The Phoenix Police Department regularly violates the constitutional rights of its most vulnerable residents, including minors, homeless people, racial minorities, and those experiencing mental health crises, according to a report released Thursday by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The investigators documented incidents where Phoenix police fabricated incident reports, needlessly used physical force and dangerous restraints, illegally detained homeless people and destroyed their property, delayed medical aid to wounded suspects, and assaulted people for criticizing or filming them.
The report concluded that “systemic problems” and “pervasive failings” in the department’s policies, training, and accountability mechanisms have led to widespread use of unconstitutional tactics, excessive force, and illegal retaliation against residents, violating their First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
“Phoenix residents deserve nothing less than fair, non-discriminatory, and constitutional policing,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division said in a press release announcing the findings.