PHOENIX — The recent wave of shootings involving Phoenix police officers sparked public outrage shortly before the Phoenix City Council convened on Wednesday.
Several community advocacy groups, including Black Lives Matter and Poder in Action, gathered to decry the shootings and call for change.
Monica Varrientos, an organizer with Poder in Action, called for Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano to implement reforms that will reduce police violence.
“In the two months since Chief Giordano started, there have been 10 shootings by Phoenix police,” Varrientos said.
“That is one shooting every six days. Six of these shootings have resulted in the death of our neighbors, our family members, our friends. This is the highest rate of shooting since 2018, the year the department shot 44 people.”
Phoenix Police Department’s newest chief took office after DOJ dropped report
Giordano took office in August, a few months after the Trump administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) dropped its civil rights investigation into the Phoenix Police Department.
Under former President Joe Biden’s administration, the DOJ released a scathing report that found patterns of egregious civil rights violations in June 2024.
The DOJ found that the department 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, according to then-Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke.
In May, President Donald Trump’s DOJ said its Civil Rights Division retracted findings and closed probes of six police departments, including Phoenix’s, that were launched under the Biden administration.
In a statement to KTAR News 92.3 FM, a police spokesperson said the department is committed to being transparent about shootings involving Phoenix police officers.
The department maintains an online dashboard the public can use as a resource for shootings involving police.
What changes do community groups want to see from Phoenix police?
The organizers called for various changes, including faster release of body-camera footage. They also called for more investments in community safety and a passage of a Family Bill of Rights that would empower victims of police violence.
One speaker at the event, Ahmed Wali with Mass Liberation Arizona, called for funds to be redirected to various community resources.
“We demand a permanent freeze on police budget increases, and that those dollars be redirected to what actually keeps communities alive, like housing, like healthcare and like youth services,” Wali said.
“We demand full investment in community-led alternatives, community crisis responses and mutual aid programs led by the people most impacted,” he added.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Heidi Hommel contributed to this report.
The post Community groups raise outcry over 10 recent shootings involving Phoenix police appeared first on KTAR.
