Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee Meeting - January 8, 2025
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee Meeting - January 8, 2025
The Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee met on January 8, 2025, from approximately 10:15 AM to 12:10 PM (MST) to discuss several public safety items, including a new community survey tool for police, the 2024 Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team report, updates on the Community Assistance Program (CAP), and Phoenix Fire Department staffing and response times. Public comments raised concerns about homeless encampment policies and overall public safety. The subcommittee approved consent calendar minutes and set future agenda items.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of PSJ minutes from December 4, 2024: Motion made, seconded, and passed unanimously (all ayes, including Chair).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Elizabeth Fimble: Alleged that a city of Phoenix employee told homeless individuals to camp on private property rather than offering shelter or services. She argued this practice effectively encourages crime and noted that service providers are full, making entry difficult without police involvement.
- Orla Bobo: Stated that public safety is no longer a crisis but a changed quality of life. Criticized the city's $15 million Shade Phoenix project while first responders lack resources. She claimed the city's only metric for safety is response times, which are failing, and accused the city of criminal negligence. Demanded immediate action and citizen inclusion in the process.
Discussion Items
- BlockWise Presentation (Zen City): Dan Wilson (Communications Director), A.L. Hallamish, and Bar Asherov presented BlockWise, a tool that uses anonymous digital surveys to gauge community perceptions of trust, safety, and transparency. The system reaches over 90% of residents via digital advertising, provides real-time data by precinct, and is used by LAPD, Chicago, and others. Council members asked about anonymity, equity, and language support (cities offer up to 7 languages). Chair Robinson noted positive feedback from the Albuquerque police chief. The tool is meant to complement existing city surveys and inform police deployment and policy.
- Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team (DVFRT) 2024 Report: Presented by Human Services Director Jaclyn Edwards, Deputy Director Kevin Mattingly, and Police Assistant Chief Ed DeCastro. Key statistics: 33,756 domestic violence calls in 2023, 8,533 arrests, 2,700 aggravated assault calls. The team reviewed a near-fatal case involving a married couple with children; the suspect had five police contacts in 2021 (four arrests, one psychiatric hold). Six recommendations were made: 1) Establish protocols for crisis response team (CRT) response to DV calls (due June 2025); 2) Examine CRT policies to align with behavioral health teams (due June 2025); 3) Require medical follow-up after forensic exams (provider already developing program); 4) In-service training for EMTs on strangulation (protocols in place); 5) Track strangulation cases separately (Police Department reviewing, Human Services completed in December 2024); 6) Change case management protocols for fatal/near-fatal incidents (Human Services implemented follow-up reminders at 3- and 6-month intervals). Council members expressed frustration over repeat offenders and lack of prosecution tracking, and requested data on child services and contact with schools.
- Community Assistance Program (CAP) Update: Presented by Deputy City Manager Ginger Spencer, Fire Assistant Chief Raya Choa, and CAP Administrator DC Ernst. Update on hiring: a November 2024 hiring event resulted in multiple candidates in background checks; if all accept, staffing will reach 80% of target. Current status: 5 behavioral health units (BHU) operating 7 days/week, averaging 23.5 hours/day; 60% of 10 crisis response units (CRT) target; BHU dispatchers present 24/7 on Wednesdays–Saturdays, other days 7 AM–8 PM. Calls transferred from police communications increased 172% (2023 to 2024, first 11 months). BHU calls for service increased 136%. CRT calls increased 13%. Success stories highlighted. Recruitment continues with goal of 9 BHU units by Q1 2026. Council discussed retention strategies (pizza parties, debriefing, EAP, continuing education).
