14 Oct 24th-Oct 30th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | “Phoenix Police Department uses multiple platforms to keep the community informed on high-profile incidents, including media advisories and social media.” Police accountability advocates argue the department could have informed the community without violating the student’s privacy. Though the student’s face was obscured in the video, the rest of her body was not. “I do think there’s enough identi- fying information that’s not blurred to potentially identify her,” Royle said, which he called “problematic” given everyone in her school likely already knows her identity. While Calles applauded Phoenix police for quickly identifying the student who made the threat, he initially didn’t want to comment on the department’s use of her arrest footage. When pressed by New Times about whether the video was appropriate, Calles said it was “painful” and “not an easy thing to watch” but that he “wouldn’t say that I feel Phoenix PD is inappropriate. However, he added, “Would I post that video? I wouldn’t.” He plans to create his own PSA about school threats, but it “doesn’t involve using content like that.” Royle thinks Phoenix police should have taken a similar tack. If the department wanted to inform the community about an important development, Royle said, it could have issued a statement. If it wanted to scare other kids straight, it should have filmed a PSA, not used real arrest footage of a minor who’s yet to be convicted of anything. “A suspect, someone not guilty, and a juvenile, why should their body camera be part of your PSA?” Royle said. “Hire an actor or just type that.” The decision to post the video also echoes issues identified by the DOJ in its yearslong investigation of Phoenix police. In its 126-page report on the depart- ment released in June, the DOJ found that Phoenix police both discriminate against people of color and do “not take into account the vulnerability of children and their stage of development.” The report highlights the department’s pattern of “demeaning” treatment of minors, noting that “it can contribute to fear and distrust of law enforcement from the next genera- tion of Phoenix residents.” N’sangou, who is Black and a mother, agrees. “It’s not lost on me that this is a Black teenager,” she said. The department’s deci- sion to “parade her around as though this is some kind of spectacle” makes N’sangou feel “much less safe sending my children to a school where a resource officer would do such a thing or where Phoenix PD would be called in.” ‘Complete and utter overcharge’ The charges the girl now faces also concern Royle and others. Royle has seen kids as young as 12 booked on the same charges, which he called “a complete and utter overcharge.” And while no one who spoke to New Times suggested that schools or police shouldn’t take threats seriously, they do question what’s accomplished by throwing the book at a minor who made an unserious one. “Felony charges and convictions are lifelong,” said Isabel Garcia, a community safety strategist for the social justice orga- nization Poder In Action. “The youth are learning. Their brains are still developing. They’re going to make mistakes. This was clearly a mistake that this youth made.” Garcia said arresting and charging a student for a bogus threat won’t prevent future threats. Instead, she believes, “preventative, community-level responses” — such as mental health counseling, guid- ance from social workers and training on human development — would “actually help to transform harmful behaviors” and help kids “make better choices and learn from their mistakes.” Phoenix police don’t seem to be learning from theirs. Since the release of the DOJ’s report, the city of Phoenix has struggled to make a convincing case that its police department does not require federal oversight. Publicly shaming a kid online isn’t even the department’s most recent concerning incident, or its most serious. For much of October, Phoenix police have faced intense scrutiny over the recent publication of damning body-camera footage that shows two cops bum-rushing, beating and arresting a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy. The department is now investigating the incident. Last week, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced it dropped charges against the man for allegedly attacking the officers. That incident occurred in August, and the body-cam footage wasn’t made public until two months later following a public records request. When police arrested the Sierra Linda student, however, the depart- ment blasted out the video on its official social media account the very same day. That the department apparently is so proud of it shows just how out of touch they are, N’sangou said. “The most alarming part is the parading of a young Black child around on video and sending that out to the community in an effort to pander for our support,” she said, “after they’ve already lost it.” Shame Squad from p 12 Police posted body camera footage of an underage student’s arrest on Oct. 3. (Courtesy of Phoenix Police Department)
