Thank you.

Good morning.

I like to call this meeting order.

Welcome to the May 6, 2026 Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee.

I'd like to introduce City Attorney Alisa Blanford, Ms.

Blanford.

Please explain the role of public comment if you would, please.

Good morning.

Thank you, sir.

During citizen comment, members of the public may address the subcommittee for up to three minutes on issues of interest or concern to them.

The Arizona Open Meeting Law permits the subcommittee members to listen to the comments, but prohibits members from discussing or acting on the matters presented.

Members of the public may speak for up to two minutes to comment on agenda items to be discussed.

Comments must be related to the agenda item and the action being considered by the subcommittee.

The city council and staff cannot discuss or comment on matters related to pending investigation, claims, or litigation.

The city code requires speakers to present their comments in a respectful and courteous manner, profane language, threats, or personal attacks on members of the public, council members, or staff are not allowed.

A person who violates these rules will lose their opportunity to continue to speak.

Thank you.

Ms.

Blanford, thank you very much.

I'd like to introduce our interpreter, Elsie Duarte.

Ms.

Duarte, who she could you please provide a brief announcement.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

My name is Elsie Duarte, and I will be providing Spanish interpretation during today's public safety and justice subcommittee session.

I will now take a moment to address our Spanish speaking audience.

Buenos días, my number is Elsi Duarte.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Thank you, Miss Duarte.

We start the subcommittee meeting with a call to the public, and I do not believe we have anyone.

That being the case, thank you.

Okay, item number one is approval of the PSJ minutes from April 1st, 2026.

Do I have a motion?

Move to approve.

There's a motion and a second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Chair votes aye.

Passes unanimously.

Thank you very much for that.

Item number two is for consent.

And do any of my colleagues have any questions or comments for the annual block watch grant awards?

Chair, I do.

Councilwoman.

O'Brien.

I was gonna get there.

Sorry.

Interlocking out of your own error.

What's its topic?

No words.

Councilwoman O'Brien.

Thank you so much, Chair.

I appreciate it.

Um, and I do want to first uh thank the folks on um the Blackwatch Grant Committee for all of their incredible work that they do.

Um, I would like to request that we add a um to the list of approved items, item 26-155 for the requested amount of $15,000, and then item 26-058 in the amount of two thousand two hundred and seventy-seven dollars for lines.

Um, and what I did was took their budget and I numbered every line.

So for lines one through thirteen, twenty two, twenty-four through twenty six, and twenty-eight, um, for that to also be considered for approval today by the subcommittee.

Any additional questions?

So, Mr.

Chair, um, and councilman, if you could make that in the form of a motion.

Yes, that would be wonderful.

I move to approve um the recommended grants along with items 26-058 for 2,277 dollars for lines one through 13, 22, 24 through 26, and 28, and then grant 26-155 for the entire amount of 15,000.

I have a motion and a second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Chair votes aye.

Passes unanimously.

Thank you very much.

This brings us to the next item.

Item three is a presentation on the fireworks ordinance.

We'll welcome Assistant Chief Justin Alexander, Police Lieutenant Brian Rimza, Deputy Parks Director Jared Rogers, and Deputy Communications Director Ashley Patton to the table.

Chief Alexander, it's yours.

Good morning, Chairman Robinson and members of the subcommittee.

In response to council and community interest, the Phoenix Fireworks Task Force created a legal work group comprised of attorneys from the city attorney's office, the police department, and the fire department to make recommendations on possible changes to the city Phoenix City Code regarding increased prohibitions on fireworks.

Led by Fire Department Attorney Rebecca Salisbury, the work group is drafted proposed revision to the fireworks code.

These revisions are the focus of this presentation.

The revisions are not an amendment to the city code.

They repeal and replace Phoenix City Code Chapter 23, Article 2, Division 5, with a newly written version titled Fireworks and Permissible Consumer Fireworks.

The revision or this revision adds definitions for clarification and alignment with state law terms such as display fireworks and permissible consumer fireworks.

I will review the differences in a moment.

And the task force will also be recommending updating the fire code so the language matches state law and the proposed city code revision.

Currently, state allows the sell and use around the dates of Cinco de Mayo, July 4th, Dewali, and New Year's celebrations.

The proposed city code references Arizona revised statute 13 or 36-1606, so that in the event the state legislature makes a change, we can prohibit use in cells to the full extent allowed by the new statute language.

