PHOENIX — The Interim Phoenix police chief believes the results of the more than two-year investigation into the department’s policies by the Department of Justice could be hard to hear.
Chief Michael Sullivan made the comments during a public safety meeting hosted by the Greater Phoenix Chamber Thursday morning. He provided an update on the changes they have implemented since he joined the department in 2022, after former Chief Jeri Williams retired amid an onslaught of controversy and public scrutiny.
Upon Sullivan's appointment, it had been nearly a year into the DOJ investigation looking at a wide range of practices by Phoenix police and its officers, including its use of force, retaliatory activity against protestors, and officers’ treatment of the homeless population.
“I can’t tell you what the Department of Justice is going to come up with,” Sullivan said Thursday. “I can tell you what the DOJ goal is, it’s a consent decree, which is what the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is dealing with.”
Consent decrees are agreements reached between the federal government and a local municipality to ensure operational changes are made. Before arriving in Phoenix, Sullivan worked for the Baltimore Police Department, which was subject to a consent decree following the conclusion of a DOJ probe into that agency.
Chief Sullivan said he’s been preparing the Valley department for what the DOJ concludes.
“This is not going to feel good,” Sullivan said he told his agency. “It’s going to say some things that are painful for this department to hear… I’ve told everybody, this is civic. You need to think about this process as a civil lawsuit.”
The city said it has so far spent about $5 million on the DOJ investigation, turning over body camera video and thousands of documents.
It’s unclear when the investigation will wrap up, but Sullivan thinks “it’s imminent.”
“And what does imminent mean?” Sullivan said. “They have a use-it-or-lose-it policy when it comes to vacation time... So, look, potentially for it being sometime in November or early next year. But that's just my guess.”
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is currently operating under a court order since 2013 when the agency was found to have racially profiled Latinos during former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s immigration patrols. Two court orders stripped some of the agency’s autonomy over its internal affairs investigations.
That decision is what current Sheriff Paul Penzone said was part of the reason why he won’t seek a third term.
"I'll be damned if I'll do three terms under federal court oversight for a debt I never incurred and not be given the chance to serve this community in the manner that I could if you take the other hand from being tied behind my back,” Penzone said earlier this month.
Last November, a judge found Penzone to be in contempt for noncompliance with a court-ordered overhaul in the racial profiling case. Penzone disagreed with the court’s findings.
Penzone said the federal court oversight has become “overstayed” and is too focused on punishing organizations, suggesting that the ongoing monitoring was drawing away resources from within the sheriff’s office.
“When I have more people investigating internal affairs and compliance issues than I do crimes in the community, something’s wrong,” the sheriff said on Oct 2.
Currently, the Phoenix police department has over 500 vacancies, something that can impact the agency’s operation, and the changes Sullivan wants to make happen if a decree is decided by the DOJ.
“You know, there can be some robust debate, whether that’s the best vehicle for police reform. And I look forward to being a part of that robust debate,” the chief said.
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