x
Breaking News
More () »

Phoenix police urged to fix community relations after officer-involved shooting study released

The City of Phoenix and Phoenix Police released a study on officer-involved shootings Friday, and community groups have mixed reactions

PHOENIX — The City of Phoenix and Phoenix police released a study on officer-involved shootings Friday. The study included nine recommendations and implementation plans for them.

MORE: Phoenix PD's 23 fatal officer-involved shootings led nation, report looks at why

Activist Viri Hernandez and her group Poder in Action consulted for the study. She said members in the community have been asking for these changes for years.

“A report that cost taxpayers $150,000 to just reiterate what community members have said? It’s hard to rationalize it,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez was also suspicious of the timeline for implementation.

“We don’t have trust that this department’s really going to implement any of these things. And that’s really scary for community members because we know that it’s our lives on the line,” she said.

Hernandez specifically recognized the need for better transparency in the department and called for officers to be trained in de-escalation techniques.

“They’re going to start training to see us as who they’re supposed to be serving, their community. See, all of these things are things people have said.”

Hernandez agreed with Mayor Kate Gallego’s call for a better response to mental health calls.

“If you were to call 911 for a potential suicide, likely what would happen is that the closest patrol officer will respond. And, we have to ask ourselves: Is that the right answer?” Gallego said. “If that were a member of my family, I’d want the response to potentially include someone who’s trained in mental health.”

The report found Phoenix police responded to 41,000 calls in 2018.

PHOENIX - Phoenix police released the findings of a study on the 2018 officer-involved shootings (OIS) from the department Friday. Police Chief Jeri Williams joined Mayor Kate Gallego and other officials to discuss the findings by the National Police Foundation.

Before You Leave, Check This Out