In other words, the new code will plainly state the city of Phoenix prohibits the use and sell of permissible consumer fireworks within the city of Phoenix to the full extent allowed by ARS 36-1606.

This slide serves as a brief reminder of the differences between fireworks that are always illegal under state law and those that cannot be prohibited during the specified holidays, or in other words, those that the state deems legal.

Fireworks that are illegal at all times across the state of Arizona include any that launch into the air and or explode, such as skyrockets or bottle rockets, firecrackers, reloadable shell devices, aerial shells, and single-tube devices.

Fireworks permitted under state law during the listed holidays include various consumer permissible sparklers, smoke devices, and fountain type ground-based items.

I will now pass it to Deputy Direworks at all city owned Rogers.

Good morning, Chair Robinson and members of the subcommittee.

Permissible consumer fireworks will be allowed in the public right of way, but in alignment with state statute, permissible consumer fireworks will not be allowed within one mile of mountain preserves.

This map indicates in red which areas this restriction would apply to.

During stage one fire restrictions, the statute also allows other park properties to have a similar one-mile boundary around them where fireworks would be restricted.

So in the event that a the state would issue a stage one fire restriction, the areas on the map that are shown in green and yellow, would also have uh those uh permissible consumer fireworks during those times of a stage one fire restriction and a holiday would be restricted under the city code.

Um, in order to make it clear to residents on whether they are in an area that would now prohibit fireworks, the ITS team is working on a web tool.

Uh the tool will allow people to enter an address or pan around a neighborhood to determine if they live within one of these new restricted fireworks areas.

Uh the tools expected to be ready.

One question.

Yes, I said, I'm sorry, why don't you finish your thought and then it's my bad I should have talked about.

Okay.

Yeah, the tools expect to be ready ahead of the 4th of July holiday fireworks period.

That's the end of my thought.

Okay.

Um, my apologies.

Um, so uh as I look at this, you know, a decent chunk of district two was on your previous slide, previous two slides was blocked out, which is fine, but obviously there are people who could have used fireworks legally who now won't be able to.

How are we communicating with them?

I mean, it's great that you've got this uh the lookup tool, but you have to know that you need to look it up to know that that's an issue.

Yeah, uh Chairman Robinson and Councilmember Waring.

Um, I believe in the presentation uh when it gets to Ashley, she'll address that directly on how we're gonna advertise it.

Okay, uh, I mean that's good.

Uh okay, I'll hold off until then.

Thanks.

All right, I'll uh turn it over to uh Lieutenant Renzo.

Good morning.

Good morning, Chairman Robinson and members of the subcommittee.

The fireworks city code changes will improve enforcement of fireworks regulations by clarifying rules related to the sale, use and possession of fireworks within city limits.

This will strengthen the city's ability to take enforcement action when violations occur.

We'll also enhance the authority for seizure and disposal by providing clear legal authority for the seizure and disposal of unlawful fireworks.

It will establish both civil and criminal penalties.

Previously, a fireworks city code violation was a class one misdemeanor.

The new city code will allow for civil or criminal violations.

Civil fines up to 2,500, and criminal penalties include a class one misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and up to a 2,500 fine.

One second, Lieutenant.

Councilman Warring?

Thank you.

So, kind of like uh the new speed cameras.

Are we leading with we're actually gonna potentially arrest you or something the first time, or are there warnings?

Because again, I guess depending on what Ashley says, there are definitely gonna be people who don't realize they're doing something wrong.

And we've led with a big education campaign over the last 18 months leading up to this.

Obviously, the criminal and civil changes are added into this now.

Um the intention on the police department side is probably to work.

We're working with the city prosecutors office, but we're probably gonna leave it with a civil fine violation first, and then the intent would be that the city prosecutors office has the ability to potentially look up um repeat offenders, and then we can elevate it in the process.

Obviously, the plan is not to go out and just start arresting people who are lighting off fireworks.

Uh, and so uh, Mr.

Chair uh Lieutenant, so so you kind of unwittingly stumbled into my follow up like for me, it would be the repeat offenders.

You know, we told you once this is dangerous, we told you why it's dangerous.

Now you're doing it again.

That's not acceptable.

So the penalties escalate, but also, like for me, it's the set time you get caught the second time.

