Activists mark locations of fatal shootings by Phoenix police officers

PHOENIX – Latino activists have been putting up banners to mark locations where people have been killed by police in Phoenix.

“We started doing it last year, and the biggest thing for us has been that the level of police violence that we’re currently in, the epidemic of police violence that we have been exposed to and seen in the last two years, is sickening,” Viri Hernandez of Poder in Action told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Friday.

The most recent sign, which says “PHX Police Killed Someone Here,” went up last week after an unarmed man was fatally shot near 19th Avenue and Monroe Street.

A Phoenix police spokesman said officers searching for a kidnapping and shooting suspect Wednesday encountered Henry Wayne Rivera.

Antonio Arce was 14 years old and now in our backyard we witness a police murder by @phoenixpolice Henry Wayne Rivera, shot and later died of his injuries. This is the 11th shooting in Maricopa County and the fifth person murdered by the PPD. #PhxTruth @TempePolice pic.twitter.com/CXD2rNLSlk

— Puente Arizona (@PuenteAZ) March 15, 2019

Rivera attempted to flee and ignored commands before he was shot, police said. It turned out that Rivera was not connected to the kidnapping but had outstanding warrants for his arrest.

It was the fourth shooting by a Phoenix officer this year, and the suspect died each time. Additionally, a naked man died after being shocked with a stun gun in February.

Saturday night @phoenixpolice killed #EricHagstrom. 4th person killed by PPD since January. Please be safe out there fam. #RiseinPower pic.twitter.com/nmbJaDyljl

— Poder in Action (@PoderinAction) March 11, 2019

“All last year Phoenix was the deadliest department in the country by shooting 44 people, killing 23 people,” said Hernandez, whose group at times partners with Puente Arizona, another Phoenix human rights organization.

“We decided last year that we refuse to continue to allow this to happen without at least making it public that this happened.”

She said she wants to send the message that the level of police violence in Phoenix isn’t normal or something people should get used to.

“We need to stop investing so much money in this department and we really need to look at the way this department’s going to be held accountable and how they’re going to be transparent,” she said.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams commissioned an outside study last year in response to the record number of officer-involved shootings. The study was expected to be completed in February, but results have yet to be released.

She said the department already has been changing.

“We’ve made some adjustments in our training to include some of the very scenarios that our officers are facing, that they’ve been in,” Williams said on KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Bruce St. James and Pamela Hughes Show in December.

“We’ve increased our crisis intervention team training. We’ve been working with our community to increase active shooter training.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Ashley Flood contributed to this report.

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