6 May 29th-June 4th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | No Takebacks Trump’s DOJ rescinded its report on Phoenix police. What’s that mean? BY TJ L’HEUREUX L ast June, the U.S. Department of Justice dropped a 126-page bomb on the Phoenix Police Department. After years of investigation, the DOJ issued a lengthy report documenting how Phoenix police officers consistently and systemati- cally violated the civil rights of residents. The report was a means to an end — a DOJ push to submit Phoenix police to indepen- dent oversight. That report was written when Joe Biden was in the White House and the DOJ had more of an appetite for curbing wayward police departments. Now that Donald Trump is president, the idea of suing Phoenix to mandate reforms went out the window when he reentered the Oval Office. But the report remained. Not anymore — sort of. At Trump’s direction on May 21, the DOJ tried to put the proverbial toothpaste back in the tube. That morning, the DOJ officially rescinded the report, “retracting the Biden adminis- tration’s findings of constitutional viola- tions” committed by Phoenix police and at least seven other law enforcement agencies across the country. As of that afternoon, the Phoenix police report was still on the Justice Department’s website. The decision to revoke the findings was announced just a day after Phoenix New Times reported the police department is the second-deadliest police force in the country. Since 2013, encounters with Phoenix officers have caused the death of 173 people, according to an analysis by the accident and injury firm Gammill Law. Only the Los Angeles Police Department killed more people. Arizona politicians reacted to the news with a mix of braggadocio and reserved approval. Republican Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen applauded the end of the DOJ “witch hunt” — without actually refuting any of the report’s specific findings or facts — while GOP Rep. Abe Hamadeh tried to claim some credit for the report’s rescission. The Phoenix City Council’s lone Republican, Jim Waring, said at a May 21 council meeting that the decision was “outstanding news” and dismissed the report as “misguided.” Democrats — including those on the Phoenix City Council, which resisted over- sight and seemed to be running out the clock with the DOJ in case Trump was elected — have reacted more tamely. In a statement, Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien highlighted the department’s reform efforts and said, “I have always been a strong proponent that the City Council is capable of making necessary changes without costly federal oversight.” Councilmember Debra Stark said in a statement that she “was very concerned about the findings of the DOJ report, but knew that our police department was already working on necessary changes.” Rep. Greg Stanton, the former mayor of Phoenix, released a statement that did not address the report being rescinded. Gone but not forgotten The DOJ report may be officially pulled back, but it hardly vanished into thin air. It seems some Republicans want to wave a magic wand and erase the report from the collective consciousness, 1984- style. But considering many of the report’s critics have yet to mount an evidence- based refutation, that seems unrealistic. “For the large part, the findings were substantial and not challenged on their terms,” civil rights attorney Bob McWhirter told New Times. “None of the problems identified in that report — following an extensive investigation — have been fixed.” To paraphrase Eddie Vedder, some reports, when released, can’t be taken back. The DOJ’s report has been public for nearly a year and widely circulated, and the notion that the Trump administration can erase it from the political zeitgeist verges on delusion. Last month, former Phoenix City Councilmember Carlos Galindo-Elvira told New Times that “the idea of rescinding the DOJ report might make some feel good, but it doesn’t erase what was written.” In a text message on May 21, Galindo-Elvira said that interview “now seems prophetic.” So, what does the DOJ’s rescission deci- sion mean practically and for people who contend their rights have been violated? For one, yanking back the report hardly alters the reality on the ground. The DOJ report extensively documented a wide- spread pattern of civil rights violations carried out by Phoenix officers, including discriminating against people of color, using excessive and unnecessarily deadly force and arresting unhoused people without cause. The DOJ said that the department taught officers tactics that were “dangerous, unnecessary and unreason- able,” including that all force — even deadly force — would lead to de-escalation. The DOJ also found that officers fired their weapons at people who presented no immediate threat and improperly used choking tactics, including on people who had not committed a crime. The city has had to shell out for such abuses in the past. Between 2008 and 2018, Phoenix approved $26 million in settle- ment money for police violence in 191 cases. In November 2023, the city paid $5.5 million to the family of Ali Osman, who was killed after throwing rocks at an officer during a mental health crisis in September 2022. Quacy Smith, who represented Osman’s family in that case, said May 21 that while the DOJ took “a step in the wrong direc- tion” by rescinding its report — a step that he says “places the police and the public in danger” — he thinks the report’s facts speak for themselves. “The DOJ rescinding their findings does not change what happened in the underlying cases referenced in the report,” Smith said. “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but no one is entitled to their own facts.” In a statement, ACLU of Arizona legal director Jared Keenan echoed that sentiment. “The DOJ’s damning and well-docu- mented findings came from thousands of records, including hours of videos and interviews with personnel at the Phoenix Police Department. Now is not the time to look away,” Keenan wrote. “Our commu- nity demanded accountability long before the federal government stepped in.” When Trump won the election, civil rights advocates knew that the idea of placing Phoenix police under federal monitoring had become a pipe dream. Still, the report gave attorneys ammunition to use in claims against the city. Lawyers have used it to show that the city failed to curb officers’ violent tendencies — and in many cases, encouraged cops to be more violent. But after the Trump DOJ’s decision, Smith is unsure if lawyers will use it quite so liberally now. “I’m sure many civil rights attorneys will no longer reference the report as a source,” he said. Not all lawyers agree. At Donald Trump’s direction, the Justice Department rescinded a damning 126-page report on Phoenix police. (Katya Schwenk) >> p 8 Quacy Smith, a local civil rights attorney, frequently has represented the families of victims of police misconduct. (Katya Schwenk) | NEWS | | NEWS |