You did a presentation, I don't know how long ago it was, I didn't have it all committed to memory.

There are clearly quite a few fires caused by fireworks, but then also you are catching some of the people who do this.

I know it's hard because this is kind of pointless, we're not gonna catch anybody, but it sounded like, if I remember correctly, you were catching people responsible for devastating, you know, people's houses burning down, so forth, correct?

I know that we have in the past investigated cases related to fireworks that have caught people's homes on fire.

I can't speak exactly to the fact of how many people we have caught or have not responsible for that.

But uh that's fair.

I didn't remember either, but I do think it was addressed uh whenever we had that last presentation.

But this this is more preventive, like trying to get people to stop before it gets to that point, hopefully, and we'll reduce it's not gonna get rid of all of it, but hopefully it's gonna get rid of at least some of the potentialities of that terrible outcome.

That's that's the goal, correct?

So as long as you don't do it again and we catch you, I think that's really what we're trying to do.

And it sounds like that's sort of what your mindset is too for the departments.

Correct.

Bless you.

Bless you, whatever your name is.

The new city code allows cost recovery for illegal fireworks violations to include emergency response fees, storage fees, and disposal fees.

Due to the inherent risk associated with fireworks, the costs related to the storage disposal and emergency response can be significant.

The fireworks city code changes will allow for a person who possesses fireworks in violation of the city code to be held liable for the reasonable cost of storage and destruction after seizure.

A person who uses discharges or ignites fireworks is liable for the cost of any emergency response required as a result of that activity.

A conviction or finding of responsibility for a violation creates a rebuttable presumption of liability for storage, destruction, and emergency response expenses.

I will now turn the presentation over to Deputy Communications Director Ashley Patton.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

So the communications office works with all of the departments in the task force to create a public awareness campaign titled Celebrate Safely.

And celebrate safely raises awareness about the fireworks legalities and safety information to ensure that residents are aware.

One important element that Deputy Director Rogers pointed out that will be new to our campaign this holiday season is the interactive map that will live on Phoenix.gov slash celebrate safely, and that will be a super useful tool for residents to be able to take a look at that geographic boundary and where those impacts and those changes may impact them and see exactly where they move about to the city of Phoenix and how these changes might impact them.

That will be embedded into our public awareness campaign this holiday season.

Otherwise, the campaign at a broad overview is multimedia in nature.

So we use storytelling tactics that include audio and visual visual graphic elements.

We work with our traditional news media partners to tell that story about the importance and the why behind fireworks safety codes and legalities to make sure that everyone is aware.

We use phoenix.gov, we use our social media platforms to make sure that we're meeting residents where they are.

And speaking of platforms, the campaign is also multi-platform in nature.

So we use our digital availabilities and we also use our print um components and we create materials in those opportunities, and that is helpful to leverage for the task force to be able to create flyers and brochures and then distribute those in a grassroots organic nature to vendors, for example, that are distributed distributing fireworks.

The campaign is also bilingual, so all materials are created in both English and Spanish.

And we are at the ready to make sure that all of these changes are confirmed and as a part of the public awareness campaign for this holiday season.

I will turn it back to Chief Alexander.

Excuse me, before we go too much further, um, I actually have a real quick question for you.

When we talk about the holiday season, are we talking two weeks out?

Have we given any thought as to at what point will we as a city really start to push the messaging out so that people get that message that Councilman Warren was alluding to earlier?

Absolutely, Chairman Robinson and members of the subcommittee.

So it depends on the platform, but we will have this information ready.

Really, two weeks out is a great target for all of our own city platforms for traditional news media that week of is going to be a lot louder.

Um they're going to so and I'm talking about the July 4th holiday, so leading up to that.

Um, but we will be some things are a little bit more in advance.

So the city um resident newsletter, Phoenix at your service, um, that will be the entire month of June.

You will see that in there.

People get that newsletter whenever they get their city service bill.

So that will be a month in advance.

Um, we'll be nice and loud on social media about two weeks in advance.

Traditional news media, just one week in advance.

So it's strategic based on what is the most optimal for that specific medium okay thank you very much for that and I know you're about to push it back to Jared and the question I have for you Jared is at all of our parks are we putting out some type of messaging at the park location so people know they should know we know they should know but we know that people disregard or don't follow or don't care but are we doing something at those locations as well?

