'This is essential': Phoenix police oversight office to move forward with monitoring investigations only

Phoenix has no plans to add police officers to its Office of Accountability and Transparency — a new requirement under law for any group seeking to investigate law enforcement.

The Office is instead opting to change course, moving forward with monitoring Phoenix police investigations as opposed to leading them, its director, Roger Smith, told The Arizona Republic.

"It's more important to have monitoring if you don't have investigation because you need civilian independent eyes on this process," Smith said. "This is essential."

The shift brings the office into compliance with the new law, which took aim at the group's efforts to conduct investigations independent of the police officers it was investigating. It also allows the office to "preserve the flexibility in hiring," Smith said.

Many police agencies in Arizona, including the Phoenix Police Department, lead their own investigations into shootings by their own officers, as well as other incidents worthy disciplinary probes into possible misconduct. Occasionally, an agency will defer an investigation to a neighboring law enforcement agency or task force.

But community members and activists have long questioned the credibility of police investigations, with many saying it poses a conflict of interest even if referred to another agency. Phoenix's new accountability office was created in part to quell those concerns by conducting investigations that were independent of police.

There are few differences between conducting investigations and monitoring them, according to Smith. While the office would no longer be responsible for conducting an investigation's interviews or compiling its findings, it could still evaluate the reliability of those interviews and findings and express its views on those matters in a report to the City Manager, Police Department and a future civilian review board, he said.

"Just as an investigation was seen and understood as a necessary part of this process, monitoring in the absence of an investigation should be seen as even more necessary," Smith said.

Law sought to change OAT, future entities like it

The office was formally approved by the Phoenix City Council in May 2021 after public demand for greater oversight of the Police Department, which has been at the center of several controversies in recent years and is currently being investigated by the Department of Justice. Smith began his role as director in December 2021.

The office was initially tasked with investigating incidents at the Police Department involving potential misconduct. The OAT could also recommend disciplinary action and proposals related to policy and training. It was also designed to exclude law enforcement officials and their relatives as employees in an effort to be impartial.

But, House Bill 2721 halted those plans when it went into effect on Sept. 24 by requiring entities like the Office of Accountability and Transparency to either include in its investigations law enforcement officers from the same agency it was investigating or forfeit its investigative authority. The bill's sponsor, Rep. John Kavanagh, previously said he crafted the legislation because the office fell outside the scope of a separate bill he penned requiring police participation on investigatory boards that vote.

"The city of Phoenix, either by will or luck, created a different entity that does the same thing," Kavanagh, who is also a former cop, said at the time. "It's not a board, it's a department. It doesn't have voting members, I have no idea how they come to decisions, but it circumvented the spirit of the law."

While the city of Phoenix publicly opposed the bill because it said it took away a local government's ability to make its own decisions, it hasn't yet formally challenged the new law. There are currently no plans to challenge the law, according to city spokesperson Ashley Patton.

The city has also not taken action on establishing a civilian review board meant to accompany the office, Patton said. Smith told The Republic the office was not involved in the creation of the board. 

OAT actively monitoring 3 Phoenix police shootings

Smith said in a recent update to Phoenix City Council he's filled the roles of administrative assistant, research analyst and community engagement coordinator since he officially began hiring in April. He aims to be fully staffed by the start of next year.

Positions for an attorney, director of mediation and a second community engagement coordinator have also been posted. Its final eight positions will be posted by the end of November, including several monitor positions that were previously planned to be investigator positions, Smith said.

"What's good about it is that this (law) came before we had actually hired any investigators," he told The Republic. "But a lot of the same skills that are required to be an effective investigator, in fact, all of the same skills, are the skills you would need to effectively monitor an investigation. So, essentially, we'd be drawing from the same pool, they just would have a change in their responsibilities."

The office has held about 150 meetings with community members so far, which Smith expected to ramp up as more staff is hired. Some meetings included families of people involved in Phoenix police use-of-force incidents while others involved people who had complaints, observations or questions about police, according to Smith.

In the meantime, the office has already begun monitoring all three of the Police Department's shootings in September, including one in which Phoenix police officers shot and killed Ali Osman after they claimed he threw rocks at them. The 34-year-old's family has since filed a notice of claim against the city and its Police Department alleging wrongful death.

Monitoring these initial investigations will help the office better understand timetables and document sharing processes with the Police Department, Smith said. That, in turn, will help the office develop a memorandum of understanding with the Police Department for future exchanges of information, he explained.

Reach criminal justice reporter at chelsea.curtis@arizonarepublic.com or at 480-262-1061. Follow her on Twitter @curtis_chels. 

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix police oversight office to move forward with monitoring investigations only