Phoenix City Council will vote on $232,000 salary for temporary police chief from Baltimore
Former Baltimore Deputy Police Chief Michael Sullivan could be on the job in Phoenix on Sept. 12 to lead the beleaguered department through a federal investigation, as well as recruitment and retention issues.
The Phoenix City Council is scheduled to approve Sullivan's one-year, $232,000 contract as temporary police chief on Wednesday.
Sullivan also is slated to receive a 9% deferred compensation plan, a $120 monthly cellphone allowance and a $5,000 relocation reimbursement.
In June, the City Council approved police pay hikes that included a 56% bump in starting pay for police chiefs to about $223,000 from $143,000, as well as making Phoenix's starting police officers the highest paid in the Valley in an effort to fill vacancies.
City documents say Sullivan's contract could be extended a second year and stipulates that the city will pay out the full salary in the event the city fires him without cause.
Only a summary of the contract, not the contract itself, was included on the city website. The Arizona Republic has requested a copy of the contract.
Sullivan will replace outgoing police Chief Jeri Williams who announced her retirement in May. Williams was the city's first female police chief and has served in the post for five years. She also makes $232,000, though she started at about $197,000.
Williams retires after 5 years
Her retirement came a month after three Phoenix police commanders accused her and her second-in-command in a lawsuit of falsely claiming they weren't informed of plans to charge protesters as gang members after a 2020 protest. The commanders claim they were unfairly demoted from assistant chiefs after investigations into the matter.
Williams had received a one-day suspension because of the matter.
The gang charges against the protesters were dropped when the Maricopa County Attorney's Office acknowledged the charges were "deeply flawed."
City Manager Jeff Barton said he had to work quickly to find a replacement after Williams' unexpected retirement announcement, and that he prioritized finding someone who had experience with Department of Justice investigations.
Leading Phoenix through Justice Department investigation
Sullivan spent most of his career with the Louisville Police Department in Kentucky. In 2021, he took over the Baltimore Police Department’s Compliance Bureau that made efforts to ensure the department followed the mandates of Baltimore’s Federal Consent Decree, born out of the DOJ’s 2015 investigation after the death of Freddie Gray.
The DOJ launched an investigation into Phoenix Police Department last year for:
Excessive use of force by Phoenix police officers.
Retaliation against protesters.
Discriminatory policing practices.
Police response to people with disabilities and people experiencing homelessness.
In Phoenix, hiring a police chief falls to the city manager. Sullivan was unilaterally appointed by Barton and did not require City Council approval, nor did the process involve public input. However, the council must approve his contract.
It's not unusual for city managers to appoint temporary hires without public input, but what is different in this situation is that Barton doesn't plan to immediately recruit a permanent hire. Instead he'll wait until the DOJ investigation is almost over, which could last two years.
Barton has said repeatedly that the city will provide extensive opportunity for public input when it hires a permanent police chief.
Reach reporter Taylor Seely at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or 480-476-6116. Follow her on Twitter @taylorseely95 or Instagram @taylor.azc.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix set to pay temporary police chief Michael Sullivan $232,000