Chairman Robinson, so that hasn't specifically been addressed in that regard the fireworks have always been prohibited in city parks and so that doesn't change we have signs existing in our code of conduct signs that prohibit the use of fires outside of intended areas and other city code violations so this change is more about the areas around the park than specifically in the park we have our park rangers and education to make sure that fireworks aren't happening in the parks this really is an emphasis on outside of the parks because it never has been allowed within Mr Chair if I could just add to I think what you're asking as well as um what Councilman Waring was asking the intention this year is to really focus on the expansion of the restrictions in the city code and so May 20th is the date provided things move forward today and and the recommendation is made to take this to the full council may 20th is the date that this will be before the full council for approval after that there's a 30 day period before the ordinance actually goes into effect so we're looking at approximately June 20th that is in advance of the 4th of July holiday obviously and so our intention would be as soon as it is passed on May 20th provided that happens then we would start communicating to the public focusing on the change to the radius around the parks and when those changes or when those restrictions will be in place and so we want to make sure that the public does understand that the map tool is one way that we will help individuals in the community be able to know does my address fall into one of those areas and then we will also be doing some broader messaging around you know just the restrictions in general what is allowed what's not allowed so that it is clear to members of the public but the big change we're gonna focus on communicating this year is that area around the parks the one mile radius okay thank you very much councilwoman O'Brien to that point about the the big change is that will we be um sending this information out to our registered neighborhood group so our block watches and our hoax so that that can be communicated properly to those folks in and that I mean let's use a resource we know we have right available yes Mr.

Chair Councilwoman members of the subcommittee we're gonna use as many avenues as we can including our you know existing distribution list with our neighborhood associations block watches we're gonna use our social media accounts we're going to distribute it to council offices so you all can send it out through your newsletters and other communication channels that you have we're also gonna use our departments to send it out through their channels so we're really gonna try um to leverage as many ways as we can we're gonna try to get you know media channels to also pick this up so that they can help us communicate this out because it is an important change for the community to understand.

Excellent I I can't tell you um thank you for all the hard work and I know that there was a lot of hard work in in developing this language and um getting everybody on board with it this is an incredibly important matter to constituents um I'm sure my colleagues would agree it's one thing we hear about every holiday where fireworks are allowed and and we um we're bound by state statute so I appreciate you doing what you can within the realm of state statute to make our citizens um safer during the holidays thank you chair thank you I'm sorry go ahead and continue thank you as stated by assistant city manager bays the task force requests the public safety and justice subcommittee recommend the proposed city code changes to the city council for approval on May 20th.

And we thank you for your attention this morning, your support throughout this process, and we welcome any additional questions or comments you may have for the subcommittee.

Alright, thank you.

I have a question for councilman Waring.

Is it fair to say, Chief, that this is the toughest thing we can do within state law?

Uh yes, it is it is uh the maximum allowable penalties in enforcement that we can do under state law.

So if a constituent asked, why aren't you doing X?

If it's outside the parameters of this, we can't do it.

That would be illegal on our part.

That is correct.

The language that is used in there is to the full extent of the state law under 361606.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

I move to approve um this item.

I have a motion and a second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Chair votes aye, passes unanimously.

Thank you guys very much.

Excellent presentation.

Appreciate all your hard work.

Thank you.

Our final presentation today will be provided by assistant fire chief Rita Riddle Bigler, Assistant Police Director Kurt Court Hood, and Senior Public Information Officer Stacey Hankey.

They will provide an update on the police and fire department hiring and recruitment efforts.

Floor is all yours, Chief.

All right.

Good morning, Chairman Robinson and members of the subcommittee.

Thank you for this opportunity to do a joint presentation with our public safety partners on our staffing and recruitment efforts.

Giving councils approval of the TPT and other increases to fire department capacity, recruitment and hiring are trending well for the fire department.

Here is a current snapshot of our hiring numbers.

Our authorized sworn position count is 2,059.

Of these positions, 134 of them are from the approval of the TPT, and 34 of these have completed training and are working in operations serving the public.

Our field sworn position count is 1,924, which includes the 61 recruits on track to graduate May 15th.

We are currently onboarding 50 of our newest hires for recruit class 26-2, slated to start in June.

We've officially made it through what we would call one testing cycle of online testing.

Our first online test was back in August of 2025, and our second online test was in January of this year.

