(CN) — The Department of Justice will investigate use of force and civil rights practices among police in Arizona’s largest city, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday.
The investigation of the Phoenix Police Department follows the DOJ’s “extensive review” of publicly available information and will cover several areas, Garland said during a news conference announcing the probe.
The DOJ will consider whether department practices include use of excessive force, discrimination under the Civil Rights or Americans with Disabilities acts, or retaliates against people exercising free speech.
“This includes whether decisions to criminally detain individuals with behavioral health disabilities are proper,” Garland said.
The probe will also look at how the department’s nearly 3,000 officers seize and dispose of homeless people’s belongings, he said.
The “pattern or practice” investigation falls under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, which prohibits police organizations from maintaining a pattern of behavior that deprives Americans of constitutional rights, the DOJ said in a news release.
Garland was accompanied at the news conference by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who leads the agency’s Civil Rights Division.
“One of the highest priorities of the Civil Rights Division is to ensure that every person in this country benefits from policing that is lawful, effective, transparent and free from discrimination,” Clarke said.
The federal agency contacted Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, Police Chief Jeri Williams and other city officials of the investigation, which will include outreach to community organizations to gather input on their experiences with Phoenix police.
“I welcome the U.S. Department of Justice review of the Phoenix Police Department,” Gallego said in a news release. “Comprehensive reform of policing in the city of Phoenix has been my priority since the first day I took office. The recommendations that will result from this review will assist us in our ongoing efforts to become an even safer, stronger, more equitable city.”
Under Gallegos, the city will soon have its first Office of Police Accountability and Transparency, which will investigate allegations of police wrongdoing.
At a news conference flanked by department leadership, Williams vowed to cooperate.
“The Department of Justice inquiry is another opportunity to further improve the department,” she said.
Michael “Britt” London, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, the union representing officers in the department, also said his organization will help.
"We are confident in the work of the Phoenix Police Department and our officers on the street, and we will fully cooperate with the Department of Justice investigation,” he said.
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