Here’s what Phoenix citizens had on their minds at police town hall

PHOENIX – The city of Phoenix this week released a summary of the written comments submitted by citizens who attended a community meeting with Mayor Kate Gallego and Chief Jeri Williams earlier this month.

About 125 comments were transcribed by city staff. Ninety other attendees made requests to speak at the June 18 town hall at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church.

During the three-hour meeting, two staff members summarized comments on flip charts on stage. Those summary notes were also part of the information released Monday, which is embedded here:

The written comments echoed the sentiments expressed by speakers, many of whom asked for change, including the firing of officers who were deemed to have used excessive force against citizens.

Dravon Ames, Iesha Harper and their two children, the family seen aggressively handled by police in viral cellphone videos, spoke during the event, which occurred several days after they filed a $10 million notice of claim against the city.

The video footage shows one officer pointing his gun and yelling expletives at Harper, who is pregnant and holding a baby, and another roughly handling Ames. Police had responded to a shoplifting call in which a 4-year-old allegedly took a doll from a discount store.

“No one should ever try to justify what happened that day,” Ames told the crowd.

Chief Jeri Williams gets boos, disbelief from audience when she says change doesn’t begin with ⁦@phoenixpolice⁩. ⁦@KTAR923⁩ pic.twitter.com/Boe6bxT4X2

— Peter Samore (@ktarpetersamore) June 19, 2019

Williams and Gallego were booed and interrupted during their time to speak.

Gallego, the last speaker, spoke for less than a minute. She acknowledged that the citizen concerns wouldn’t go unnoticed.

“This is a very difficult conversation and it will continue,” she said. “We are going to come back in 30 days with recommendations.”

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