The online process consists of two different tests: the public safety answers civil service test and one with content specific to the Phoenix Fire Department.

Completing both tests is a requirement to move forward in the hiring process, and we have a 74% completion rate.

Online testing is proving to have a much broader outreach than we were previously able to do.

We've seen a significant increase in out of state applicants with 134 candidates from 24 different states.

Future projects with online testing include analyzing vendor-provided data and comparing it to indicators of candidate success in the training academy, and the option to explore the use of online candidate interviews.

Here's a five-year overview of firefighter recruit testing.

I'd like to point out that prior to fiscal year 2526, our practice was one written test a year held in person at the convention center.

The numbers you see for fiscal year 2526 is the two testing cycles I referenced earlier, allowing candidates an opportunity to get on the eligibility list more often.

Through two cycles of online testing, we have not only maintained our candidate poll shown in the red column, but our numbers have improved in completing the testing process shown in yellow and passing both tests shown in white, making them eligible to move on to the interview process.

We recognize that our candidates have opportunities to work for many different agencies, so it's our responsibility to recruit effectively and keep them engaged to pursuing a career as Phoenix firefighter.

Okay, Chief, one second, Councilman Warren.

Uh thank you.

Thanks, Chief, for this.

I mean, it looks like, unless you're gonna tell me different, I don't think you are.

It looks like it's really good news.

So in the past, on this committee, maybe in 2024 or something, you had like a 10-year chart.

I would say it was like maybe from 2014 to 20, and it was kind of devastating.

Like everybody's always talking about police, but that was a clear line down.

Now you're definitely bouncing back up the last two years, which is great.

You offered some explanation as to maybe why.

I'm gonna be careful what I say here.

Not try to be funny.

I realize they're different jobs.

I'm not criticizing anybody else's work.

I mean, do you work?

It sounds like you did some specific things.

Maybe I mean, are these the same things that police are doing?

And maybe it's a bit of tougher sell.

That's not really a question for you to ask, but maybe we could get kind of are they cross-pollinating?

Are they comparing notes?

Uh, courthood will be getting to that next season.

Next, okay.

All right, I'm sorry, I jumped past.

I apologize.

Well, in any case, this is this is a fantastic jump up.

I mean, just in, you know, you got a uh 30% something more applicants uh from 2021 to 2025.

That's great.

So, congratulations on that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'd like to highlight our Phoenix Fire Cadet program, an organization that has been around since 1975.

Our cadet program continues to provide service to our community through the mentorship and training of future Phoenix Fire recruits.

The cadet program continues to evolve in response to recruitment trends and department needs, and some of the cadet program highlights are our feeder program.

This is a place for anyone to start, try the workouts, put the gear on, and actually ask questions to Phoenix firefighters.

The next step is the cadet academy.

When they make the decision that this is the career that they want to pursue, they have an opportunity to wear the gray uniform that displays Phoenix Fire Department across the back.

This opens up volunteer opportunities such as helping with current recruit classes, assisting at our resource division, and attending city events.

Exposure to the city through tours, this also helps our future firefighters understand the bigger picture of being in public safety and not only working for the Phoenix Fire Department, but the city of Phoenix and right alongs.

We don't have a traditional schedule or a job, so we want our candidates to understand the 24-hour firefighter schedule and the lifestyle of the firefighter.

Chief, real quick question for you.

What percentage, and I uh hesitate to say percentage, but how approximately how many cadets do you usually end up hiring?

So, Chairman Robinson and members of the subcommittee, thanks for the question.

While I don't have the specific numbers, we have approximately 55 to 75 active cadets, and we probably see about 25 of them in every single hiring process.

And it depends what stage they're at.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

What comes with the hiring of firefighters is the need for paramedics.

Every person hired is required to hold an emergency medical technician certificate, also known as the EMT.

The eight-month-long paramedic training program is one of the first career opportunities a new firefighter is eligible for.

Paramedic class 25-2 will graduate in two days, followed by paramedic class 26-1, graduating October 2nd.

And we are currently recruiting for paramedic class 26-2 slated to begin their training in September.

We estimate that 50% of our workforce needs to be a paramedic.

So we continue to hold classes to keep up with this operational need.

Do you have any questions for me before I turn this over to assistant director Courthood with police?

Can you have any questions?

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Good morning, Chairman Robinson and members of the subcommittee.

