Phoenix Public Safety Subcommittee Meeting: Towing, Parks, Trails, E-bikes, Police MOU, Hiring Update - June 4, 2025
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Phoenix Public Safety Subcommittee Meeting - June 4, 2025
On June 4, 2025, the Phoenix Public Safety Subcommittee, chaired by Councilman Robinson, met to discuss several public safety topics including a towing services procurement update, park safety initiatives, a trails and heat safety program, e-bike and e-scooter regulations, a new memorandum of understanding with the Arizona Department of Public Safety for critical incident investigations, and a police hiring and attrition update. The meeting also included public comments on park safety, e-bike trespassing, and fire department response times.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Tony Bradley (District 3 resident): Shared a personal experience at Madison Park where his young daughter witnessed drug use in a restroom. He expressed concern about drug activity and homeless encampments in parks, urging a coordinated blitz of parks, police, and homeless services.
- Jenny Ann Sumner: Expressed support for the expanded use of security personnel in parks, citing positive experiences at Pierce and Crosscut Parks. She praised partnerships between parks, police, Office of Homeless Solutions, and neighborhood services.
- Jeff Rosen (General Manager, Stone Creek Golf Club): Described escalating e-bike trespassing on the golf course, causing damage and safety issues. He argued that the 45-day education campaign is insufficient and called for immediate enforcement rather than further outreach.
- Orla Bobo: Criticized fire department response times, particularly in District 2. She provided examples of delayed responses (e.g., 13 minutes for a gas leak, 15 minutes for a car fire) and urged the council to fast-track fire station construction, stating that city leaders bear responsibility for deaths from slow responses.
Discussion Items
- Procurement Update for General Police Towing Services: Austin Soldano (Deputy Finance Director) and Court Hood (Police Administrator) presented a plan to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for new towing contracts covering four zones. Current contracts expire December 31, 2026. The recommendation includes a five-year term with five one-year renewal options. Chairman Robinson raised concerns about past on-time performance and asked that response-time metrics be incorporated into evaluation criteria. Vice Mayor O'Brien inquired about penalties for lateness (currently $75 per incident) and whether towing fee revenue covers staffing costs (still being calculated).
- Safety and Security in City Parks: Parks Director Cynthia Aguilar, Deputy Director Jared Rogers, Assistant Police Chief Sean Kennedy, Office of Homeless Solutions Director Rachel Milne, and Assistant Director Marty Whitfield provided updates. Councilman Waring was particularly vocal, advocating for longer trespass bans (lifetime for serious offenses), immediate enforcement over warnings, and restitution for vandalism. He noted that the small number of park rangers (six per shift for 188 urban parks) and high profile incidents (shootings, dead bodies) undermine public confidence. Vice Mayor O'Brien supported using both security contractors and park rangers, requested expansion of security contracts into daytime hours, and backed Waring's suggestions on trespass durations. Councilwoman Gardado asked for a clear number of needed rangers and more cameras tied to the police real-time crime center. The presentation also covered the code of conduct, trespassing logs shared with police, private security at 12 parks (since 2023), mobile security cameras, and the new camping ordinance. Staff indicated they are working with the law department to enhance ordinances on feeding and medical care in parks and to increase trespass penalties.
- Trails and Heat Safety Program: Deputy Parks Director Brandy Barrett, Jared Rogers, and Assistant Fire Chief Mark Gonzalez presented. Data showed that since 2021 trail restrictions on Camelback, Piestewa Peak, and select South Mountain trails (closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during extreme heat warnings) have reduced mountain rescues. Rescue data indicated 70% of rescued hikers are from Arizona, and in summer months 76% of rescues are medical emergencies. Chairman Robinson asked about the resource impact of technical rescues (approximately 8 units). No questions from other members.
- E-bike, E-scooter, and Motor-Driven Cycle Safety: Commander Leaf Myers presented regulations and a 45-day educational campaign starting June 5, 2025, before enforcement. The presentation covered class definitions, traffic laws, age restrictions (16+ for e-bikes/e-scooters), and prohibitions on sidewalks. Councilman Waring noted few citations due to limited patrol capacity. Vice Mayor O'Brien asked about vehicle impoundment (possible for motor-driven cycles without insurance) and requested distribution of information to schools. No vote or decision.
- MOU with DPS for Critical Incident Investigations: Assistant Chief Ed DeCastro outlined the agreement required by state law (HB 2650) by June 30, 2025. DPS will lead criminal investigations of officer-involved shootings, in-custody deaths, and other incidents, with Phoenix PD liaison and administrative investigation continuing. Chairman Robinson emphasized the city retained ability to release information urgently. No vote.
- Police Hiring, Recruiting, and Attrition Update: Commander Sarah Garza reported significant progress: applications doubled over the prior year, lateral hires are up, and an additional eighth academy class was added (40 more recruits). New mental resiliency training has improved academy success rates by 4%. Attrition remains primarily through retirements. Vice Mayor O'Brien asked about barriers to lateral hires and academy attrition (25% loss in recent class); exit interviews and a 33% recycle rate with 66% success on retry were noted. Commander Garza also thanked Vice Mayor O'Brien for leadership on SB 1287 (part-time officer bill signed into law, effective July 2026).
