DOJ dropping civil rights investigation into Phoenix Police Department, retracting findings

PHOENIX – The Trump administration is closing the federal investigation into the Phoenix Police Department that found patterns of civil rights violations, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

The DOJ said its Civil Rights Division is retracting findings and closing probes of six police departments, including Phoenix, that were launched under the Biden administration.

“The federal government abandoning this Phoenix investigation is a clear vindication for the city and our department,” Darrell Kriplean, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show.

Since the findings in the Phoenix probe were released last year, the threat of a consent decree had been hanging over the heads of city officials. Kriplean said the potential for court oversight has been hindering efforts to hire a new police chief.

“That’s a huge black cloud over any department to have to deal with the monster machine of the Department of Justice, who feel like they can just act with impunity and really operate in any way they want,” the union leader said.

The city and police department released the following statement:

Throughout the course of the Department of Justice investigation, the Mayor, City Council, City Manager’s Office and the Police Chief have tirelessly focused on enhancing policy, training and accountability measures to ensure the best public safety for everyone who lives, works and plays in Phoenix.

These continuous improvement efforts are ongoing and will not be altered by today’s announcement. In September 2024, the Phoenix City Council and Police leadership proactively developed a comprehensive set of improvement measures across several City Departments. Staff provided an update on those enhancements in the April 15, 2024 Public Safety Improvement Update presented to the City Council.

Significant progress is already underway and will continue as we fulfill our responsibility to serve and protect the community while building trust through transparent, effective, and constitutional law enforcement practices.

The City of Phoenix recognizes the professionalism, dedication, and integrity demonstrated by the sworn officers and professional staff of the Phoenix Police Department. We are grateful for the continued support of our community throughout this process. It is our honor to serve the residents, visitors, and business owners of the great City of Phoenix.

What other police departments were under investigation?

The DOJ also is closing investigations into the Louisiana State Police and city departments in Trenton, New Jersey; Memphis, Tennessee; Mount Vernon, New York; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

“I think they really found that in fact these investigations were wrought with inaccuracies and with straight-up fabrications,” Kriplean said of DOJ officials. “And I don’t think that they wanted their names attached to something like that.”

In addition, the DOJ is beginning the process of dismissing Biden-era lawsuits against the Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, police departments.

“Overbroad police consent decrees divest local control of policing from communities where it belongs, turning that power over to unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats, often with an anti-police agenda,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a press release.

“Today, we are ending the Biden Civil Rights Division’s failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders and police departments with factually unjustified consent decrees.”

What did investigation of Phoenix Police Department say?

The DOJ released the findings of its yearslong investigation into the Phoenix Police Department in June 2024.

The report alleged that police in the nation’s fifth most-populous city regularly used unjustified excessive force, unlawfully detained people experiencing homelessness, targeted people of color, violated rights of protesters and discriminated against people with behavioral health disabilities.

The conduct was found to violate the Constitution’s first, fourth and 14th amendments.

The investigation covered 2016-22 and also included data from 2023 and 2024.

When it came out, then-Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke commended the department’s ongoing reform efforts but said more needs to be done.

In August, the city launched a website with details about many of the cases cited in the DOJ report.

Months before the DOJ findings were released, the Phoenix Police Department published a Road to Reform report highlighting the changes the department already implemented in policy, training and accountability.

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