I will be providing an update on the police department's recruitment, hiring, and staffing efforts through January and February of this year.

Our total authorized positions or hiring target is 3,125 positions.

In February, there are 2,460 filled sworn positions and 126 recruits actively in the academy, including 11 female recruits for a combined total of 2,586 filled sworn positions.

This is down slightly for positions from January.

However, it is worth noting that the number of recruits in the academy represents the most we've had in a February in at least three years.

In the first two months of this year, we received 933 applications, which is consistent with the number of applications received during the same time last year.

Over the last two years, the department has made significant advancements in both recruiting strategy and applicant engagement.

These efforts, including targeted changes to how we identify and communicate with prospective candidates, the adoption of new tools like our automated text messaging services, generously funded by council, and a broader national outreach approach have contributed to sustained applicant interest from across the country.

Similarly, the number of applicants higher during the first two months of 2026 mirrors our totals from this time last year.

Looking at the figures before you, you may notice that the month-to-month figures, January compared compared to January and February compared to February, different be differ between the years.

This is attributable to the department's academy class schedule, which determines when hiring cohorts are onboarded rather than reflecting a change in overall hiring pace.

Regarding our retention and attrition in the academy, this next chart captures totals over the previous three years and just a snapshot of 2026 January and February.

Of the 26 recruits hired this year, 19 are still in the academy and seven have separated.

What we're likely to see over the course of this year as we hire more recruits is the retention average increases and the attrition percentage decreases.

We also want to share a few updates on the work to build on our progress and drive our forward momentum.

First, we've partnered with the Human Resources Department on a process improvement initiative to enhance candidate experience and improve our processing efficiencies, among other goals.

We look forward to reporting on our progress in the coming months.

Additionally, we're increasing the number of support staff and employment services to relieve our background investigators of some of their administrative burden so that they may focus on their primary mission of hiring quality applicants.

Finally, to ensure the department is reaching the broadest and most qualified pool of candidates, recruitment efforts have been expanded and refined across multiple channels.

Our applicant pool continues to reflect our communities, our county's demographics and the community we serve.

ASU and GCU students recently attended a recruiter created PD experience event at the Academy, where about 80 criminal justice club members participated in rotating presentations, hands-on workshops, and lunch.

While many students are still completing their degrees, the long-term goal is to introduce them to our department early, resulting this year in four on-site applications and continued interest in future careers with the department.

And nationally, our recruiting events are having an impact.

During one recent recruiting trip, we visited two colleges, one of which was a historically black college, and one military base, which net a total of 23 applications on site.

We're participating in numerous events focused on recruiting women.

Recently, a cohort of sworn women at various ranks attended the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executive Conference, or Nolly, to identify ways to support and advance women in policing.

Excuse me, Court, if you could hold on one quick second right there.

What I noted, I saw it somewhere that Commander Amy Smith was selected as a second vice president of Nolly.

Chairman Robinson members of the subcommittee.

Correct.

Okay, and I was gonna say it's that's tremendous, tremendous for the organization, tremendous for the city.

A couple of chiefs are in the room.

If you guys could please pass on this committee's congratulations to Commander Smith.

And the reason I say that, Nolly's been around for a long time, and I believe this is only the second time a female law enforcement executive from Arizona is in the leadership position of that organizational.

So congratulations, Amy.

I just wanted to get that in there.

With you guys in room, please pass that on to her.

Appreciate it.

Sorry for the interruption.

Thank you, Chairman.

Additionally, we're hosting another women within Phoenix PD Career Conversations event in June.

Thirty potential applicants were present for our last event, and we're optimistic that our strong social media campaigns will garner more interest and applications as a result.

In March, we hosted a recruiting event at Grand Canyon University's Softball First Responders Night.

And just recently as last week, we attended the Fresh Start Hiring Fair, which is a women focused career fair.

While we acknowledge we still have a lot of work ahead of us to meet our hiring goals, our recruiting and hiring teams are working with exceptional focus and commitment.

And now I'd like to turn it over to my colleague, senior public information officer Stacey Henkey who will provide a report on a joint PD and fire hiring event held in March.

Thank you.

Good morning, Chairman Robinson and members of the subcommittee.

I'm here to share the success with you about our second annual Phoenix Police Fire Career Experience that occurred on Saturday, March 7th at the Phoenix Fire Training Academy.

