Phoenix city manager, DOJ to begin talks on police reform; no elected officials on trip to DC

Phoenix City Manager Jeff Barton will travel to Washington, D.C. on Friday to begin negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, more than three months after the DOJ released its investigation of the city that found routine brutality and discrimination.

Barton will be joined by Assistant City Manager Lori Bays, police Chief Michael Sullivan, City Attorney Julie Kriegh and attorneys from Dentons and Steptoe & Johnson, firms the City Council hired for legal assistance. They will stay in D.C. overnight. The team will not include Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego or any members of the City Council.

It was not immediately clear who from the Justice Department will attend.

City Communications Director Dan Wilson said, "The purpose of this initial meeting is to begin productive discussions between the City of Phoenix and the DOJ about a path forward that works best for the members of the Phoenix community."

Wilson and Gallego's spokesperson Arielle Devorah declined to explain why no elected officials were attending, saying it was a subject of executive session. Executive sessions are legally allowed confidential meetings. Attendees of such meetings are not allowed to publicly discuss what was said.

Councilmembers on Thursday expressed mixed feelings about whether elected officials should have gone.

Councilmember Jim Waring said he couldn't discuss how or why that decision came to fruition but that he personally disagreed with it.

"I'm not saying I should be there, but ... I would like the idea of an elected official going," Waring said, explaining that he wanted someone who directly interacts with and was elected by the public in the negotiation room.

Councilmember Carlos Galindo-Elvira supported management alone going.

"I think that if you're going to have elected officials (there), it's going to be all or none. Because not one council member can speak on behalf of the entire council," Galindo-Elvira said.

He said he was open to elected officials getting involved later "depending on where the conversation is going."

Councilmember Laura Pastor said the city "sent leadership with expertise in policing, legal negotiations, and city management to lead these critical discussions. I don’t think it’s typical for elected representatives to attend, but if one were to, it would be most appropriate for the mayor, who was elected to represent the entire city."

In other cities investigated by the Justice Department, mayors were part of negotiations, such as Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. But a key difference is that those cities operate under a strong-mayor form of government in which the mayor acts as the city CEO.

Phoenix has a council-manager form of government, which puts Barton at the helm. Gallego represents all of the city's 1.6 million residents but has no more voting power than the other eight council members, who each represent roughly 200,000 constituents.

Vice Mayor Debra Stark said she had "mixed emotions" about no elected leaders going. Both she and Councilmember Ann O'Brien said it made sense to leave it to the lawyers given the Justice Department could sue.

Still, Stark wondered if having an elected official would go a long way in showing the Justice Department the city was serious about reform.

Councilmembers Stark, O'Brien, Galindo-Elvira and Kevin Robinson were hopeful the negotiations would go well, though Stark acknowledged the possibility the DOJ might still sue Phoenix.

"I suspect there might be a lawsuit, but I'm always the optimist and I'm hoping we can come to some terms."

She said she thought Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke "seemed heartfelt" about working with the city the day the report dropped.

Pastor said she hopes the negotiations bring "an agreement that includes monitoring, timeline and real accountability."

What are Phoenix officials and the DOJ negotiating?

The Justice Department released its three-year investigation of the city of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department on June 13. The 126-page report found the city and police force routinely used excessive force, discriminated against residents and illegally seized unhoused people’s belongings.

DOJ investigators say their findings in Phoenix were so “egregious” that a consent decree is needed to ensure constitutional policing.

Sometimes referred to simply as “federal oversight,” a consent decree is a legally binding contract enforceable by a judge. It includes measurable police reforms mutually agreed upon by the city and DOJ, and compliance is monitored by an outside entity.

But Phoenix leaders for months have insisted the city can reform its police department without federal help and have resisted signing a consent decree.

Even before the investigation concluded, city attorneys wrote the Justice Department asking for a different resolution. The Police Department published the "Road to Reform," a report outlining changes made or underway in response to the DOJ investigation.

On Tuesday, the City Council approved new staff positions and mandated changes to improve police data collection and accountability to address critical flaws the DOJ reported. Notably, some of the changes include a "police analyst team" to help the department with reforms recommended by the Justice Department.

Gallego said the change represented "a transformation in government," while residents expressed skepticism that meaningful change would follow.

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 city manager to begin negotiations with DOJ on police reform