The National Police Foundation

The National Police Foundation recently released a report on Officer-Involved Shootings in Phoenix. They were
investigating an “alarming” increase in Officer-Involved shootings in 2018, 44 vs. an average of 21 over recent
history. Twenty-three deaths resulted from the 44 shootings.
Some interesting notes from the report (optional):
https://www.phoenix.gov/policesite/Documents/NPF_OIS_Study.pdf (Links to an external site.)
1) Poverty is higher than Phoenix than the rest of the state. (Not in the report is that Arizona has the 8th
highest poverty rate in the nation: Source: worldpopulationreview.com).
2) Violent crime is increasing in Phoenix, especially aggravated assaults. However, violent crime was lower in
2018 than 2017.
3) Arizona is 39th in the US for dealing with mental health issues.
4) Phoenix ranks high in the Washington Post’s Fatal Force data-set: (1st in total deaths, 6th per 100,000 in
population and 7th per 1,000 violent crimes)
5) Phoenix officers were significantly more likely to be assaulted with guns in 2018, more than double than the
totals of the prior two years.
After discussing their recommendations (data collection, training, staffing), this is part of their conclusion.
However, the data shows some trends, and more work needed to address underlying strains between the
community and department.
Many community members were concerned after the Chief of Police presented information that a higher
number of officers were assaulted. The data supports this – it is apparent that assaults on officers were higher
than past years, and more OIS subjects were armed with weapons, and guns (or simulated guns) in 2018. We
strongly caution against pointing to this as the sole reason for the 2018 rise in OIS. There are areas where
PPD can do better, as discussed in the findings and recommendations section above.
In our interviews with PPD officers, supervisors, investigators, and the community, we recognized another
interesting trend. Both sides agreed on many topics – they simply see them from differing perspectives. There
are a few key examples of this. First, both community members and police say there is more distrust. The
community argued that lack of accountability, transparency, and actions by both PPD and agencies across the
country have led to a greater distrust of PPD and law enforcement in general. The police say there is more
distrust of the community due to the “Ferguson Effect,” and their encounters with individuals who are openly
defiant, or resist law enforcement. Second, interviewees from both groups stated that community members are
more willing to go “toe to toe” with officers. From the community perspective, it is because of frustration, or a
feeling that they need to “fight for their lives,” and from the officers, they feel that it is due to the lack of respect
and wanting to “fight to fight”. (p.70).
Take on one or more of these Questions:
1) If you were the Chief of the City of Phoenix, would you have requested this report, or would have waited for
a more clearly established data trend?
2) Can the report be seen as a “presentation strategy” to enhance legitimacy?
3) Is there a community obligation to assist the police by addressing issues such as poverty and mental
health?
4) Is the national trend (what police called the “Ferguson effect”) as important as local concerns (what
community members called the “Joe Arpaio effect” earlier in the report). Do you think either of those trends are
real?