Key Outcomes
- Towing Services RFP: The subcommittee voted unanimously to approve staff's recommendation to proceed with a Request for Proposals for general police towing services. The new contracts are expected to begin January 1, 2027, with a five-year term and five one-year options.
- Parks Safety: No formal vote; however, staff committed to returning in fall 2025 with proposed ordinance changes regarding feeding and medical care in parks, increased trespass penalties (including possible lifetime bans), and a resource plan for additional park rangers and security.
- Trails and Heat Safety: No action taken; report accepted.
- E-bike/Scooter Safety: No action taken; 45-day education campaign to begin June 5, 2025.
- MOU with DPS: No vote; presented for discussion.
- Police Hiring Update: No action taken; report accepted.
- Fire Department Staffing and Response Times: No action taken; discussion deferred to a future meeting.
Meeting Transcript
I'm incredibly fortunate to serve as mayor of Phoenix, a city filled with extraordinary people on the rise, brilliant doctors and researchers, spirited small business owners, dedicated teachers and public servants, hard working apprentices, the happiest kids, warm families. I always enjoy preparing for this event. A global pandemic, a recession, then a booming recovery. And today, once again, we're living in ever changing times. We're seeing more chaos and confusion coming from our government in Washington than ever before. Markets swing with every whim, and that constant uncertainty. And I believe you're also bringing Court Hood, newly promoted administrator in the Phoenix Police Department. So Court, congratulations for that. You're going to give us an overview of the upcoming procurement process for the towing service contracts. So the floor is yours. Good morning. My name is Austin Soldano. I'm a deputy finance director with the city's finance department overseeing our central procurement division. Good morning, Chairman Robinson, members of the subcommittee. Thank you for having us here this morning. We are here to provide a procurement update for general police towing services. That's going to entail an overview of the services and our current contracts, as well as a recommended path forward for a proposed solicitation. And I am joined here this morning in partnership with the police department with police administrator Court Hood. The topics to be covered in this morning's presentation include a background of the general police towing services, uh history and background of the police department's vehicle impound unit, an overview of the towing zones and applicable precincts, our current city contracts for general police towing services, and our recommendation for the upcoming solicitation. General Police Towing Services essentially entail law enforcement involved impounds that includes citizens involved with accidents, illegally parked or abandoned vehicles, and other law enforcement impounds, including a collection of evidence or removal of vehicles from crime scenes. There is a timeliness component with these services. Um by the city's towing program. That towing program uh includes oversight and administration and enforcement of the city's towing agreements, and from those agreements, the city recoupes funds by way of statutorily governed administrative fees related to tows, as well as a share of auction proceeds for reference in fiscal year 23-24. The city recouped over 1.6 million dollars in funds. And while fiscal year 2425 is not yet completed, we have also exceeded 1.6 million dollars this fiscal year. The impound unit includes 16 positions tasked with monitoring and auditing the city's towing agreements. The job duties for those positions include scope of work compliance, financial and data auditing, impound account review, customer assistance, and lot inspections. Now here are the towing zones and the applicable precincts. I apologize. The map is a little bit small, so I will walk through each zone. They're lettered A, B, C, and D, and I'll also name the applicable precinct and point out by color on the map on the presentation where each of those are. And zone D, which is in pink at the bottom, includes the South Mountain Precinct and Central City Precinct. The city's current general police towing services agreements are monitored by the police department's vehicle impound unit and administered by the finance department through the central procurement division. There are four contracts total, um, and they are covering each of the four towing zones. So one contract per towing zone A, B, C, and D. Presently we have three vendors. One of those vendors covers two of the zones, and the two other vendors each cover one zone. Um, those contracts are set to expire December 31st, 2026. Hence our reason coming before you today. We still have ample time to do a new solicitation and get new contracts up and running, but it is critical that we do so to allow for no overlap or allow those contracts to expire before new contracts are in place. Which brings us to our staff recommendation, which is to do a request for proposal to be issued by the Central Procurement Division on behalf of the police department. These new contracts, as I said before, would be needed before the expirations on December 31st, 2026. So the plan of action would be to have new contracts in place beginning January 1st, 2027 for a five-year term through December 31st, 2031, with five one-year options to extend. And for a general overview of timeline, the uninterrupted current schedule allows for approximately six months. So if we were to issue the solicitation in June 2025, our target council date would be December of 2025. That one year buffer allows for any delays to the solicitation process and allows for a transition period should should new vendors be brought on for towing contracts. The proposed evaluation criteria, I would point out that this is not finalized at this point, but the current proposed criteria, the capacity and experience of the offerer, cost, and method of approach. In conclusion, staff is requesting this subcommittee for approval of the recommendation to proceed with a request for proposal for general police towing services to cover the four towing zones. We thank you for your time this morning. Thank you, Chairman Robinson, members of the subcommittee, and we would be happy to take any questions that you may have.
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