During the first seven months of the year, Phoenix police officers shot and killed four people — a number notable for how small it was. The year before, Phoenix cops had shot and killed 14 people, up from 12 the year before. Then suddenly, after four killings to start 2025, Phoenix police weapons went quiet.
They’re not so quiet anymore. After going exactly six months without a police shooting death, Phoenix officers have resumed fatally shooting people at an alarming rate. Since Aug. 19, a span of 41 days, Phoenix cops have shot and killed four people. Another two people were shot but survived their injuries.
It’s not clear whether the Phoenix Police Department’s six-month dry spell or its sudden spate of killings was the result of some policy change or a statistical quirk. Data on the department’s officer-involved shooting dashboard doesn’t appear to have been updated in months…