The idea of this event originated from discussions with the fire department about enhancing recruitment strategies between the fleet police and fire department.

We wanted it to be a hands-on interactive event that was engaging and was different from a traditional job fair.

Attendees could explore multiple public safety career paths in a single location, they're at the Phoenix Fire Training Academy.

This was an event to showcase the diverse career paths in public safety.

It highlighted different specialties within each department, professional staff opportunities to include police and fire dispatchers, crime scene specialists, and the fire department's community assistance program.

This was an opportunity for each person to find the right fit, especially for those who are maybe unsure of where they belonged, whether that be the police or the fire department.

I'm gonna share with you a quick video of the event.

Before the event started at nine o'clock in the morning, we had attendees lined up outside waiting.

Inside we had different booths where attendees could uh speak with recruiters.

Outside, we had live demonstrations with both the police and the fire department, different booths that showcased our different specialty details, to include our special assignments unit, our dive team, and so forth.

Ahead of the campaign or the event, we did targeted marketing, marketing, excuse me, and increased advertising ahead of it.

We used both organic and paid social media on both departments accounts, including the city account as well.

We implemented internal communication to include our department newsletters to get the word out, as our um employees are usually our best recruiters.

We place billboards across the valley for visibility and increase and issued a media advisory thanks to the fire department to encourage news coverage of the event that morning.

We had several um outlets attend and covered our event.

We also reached out to our community partners, such as our police chief advisory boards, our colleges and universities that we work with, as well as other partners between the police and the fire department.

Excuse me one quick quick um second, Stacy.

From this particular event, and I guess it's both for the fire department and the police department.

Have we seen a what was our result?

What was the result of it?

Have we seen a marked increase on people who have applied to both agencies who were at this event?

Can you give us a little bit of background on that?

Stacey, if you could first, and Chief Biggler.

Yes, Chairman Robinson and members of the subcommittee.

We did actually see, we believe an increasement, an increase of applications after that event.

Um, I have it for my last slide, but just to give you an idea, our applications in February were 375, and they jumped up to 513 by the end of March.

So we believe that this event um maybe encouraged some people to apply that day after getting a more inside look at both career paths.

We'll hand that over to Chief Bigler.

Uh Chairman Robinson, members of the subcommittee, thanks for the question.

Um, we while we don't track specifically people that come from an event like this, what we do track is is how they are connected to the fire department, whether that's through our cadet program or affinity group, and we also will ask them how they hear about the fire department, which is usually the billboards on the side of our truck, but not particularly we have not tracked the attendance at this event specifically.

Okay, thank you.

And I if I had read a little bit further down in the um PowerPoint, I would have seen 16 applicants for police recruit.

But I would, you know, by the video that was shown, it really seemed as though it was a tremendous um success.

So I was curious about that.

I believe Councilwoman O'Brien has a question.

So I know that police was accepting applications that day.

Was fire as well.

Thank you for the question.

Um Councilman Um Councilwoman O'Brien, we were not accepting applications, but we just have a testing process going on coming up in August, so that's what we would advertise.

Okay.

And then did we track the age of those who attended?

When I and I ask, and I don't, I apologize for Shanetta's question.

I brought my son, and I know we had to sign in and sign a waiver, but I don't remember if they had to indicate their age, and I asked that because it seemed like there were a lot of young people, maybe people who were quite a little bit too young, but might be in that exploring phase of what they might want to do.

Councilwoman O'Brien, members of the uh subcommittee.

Um, we did not actually track the age of um the attendees, but that might be something to consider next year for the next event, just to get a better idea of who actually attended.

Okay, great.

Thank you so much, Chair.

Thank you.

Please continue.

Um as we stated, it was a um a tremendous event and successful for us.

We estimated over 500 people attended that day, um, including students, job seekers, and other community members from across the valley.

Um we do believe that it was more than the previous year.

Um, so we were very excited about that.

Um as I stated before in the video, people are lined up outside the doors before the event even started.

Um the attended attendance exceeded our expectations, and it did show a strong interest in public safety careers to us.

The engagement remained high throughout the entire event.

There was large crowd crowds at the equipment demonstrations, the hands-on stations, and so forth.

Um, I'd also like to um let you know that throughout the day there was um in multiple conversations with both the police and the fire department with attendees.

Um people were able to learn more about the hiring process, the different specialties, and it just showed a genuine interest of candidates there for both police and fire.

