Phoenix police officers placed on leave after traffic stop
Criminal probe launched into Phoenix officers
Two officers face a criminal investigation after allegedly failing to record and report a use of force during a traffic stop. FOX 10's Megan Spector reports.
PHOENIX - Two Phoenix police officers have been placed on leave as the department investigates allegations of criminal conduct.
What we know:
In a statement released on Aug. 17, Phoenix Police say based on preliminary information, the incident stems from a traffic stop that happened at around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 5 in South Phoenix.
"During the traffic stop, force was used by the officers and not reported as required by policy, including the failure to activate their body‑worn cameras," read a portion of the statement. "Although details remain limited at this early stage, we recognize the seriousness of any allegation involving potential criminal behavior by our personnel."
While Phoenix Police have yet to release many details, Tempe Police shared new information on Aug. 18 about what led up to the alleged incident, with them saying that their officers responded to a call for a disabled vehicle. When the Tempe officers arrived, the people at the scene claimed they had been assaulted by two people they believed were police.
In their statement, Tempe Police said the alleged victims "did not say they thought the suspects were Phoenix Police."
"The victims were unsure of who the suspects were, but believed them to be ‘police’ of some sort," read a portion of the statement.
Since investigators determined the alleged assault actually happened near 19th Avenue and Broadway, the case was turned over to Phoenix Police.
What we don't know:
Phoenix Police did not identify the two officers allegedly involved.
Local perspective:
Phoenix Police are now conducting a criminal investigation into these allegations.
"Once they are done doing the criminal investigation to see if there are any criminal violations, ultimately, these officers would be charged in criminal court or if there’s no criminal violation, they won’t be charged, and it will go into more of a Professional Standards Bureau," civil rights attorney Ben Taylor said.
This process is protocol, but it can create questions about transparency.
"A lot of people think it’s the fox guarding the hen house," said Taylor. "When you have the fox guarding the hen house, a lot of people are nervous and say: will this be a fair investigation? Sometimes people ask for an outside agency to come in to investigate, so hopefully, Phoenix Police is transparent and they do a thorough investigation."
What they're saying:
This incident falls under Phoenix City Councilwoman Anna Hernandez's district. Her office sent the following statement:
"These allegations and the preliminary details are yet another example of egregious behavior committed by Phoenix Police against our community. These preliminary details add to a long list of violence Phoenix Police has a history of committing – this was confirmed by the Department of Justice report and has been reinforced over the last 17 months since I took office. While my office does not yet have the full details of what transpired, I am not surprised by any of it. And I am beyond frustrated – and imagine our community is as well – that a department that we give $1.3 billion in taxpayer money keeps finding ways to brutalize our communities, especially Black and Latinx communities.
Our community expects a full and transparent investigation into this interaction by our officers. We must root out whether this was just another failure to follow policy or if this is a pattern of off-the record stops being conducted by our department."
Retired officer weighs in
"Using force without a body worn camera – that’s problematic. Because at the end of the day, that’s what the public wants. They want documentation," retired Chandler police officer Josh Logan said.
Logan says when it comes to body-worn cameras, it is a policy officers should know.
"Most police departments that you see that have gone widespread with body worn cameras, it’s prior to enforcement activity, that has to be activated prior to enforcement activity," Logan said.
The goal is to document cases like this one.
"However innocuous that enforcement may be, it can always turn into an actual physical force, up and to including deadly force incident, and that is why it needs to be documented on the body worn camera," Logan said. "The days of using the officer’s statement and not using body worn camera is pretty much dead. It’s over. The public expects and demands that if officers have body-worn cameras, they activate them. Plain and simple." Logan said.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from a statement released by the Phoenix Police Department.