Phoenix police unveil crime reduction plan after data shows homicides up 39%
The Phoenix Police Department has unveiled a new plan to reduce crime after newly released numbers show violent acts are on the rise, with homicides skyrocketing to their highest numbers in at least six years, and aggravated assaults up sharply.
The department released the crime reduction plan Monday, stating in a news release that it is designed to "provide guidance to staff on preventing and reducing crime by utilizing a community and victim-centered approach." Phoenix police Chief Michael Sullivan directed his staff to come up with the plan.
It calls out five goals to "drive down" violent crime by 5% and property crime by 8%.
The plan to curb rising violent crime comes as the Phoenix Police Department is struggling to fill hundreds of vacancies and faces continuing outside scrutiny.
The Phoenix Police Department has been under investigation by the Department of Justice since August 2021 after claims of abuse, excessive use of force and discrimination by police. The probe followed court filings, media reports and citizen complaints stemming from a record year of police shootings, a string of high-profile deaths at the hands of Phoenix officers, and reports of overzealous policing at the downtown homeless encampments and at political protests.
Sullivan took on these challenges when he was sworn in last October, after performing a similar role when he was the deputy commissioner of the compliance bureau for the Baltimore Police Department. While there, he was tasked with ensuring that the department was following the mandates of a federal order that resulted from a 2015 DOJ investigation after the death of Freddie Gray.
What is in the plan?
Over the past six years, homicides shot up 39% and aggravated assaults rose 14%, Phoenix Police Department statistics show.
Last year was the worst for homicides in the period from 2017 to 2022, with 223 reported. The worst year for aggravated assaults was 2020, with 9,113 reported.
Phoenix listed five key goals to combat the problem:
Implement an operational model focused on reducing crime through strategies, performance measurement and accountability metrics.
Reduce violent crime by 5% and property crime by 8%. The plan does specify a deadline for this goal.
Address the most active crime hotspots through targeted, high-visibility policing.
Launch a program addressing non-fatal shootings, gun violence and weapons offenses. Part of that goal is to target prohibited possessors, people who are banned by the courts from carrying firearms.
Implement a comprehensive, prioritized approach to arresting suspects, finding dangerous fugitives and serving warrants.
The plan calls for a community and victim-centered approach; reducing crime through solutions-oriented strategies, data and intelligence-driven policing; and a commitment to self-improvement and self-evaluation of what works or doesn't.
The plan also calls for department employees to own responsibility for their actions.
The department expects to focus on four key areas: the most violent people, the most active places where criminal behaviors are concentrated, prohibited firearm possessors, and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.
"By addressing our most violent hotspots and high-risk individuals, we will achieve a reduction in the criminal activity within our City that significantly impacts the quality of life for our community members," the plan states.
The plan says that there are key performance indicators for each focus area, but does not list what those indicators are.
To reduce the violent crime rate by 5%, the department stated it plans to accurately use information, quickly allocate the appropriate resources, ensure effective tactics and training are implemented, and collaborate with internal and external partners, including prosecutors.
All units of Phoenix police, including patrol, detectives, and the special assignments unit, will contribute to carrying out the plan. For example, patrol officer actions are as simple as providing a "prompt response to citizen calls for service," or officers must "utilize data-driven processes to engage in apprehending violent and repeat offenders."
Relationships Phoenix police have with community members, community partners and stakeholders are also a part of the crime reduction plan. Officers' engagement with individuals through open communication or letting community members establish new groups to advocate for their neighbors' safety are paths to reducing crime in neighborhoods, the plan stated.
The plan is vague about how law enforcement personnel are to build community trust aside from what the community may already expect them to do — such as focusing on issues of public concern or having meaningful engagements within neighborhoods to increase safety.
Sullivan has granted one 10-minute interview to speak about the plan. It is the first interview granted since his last 10-minute sit-down in September. The Arizona Republic has made multiple requests for interviews with Sullivan since late December. None has been granted.
Critics in the community, and some on the previous City Council, have accused the department of being unaccountable for years, but not just because of media access. Phoenix officers had been involved in a number of incidents that drew criticism from community members and city officials alike.
In May 2020, a Phoenix officer fatally shot Ryan Whitaker after responding to a noise complaint call in Ahwatukee, seconds after interacting with him. That June, Phoenix officers shot James "Jay" Porter Garcia 16 times while he was sitting in a friend's car outside his house in Maryvale. And just two months before the DOJ investigation announcement, the family of Muhammad Abdul Muhaymin Jr. had asked the Attorney General's Office to open an investigation into his 2017 death when he was held down by the neck and head by Phoenix police.
In 2018, Phoenix police were found to have shot at more people than any other department in the U.S.
Community members who protested downtown after the death of George Floyd were met with rubber bullets, tear gas and arrest by Phoenix police. An October 2020 protest resulted in 15 adults being arrested and falsely accused of gang-related charges.
One claim in the DOJ investigation announcement was whether officers were unlawfully disposing of materials belonging to the unhoused population. The department has received criticism on all sides as to how it handles the "The Zone" homeless encampment: either too much force or not enough to stop crimes from happening.
The department has been accused of being unaccountable and unresponsive to the public, prompting the Phoenix City Council to vote for a civilian oversight office in May 2021 to investigate police misconduct claims.
Nine months into his role, Sullivan's crime reduction plan is his highest profile attempt to date to change the culture and the narrative. Pulling it off could be one of his biggest tests yet.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix police unveil plan to reverse violent crime spike
