PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department announced Monday it was crafting a plan to reduce violent crimes by 5% after the city has been plagued with an uptick in homicides and assaults over the last few years.
The agency said it had identified four focus areas that police officials believe could help reduce Phoenix's number of shootings and stabbings. Those focus areas include dedicating resources toward tracking violent offenders with outstanding warrants and prohibited possessors.
According to the agency's data, the number of homicides reported in Phoenix increased from 161 in 2017 to 223 in 2022. The number of aggravated assaults increased from 7,919 to 8,986 during that same time frame.
To cut violent crimes by 5%, the agency said its leadership would "rapidly deploy" resources and collaborate with external partners.
Another goal is to address "the most active hotspots in the City through targeted and high-visibility policing efforts within each precinct."
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH CHIEF SULLIVAN
Interim Police Chief Mike Sullivan sat down with 12News to discuss the new plan and how it fits into other challenges the department is facing, like a staffing shortage, the pending Department of Justice Investigation and unsolved crimes.
12News Reporter Erica Stapleton: How do you plan to meet all these strategies when you're down more than 500 officers?
Interim Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan: I think that's the important reason that we need to implement this plan. Because we need to be focused, we need to be efficient with all of our resources that we do have. And the only way you do that is with a plan. So our folks are dedicated. We work hard every day; we have a lot of folks working a lot of overtime to be able to make sure that we meet the public safety needs of Phoenix.
ES: And you detail working with community groups. Who are these groups?
MS: It's the groups that we've worked with across the city. Whether it's business associations, other social service agencies, we work with hundreds of groups and meet with hundreds of groups on a regular basis. And we're going to continue to get that feedback and make sure that the action plans put together in the precincts have the voices of those folks.
ES: And are these groups substituting or supplementing the shortage of officers?
MS: I mean, we can't do the work without community. We could have double the amount of officers that we have out here. And, you know, we wouldn't be able to do it. We have also increased what we have here. And you know, while we talk about this reduction of officers, what we also see is an increase in hiring. And, you know, this time last year, we were a shrinking department. This time this year, we're actually a growing department. We have over 100 recruits that are in the academy right now. And 30 officers that are in training out there getting ready to hit the street. So that's good news for the people of Phoenix, and it's changed where we were this time last year.
ES: When you look at the numbers, we reported last July that you were down more than 500 officers. And that is still the case now. So how can you say that you've moved the needle?
MS: Because we've stopped the decrease. What we were looking at before that delta was growing and growing and growing. We've stopped that and started to turn the car around and started to go in the right direction. So that's promising news.
A recent 12News investigation found that of the 223 total homicides committed in the city in 2022, only 127 are solved.
ES: Is that acceptable to you?
MS: I'd have to dig into all that data. Certainly, I want to solve every single homicide that's out there. Year to date, you know, what I would tell you is we're down in homicides. So you know, we are continuing to work very hard to make sure that we hold folks accountable wherever we can. We have the most incredible detectives in America that work very, very hard to clear clot, especially violent crimes.
Spokespeople for Phoenix police say homicide clearance rates are calculated differently to align with FBI standards, but the department's data differs from what's shown on the City Manager's website. During the interview, Chief Sullivan said he would review the data and follow up.
Additionally, he stated that at this point in 2023, compared to this point in 2022, homicides are down. Other city data indicates that homicides can often rise in the summer months.
ES: What is considered a hotspot for these high crime areas?
MS: I think we described in the plan is the most active areas - these areas where we see high levels of violence, high levels of disorder and complaints from the community. So some of these places have had challenges for years and years. It's something that we use data to be able to drive what those areas are. And you know, it's the crime data that we have to be able to drive where we see those most active areas.
ES: And what can neighbors who live in these most active areas expect to see change?
MS: We're expecting our commanders to engage with the community to make sure that they develop a plan that meets their needs. But then also, we focus and we look for solutions that are outside just police. Bring in other city agencies, look for opportunities that we can change the environment. Those are the ways we sustain crime reduction and how we change these areas that face different challenges.
In a statement to 12News, a spokesperson for the City couldn't specify which other city agencies would be involved in the plan and sent the following statement over email:
While the Phoenix Police Department leads the crime-fighting effort, they work closely with a variety of professional and community stakeholders. This includes neighborhood groups, advisory boards, and non-profits, as well as other city departments or other law enforcement agencies. The document released yesterday is the police department’s overarching blueprint for reducing and preventing crime. Bureau and precinct leadership will work with community and government partners on the development and execution of specific safety strategies tailored to the challenges and needs of specific areas.
12News continued the interview with Chief Sullivan, asking about another focus area identified in the plan: guns being in the wrong hands.
ES: How are prohibited possessors getting guns?
MS: Because there are lots of guns out there. You know, if you're a convicted felon, it's not hard to get a gun because we see folks that shouldn't have them have them all the time. They're derived a number of different ways, whether it be through straw purchasers, people who go out and purchase guns and provide them to individuals through theft, or through other means that that the individuals have that are out there on the street. Unfortunately, it's way too easy for criminals to get their hands on guns.
ES: What does the data tell you about stolen guns?
MS: What my data tells me about prohibited possessors is when we find people that are involved in homicides and when we find people that are involved in situations where we have officer-involved shootings, an incredible amount of them have misconduct and weapon charges in their past. Those are opportunities for us to make sure we hold people accountable. If we put those cases together and provide them to the County Attorney, she's promised to be able to prosecute those to the fullest and those folks don't have the opportunity to go out and victimize the community.
ES: It was detailed that performing high quality initial investigation as part of this action plan. Shouldn't this already be happening?
MS: One of the things that we instituted was a non-fatal shooting team, which we have ten detectives that are now investigating non-fatal shootings. We weren't doing that before. Those investigations were done at the precinct level. Being able to bring that expertise, make sure that we do that we need to focus on with the prohibited possessor, with those investigations, that we get folks to training they need. So we make sure that those cases can be brought, we can hold those folks accountable.
ES: This is amid the DOJ investigation. Is this in any way a response to that?
MS: Crime fighting and reform are not mutually exclusive. I'll say that over and over and over again. As a matter of fact, they work together to build trust; we have to be an effective organization to be able to fight crime, build trust and make change in this community.
The DOJ investigation started nearly two years ago and is still happening. It looks, in part, at the use of force and officer conduct, which is not addressed in the new crime reduction plan. A Phoenix police spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that a draft of the department's new use of force policy should be released by the end of the week.
More about the plan can be read below:
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