Phoenix saw a record number of officer-involved shootings in what became a theme throughout 2018.
There were 81 shootings in Maricopa County, 45 of them in Phoenix. Almost half of them involved a fatality.
In June, the number of officer-involved shootings reached 25, passing 2017's total for the entire year.
Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said the National Police Foundation has partnered with Arizona State University to analyze the unusual surge in officer-involved shootings this year.
There is growing anticipation about the report on record-high police shootings in Phoenix in 2018. It was initially expected to be released at the end of 2018, but Williams says it will be released January or February of 2019.
Chief Williams says her department has not pinpointed any one factor to cause the uptick in shootings and maintains the department has not let its guard down in 2018.
“We have partnerships with the community. We’ve continued to hire during challenging times. Our training, de-escalation training, crisis intervention team training, tactical training – we just launched our officer shooting data portals,” Williams said.
The data portal gives the public a first-hand look at the details of officer-involved shootings.
Williams also says the department is working with the city to fund body cameras for all 1,200 officers.