- Phoenix Fire Department Staffing and Response Times: Councilman Waring raised concerns about response time disparities in District 2 due to longer travel distances. He noted that call volumes in District 2 are 2.5 times lower than District 8, despite equal populations. He questioned the reason for the disparity and suggested that a new fire station is needed. Councilwoman Gardado noted that District 8 has the highest concentration of homeless shelters and facilities, which likely drives higher call volumes. Deputy City Manager Spencer stated that a report addressing these questions will be included in the February meeting packet, and that the department is partnering with Maricopa County Department of Public Health to study social determinants of health and call volumes. Four fire stations are being rebuilt under the bond: Station 15 (2026), Station 7 (mid-2027), Station 13 (2028), and Station 51 (2029). Councilwoman O'Brien requested specific data on fire station rebuild timelines.
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar approved (minutes of December 4, 2024).
- No votes taken on presentations; all items were for information only.
- Future agenda items:
- The prosecutor's office is requested to include a discussion on domestic violence case processing (roadmap, sentencing) at the next meeting.
- A progress report on DVFRT recommendations with June 2025 completion dates is expected in June.
- Councilwoman O'Brien requested that the next police hiring/retention report include: response times by district, number of dropped calls, average hold times, retention rates for new hires (2020-2023), and projected sworn numbers through June 2027.
- Meeting adjourned at 12:10 PM.
Meeting Transcript
City Council. Mr. Harris. Next, oh Elizabeth Fimble. Okay. So we like to go gather a lot of data. Um, and by data, I mean we talked to you know, perhaps hundreds of people, um, and up to thousands of people over many years uh about their experiences with law enforcement that are on the streets, and um, I found it very interesting. I talked to a few people that were um you know a service provider, a mental health service provider, and they told me about a city of Phoenix employee. They did not know the program, but they received a flyer that had the symbol for the city of Phoenix on it about having um belongings discarded. They did not receive this flyer until they demanded that flyer and proof, but everybody else's uh stuff was rounded up and thrown away, right? As per is not supposed to happen under the injunction fund for empowerment the city of Phoenix. However, the interesting part that I found was that that person who was representing the city of Phoenix told those individuals specifically to go on other people's private property and camp there because they said where are we supposed to go? They did not offer them shelter, they didn't offer them detox, nothing, nothing, nothing. They just said go on private property. Is this the kind of behavior this city of Phoenix is doing to um encourage people essentially forcing them to commit crimes because they can't be on public property and there are no access to services? You and I know these services are completely full because of demand. It is almost impossible to get in these services unless you are arrested, or are maybe going through detox, maybe, right? Or possibly entering into the SMI system, but it's very difficult to get in these services unless you're going through police departments, especially where they're not open campuses. Right? It's supposed to be all about private property, but you know, there is no place to go, and so this is what your staff are telling people. I just thought I'd make you aware of that, that you're essentially instructing people to commit crimes so that you guys don't pay out. Uh the next speaker is Orla Bobo. So it can no longer be referred to as a crisis. People's quality of life has changed. Don't have the resources they need to do their job and to do their job safely. Uh increased tax rate or outside city fire departments to lend aid. However, years of doing this has never solved the problem. The city of Phoenix is planning a $15 million project known as Shade Phoenix, which will plant trees and shade structures. However, they're not willing to put the money into protecting our citizens and first responders. The citizens of Phoenix would agree that public safety should be the number one focus of our mayor, city manager, and city council. The city's measurement of whether the public safety system is working properly is strictly response times. Which you are failing. Taxpaying citizens, their families and loved ones deserve better. First responders, both fire and police deserve better. How many more people have to die? How many more lawsuits will the city of Phoenix take to stand up for the community? All I've seen is complacency. I believe this is criminal negligence. And I think that the city of Phoenix needs a shift in its moral compass. It will be two years in February that I started advocating for my fellow citizens and first responders. I expect change, and I will not back down until our city and our people are taken care of. I want to know what immediate action will be taken and how the citizens can be included in this process. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Bobo. I misspoke earlier where I said we had four speakers. We actually only have three on um public comment, have another speaker for different items so we'll come to that at another time later on. So at this point, item number one is approval of the PSJ minutes from December 4th, 2024. Do I have a motion? Move to approve minutes.
openpublica.com