As a final report from the Department of Justice looms, city officials are “surprised and disappointed” that federal investigators won’t show them a draft copy of their investigation into Phoenix police.
The access Phoenix is seeking would be unprecedented in DOJ pattern-or-practice investigations.
Critics also find the city’s request to be audacious based on its recent history with other outside investigations.
“The city’s position is completely disingenuous,” said Jared Keenan, an attorney with ACLU Arizona. “I think the city is attempting to get ahead of this report.”
RELATED: Phoenix accused of hiding ‘critical’ reports about protest response
Phoenix wants to see the DOJ’s finding report in advance in order to correct any factual inaccuracies, according to a series of letters sent between city and federal attorneys.
“We believe that such access would be in the best interests of the Department of Justice (DOJ) as well as the City of Phoenix and is required as a matter of fundamental fairness,” wrote Michael Bromwich, a former high-ranking DOJ attorney now representing Phoenix.
In a return letter dated Nov. 29, 2023, United States Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said it is not the DOJ’s practice to provide pre-release access.
“We do not plan to change our practices regarding any findings report that we may issue regarding the Phoenix investigation,” she wrote.
The city and its police department are under a sweeping federal probe that is focused on use of force, discriminatory policing, the treatment of people experiencing homelessness, response to people in crisis, and retaliation against protesters.
To highlight why Keenan agrees with the DOJ’s denial, he pointed to how Phoenix handled outside investigations into massive scandals surrounding their false arrests of protesters in 2020.
“Even if the DOJ were considering turning over a report early, they shouldn’t do it in a situation like this with the City of Phoenix,” he said. “Because the city has shown time after time that it is more interested in protecting the image of the Phoenix police department than the rights and lives of community members.”
In a series of investigative reports, ABC15 exposed how officers wrongfully arrested more than 100 demonstrators with copy-and-paste statements and how police worked with prosecutors to invent a gang to falsely charge protesters as members.
Phoenix brought in three entities to probe different aspects of their protest response in the wake of the scandals: Arizona State University, 21CP, and the Ballard Spahr law firm.
But in two of those taxpayer-funded projects, Phoenix has blocked public release and aggressively fought to keep their findings a secret.
As for the third project, Ballard Spahr’s report into the false gang charges, investigators wrote that Phoenix interfered with the probe.
“PPD did not provide certain information we requested and, on multiple occasions, certain relevant information was provided to the Investigation Team several weeks after that information was known to PPD,” Ballard Spahr attorneys wrote.
RELATED: Phoenix city leaders push back even before DOJ probe is finished
ABC15 asked Keenan if he believed the DOJ withholds drafts of their federal reports to protect the integrity of investigations.
“The potential for shenanigans or for evidence to go missing or things to get covered up is likely one of the main reasons why the DOJ doesn’t release these reports early to city officials,” he said.
In her November letter, Clarke said the DOJ appreciated Phoenix’s cooperation in the investigation and interim Chief Michael Sullivan’s request for feedback on reform ideas during their recent interview with him.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
