desperate to recruit.” As of March 2025, there were still 600 positions that the Phoenix Police Department was looking to fill. Three weeks after the DOJ report’s release, Phoenix police said they weren’t plan- ning on making any changes to their recruitment strategy, including the four- figure bonuses. “We’re going to stay the course,” Commander William Jou told Arizona’s Family. “We believe our processes are tried and true and proven. “We are going to continue to do the work we’re doing, so we don’t plan on changing that.” Yana Kunichoff is a journalist and documentary producer with Arizona Luminaria. Reach her on Bluesky at @ yanak or by email at ykunichoff@azlumi- naria.org. Sam Stecklow is an investigative journalist and FOIA fellow with Invisible Institute. Follow him on Bluesky at @ samstecklow.bsky.social or email him at [email protected]. To Protest and Serve from p9 Experts warn that incentives like those offered by the Phoenix Police Department provide openings for officers with histories of misconduct to cross jurisdictions, fueling a hiring environment that overlooks dangerous or even criminal past behaviors. (Matt Hennie)
