XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.law-enforcement, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.politics.usa   
   From: busted.katie.hobbs@azcentral.com   
      
   PHOENIX (AZFamily/AP) — Following a nearly three-year investigation, the   
   U.S. Department of Justice has found that the Phoenix Police Department   
   violated people’s rights, discriminated against certain groups and has used   
   excessive force, including “unjustified deadly force.”   
      
   A 126-page report released Thursday morning says the department   
   discriminates against certain races, as well as people with behavioral   
   health disabilities. The report also found that Phoenix police detain and   
   arrest people who are homeless without reasonable suspicion that they   
   committed a crime and unlawfully dispose of their belongings.   
      
   “A person’s constitutional rights do not diminish when they lack   
   shelter,”   
   the report says.   
      
   City leaders responded to the report late Thursday morning, saying time was   
   needed to fully review the report and its findings.   
      
   “We want to see not only what these individual incidents are that the   
   Department of Justice refers to, but we also want to see whether it included   
   policy change or whether it possibly included discipline, or other changes   
   within the department as far as practices go,” Interim Police Chief Michael   
   Sullivan said in a written statement.   
      
   See the city’s full response here.   
      
   This is the first time the department has issued findings like this   
   regarding treatment of Native American people and homeless people, said   
   Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke.   
      
   Additionally, the DOJ says officers violated the rights of people engaged in   
   protected speech and expression.   
      
   The sweeping investigation found “pervasive failings” that have   
   “disguised   
   and perpetuated” problems for years, according to the report.   
      
   “The Justice Department has concluded there is reasonable cause to believe   
   that the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department engage in a   
   pattern or practice of conduct that deprives its residents and visitors,   
   including Black, Hispanic, and Native American people, of their rights under   
   the Constitution and federal law,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said   
   in a news release. “The release of today’s findings report is an important   
   step toward accountability and transparency, and we are committed to working   
   with the City of Phoenix and Phoenix Police Department on meaningful reform   
   that protects the civil rights and safety of Phoenix residents and   
   strengthens police-community trust.”   
      
   The findings were announced during a news conference hosted by Kristen   
   Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.   
      
   “Too frequently, they dispatch police alone when it would be appropriate to   
   send behavioral health responders,” the Justice Department said. Officers   
   assume people with disabilities are dangerous and resort to force rather   
   than de-escalation tactics, leading to force and criminal consequences for   
   those with behavioral health disabilities, rather than finding them care,   
   the Justice Department said.   
      
   The report says that some laws, including drug and other low-level offenses,   
   were more severely enforced by officers against Black, Hispanic and Native   
   Americans, and that police use unjustified force against people who are   
   handcuffed.   
      
   “Officers rely on less-lethal force to attempt to resolve situations   
   quickly, often when no force is necessary and without any meaningful attempt   
   to de-escalate,” the report said.   
      
   Police shoot projectiles at people without evidence the person is an   
   immediate threat, the report said, citing the case of a man who was accused   
   of taking his mother’s car without permission.   
      
   “The man was leaving a laundromat when an officer immediately fired   
   Pepperballs at him, and continued to fire after the man was on his knees and   
   had curled his body onto the sidewalk,” the report said.   
      
   The report also raised serious concerns about the police department’s   
   treatment of children “and the lasting impact aggressive police encounters   
   have on their wellbeing.”   
      
   The agency first announced its investigation in August 2021 into whether   
   officers have been using excessive force and abusing homeless people. It   
   also looked at whether officers discriminated against people and if they   
   retaliated against protesters.   
      
   Earlier this year, the city sent a letter to the Justice Department,   
   criticizing them for not sharing their findings ahead of a public release.   
      
   As of February, the city of Phoenix has spent $7.5 million on the Justice   
   Department investigation.   
      
   Police shooting victim’s family reacts   
   The family of Ali Osman has mixed emotions about the report.   
      
   They feel validated the DOJ found the exact same severe issues within the   
   Phoenix Police Department that they felt led to Osman’s death and are   
   hopeful for change, but they also are alarmed by how many other incidents   
   were cited with the same problems.   
      
   Back in September of 2022, Osman, whose family said he suffered from mental   
   health issues, was throwing rocks at officers’ cars and wouldn’t stop when   
   told.   
      
   The DOJ report said the officers called for backup for less lethal options,   
   but instead of waiting for those units to arrive, officers got out of their   
   cars and the report says fired an unreasonable four shots, killing Osman.   
      
      
   “I think what was more not alarming, or more surprising to me, was just how   
   many incidents and instances that this happens in,” said Quacy Smith, the   
   attorney who represented the Osman family in their wrongful death suit   
   against the City of Phoenix and Phoenix PD. “If these are the ones DOJ   
   cites, imagine the hundreds that never get the attention that the Ali Osman   
   case gets.”   
      
   The Osman family ended up settling with the City for $5.5 million.   
      
   The officer who shot Osman was fired from the police department earlier this   
   year.   
      
   “What would be gratifying to me is if no one in our city is killed like Ali   
   Osman was again. That’s what would gratify me. I’m not interested in some   
   report or findings. I’m interested in tangible solutions,” Smith said.   
   “On   
   behalf of Ali and so many others, don’t stop. Enter the agreement with the   
   DOJ and let’s finish the job.”   
      
   Smith said lack of training, or poor training at the academy, is much to   
   blame for many of these incidents.   
      
   “It allows for escalation instead of de-escalation, and guess what? It’s   
   hard for a guy that you just killed to give his side of the story,” Smith   
   said.   
      
   The investigation into the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department   
   is the third sweeping civil investigation into a law enforcement agency   
   brought by the Justice Department in the Biden administration and comes as   
   the department has worked to shift its priorities to focus on policing and   
   civil rights. Few such investigations were opened during the Trump   
   administration.   
      
   Attorney General Merrick Garland said the probe will also examine whether   
      
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