Phoenix approves Civilian Review Board, but fight over police oversight isn't over

Phoenix created its first-ever Civilian Review Board to accompany the city's police oversight office, but not without a fight.

Many of the policy's earliest architects slammed the new ordinance, which provoked tense pushback Wednesday from multiple council members who felt the decision was rushed and created a policy substantially different from the intended vision.

For at least one council member who opposed the ordinance, Kesha Hodge Washington, the fight's not over. She may ask the council to reconsider a key provision.

The new code nixes the Office of Accountability and Transparency's investigative powers to align with state law and establishes a nine-member Civilian Review Board.

The board will be tasked with reviewing and determining whether the Phoenix Police Department's investigations dealing with use-of-force incidents and claims against officers were completed thoroughly and fairly. The board will have no role in the department's investigations or in disciplining officers but can recommend changes on how the department should conduct future investigations and weigh in on the appropriateness of how officers were disciplined.

Community members and former Phoenix leaders who pioneered Phoenix's initial police oversight model in February 2020 blasted the city for removing OAT's investigative powers from the city code.

"Rather than independent, investigative, transparent, and community-driven civilian oversight, OAT has become a multi-million dollar mechanism for reading police department investigations ... This does nothing to address the police violence epidemic facing Phoenix residents," wrote Viri Hernandez and Ben Laughlin of Poder in Action, Mimi Araya of Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro, Jamaar Williams, Katie Gipson McLean and Michael Ingram.

The five sent their letter to Mayor Kate Gallego and the City Council on Wednesday.

Gallego, Deputy City Manager Ginger Spencer and City Attorney Julie Kreigh said the revisions were done to comply with state law and avoid confusion. Former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation in 2022 that restricted local police oversight bodies from investigating law enforcement. Since then, OAT has operated solely as a review body.

Those opposed to the ordinance changes said the city should have instead kept OAT's authority codified in case the state Legislature ever repeals its laws on police oversight. Some compared it with Arizona's 1868 near-total abortion ban, pointing out how that law stayed dormant on the books until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, then it reactivated.

"They can leave the ordinance the way it is until state law changes and we can have actual civilian review boards that do real work. Anything short of that is a cop-out to try to gut the originally adopted ordinance," McLean said.

McLean and the others' letter sent to Phoenix's elected leaders Wednesday asked them to reject the new ordinance. They voiced additional concern over the mayor's sole authority to select all nine members for appointment.

Multiple city council members expressed the same concern at a policy meeting in March, saying perhaps each council member should pick a person or that some compromise could be struck. Ultimately, council members agreed to let the mayor pick all nine appointees, but only with approval by a 2/3 supermajority of the City Council.

Who is on the Phoenix City Council? What to know about the mayor and the eight other members

Gallego, for her part, told The Arizona Republic it would be more effective to craft a board that has "diverse perspectives and demographics" if one person does it.

But it was neither the removal of OAT's investigative authority nor the appointment process that caused the most heartache and frustration among council members Wednesday.

Instead, it was a last-minute revision to the ordinance requested by Councilmember Ann O'Brien.

O'Brien asked to ban individuals who had filed legal claims or litigation against the Phoenix Police Department from serving on the Civilian Review Board.

Mayor Kate Gallego then narrowed the revision to ban only individuals who had filed claims related to police use of force, in-custody deaths, or incidents with police that resulted in serious bodily injury.

Since July, residents have filed more than 80 claims against Phoenix police, according to the most recent city data. Claims have historically ranged in severity, from minor car accidents involving police vehicles to sexual harassment and death.

In 2019, a woman filed a $12.5 million claim accusing the Phoenix police of conducting an illegal rectal body cavity search as part of a drug-trafficking investigation. The council later paid out $1.6 million.

O'Brien said her revision was about fairness: if former police officers were banned from the review board, so, too, should anyone with a potential anti-police bias or agenda.

Councilman Kevin Robinson, a 36-year Police Department veteran, agreed. He said he hadn't worked for the department in nearly a decade and believed he could render fair, unbiased decisions if he were on the Civilian Review Board. But because of the perception he couldn't be fair, he can't serve, he said.

Since the perception of bias goes both ways, Robinson said, the city should likewise bar anyone who could be perceived as having an anti-police bias.

"When you have those extremes, you're not going to get anywhere," he said. The revision would improve the credibility of the board, he added.

But Councilwoman Hodge Washington argued the change was too substantial to vote on without getting feedback.

"One of the criticisms I have heard regarding the Civilian Review Board is we are taking it away from certain members of the community, and I think those that have had an experience with PD ... should not just be summarily dismissed," Hodge Washington said. "They bring a unique perspective, and if the goal of the Civilian Review Board is to see how we can make more positive change towards our community, I don't think we should necessarily just outright dismiss those individuals."

Councilmembers Laura Pastor, Betty Guardado and the newly appointed Carlos Galindo-Elvira agreed.

"I feel blindsided," Galindo-Elvira said. "This is not the ordinance I came prepared to vote for, or the one that I discussed with constituents."

Pastor was momentarily stunned into silence.

"This doesn't build trust among the community," she said after the pause. "Civilian review was supposed to advance us. But this doesn't, and that was the whole purpose of the Office of Accountability and Transparency."

Guardado said the goal of civilian review was years in the making and residents already had endured significant changes to the vision because of the 2022 state law restrictions.

She pointed out that no members of the public had come to comment on the ordinance vote as reason to believe the public supported it, and that changing it would belie their trust.

Despite the four council members' pleas, the mayor and councilmembers O'Brien, Jim Waring, Debra Stark and Robinson refused to approve the ordinance without O'Brien's revision.

When the same five then voted to approve the Civilian Review Board with O'Brien's ban, Hodge Washington stunned the room with a procedural maneuver.

She voted yes, but only after she clarified rules for how to "reconsider" approved ordinances.

The city attorney informed the council: A single person on the prevailing side of a vote could return the issue to the council to reconsider.

Hodge Washington then explained, "I will vote yes simply so I can be on the prevailing side," and return with new ordinance language for the council to consider.

City code gives Hodge Washington until May 10 to file a letter with the city clerk to request a reconsideration vote. The vote would be placed on the next available voting meeting agenda, which is May 15.

"That was a wise decision," Pastor said in response, visibly surprised.

"It was a good move," O'Brien told The Republic in her office after the meeting. "It was a great move."

Taylor Seely covers Phoenix for The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix approves first-ever Civilian Review Board after tense vote