Um overall, it was a successful event.

We're looking forward to our third annual event next year.

Um, councilman woman and Brian, thank you for attending that day.

I did hear your son was there.

Um, and um thank you for giving me the opportunity to share with you about our event.

I think I believe councilman Warring has a question.

Uh thank you.

Going back to page six, chart eleven on the Phoenix Police Academy Recruits.

So when you say the yellow is hired, that's not their Phoenix police officers out driving Tahoe's policing, that's for the academy.

Chairman Robinson, members of the subcommittee council member um wearing for the 2026 snapshot, those are individuals who have been hired and they are currently in the academy.

If I understand the the question correctly, apologize.

So yellow is in the academy, blue is still in the academy, seven has quit the academy.

Or gray has quit the academy.

Yeah, so that uh Chairman Robinson, members of the subcommittee, uh Councilman Waring 26.

Uh the yellow bars those who who started, and then of that 26, the blue bar is the 19 who we read who we retained of that 26, and the seven are those who have left the um the organization.

Okay, so in 2025, 234 went into the academy.

Two hundred, because now we're they should be officers by now, because we're talking about last year and already in May of this year.

200 became Phoenix police officers.

If I chart this correctly, 34 didn't make it through the academy.

Is that how I read your chart?

Chairman Robinson, members of the subcommittee council member wearing uh correct.

I would just add that uh there are classes, the academy is about six months long.

Um and then there's the the field training officer program.

Uh and so depending on where they're hired, they may spill into 2026, but this just captures those who um have or been hired by year and whether or not they're still with the organization, whether or not they're still retained or whether or not they've separated, depending on the year that they were they were hired.

I mean, sorry to be blunt, the 2460 number, which is um on your other charts, I guess.

Whichever one it is, you'd know, of total officers, because the ones that you were counting as recruits, which I think was 156 or something, you can't count.

I mean, this this chart we were just looking at shows you can't count on them becoming officers.

A pretty decent percentage is gonna quit.

Chairman Robinson, members of the subcommittee and uh council member wearing correct.

There, there is some attrition um in that overall number.

I mean, 2460 probably takes us back to mid-1990s levels of staffing, I'm guessing.

Maybe you don't know.

In the past, we've we've gone back further, but it is a dramatic drop off.

The 3125 is sort of a fictitious number based on a budget from several years ago that the city has now grown since then.

So even if we hit that number, which we're never gonna with the numbers that you're showing us.

That's why I was asking a question about FIRE, who has seemed to turn it around.

Again, I get it's got different like governing standard, like they're just different things going on.

I'm happy to hear that you're partnering.

I should have flipped ahead, I would have known that that was coming.

But um it's oh, here it is right here.

Uh 2460 filled sworn positions.

That's just a disastrously no number.

I don't know how else I would characterize it to a citizen if they asked me.

Um, and it just doesn't seem like it's moving.

I mean, honestly, I can't even say it's moving in the right direction because I think the number that's stuck is we were at 2700, then it was 2500, now we're even below that.

I guess it's 126, not 156.

You can't really count on all 126 of those.

Maybe you can count on a hundred coming out of that.

I mean, do you have any comment or like how are things gonna get better when they seem like they're actually getting a little bit worse drip by drip.

Chairman Robinson, members of the subcommittee council member wearing uh thank you for the the question.

The um I would say that the the first few months of of every year of the past few few years can provide an impression that we're we're falling backwards on what we experienced, especially this last year is a large number of our retirements are focused and centered around the last few months of the year.

Um, but we're we're still engaging in in um hiring and and expanding our goal is to hire the the class uh sizes, so we have seven scheduled um for this year, and we're we're seeking to add the additional staffing and employment services so that we can not only process equality applicants but process more so we can increase capacity and close that gap and and then have a surplus of of officers.

Last year we ended with a surplus of of 10.

We're looking to build on that this year with our with our hiring plan.

Mr.

Chair, by surplus, you mean 10 more than expected?

Because I mean there's no chart here that shows we've got too many officers, which is kind of what's the word surplus implies.

Chairman Robinson members of the subcommittee council member wearing apologies for for the word.

Um 10 more than we we lost the uh on that game from the the year.

Okay, I don't mean to pick it apart.

I was like, wait, we got too many.

We're I missed that chart.

Um okay, no, I appreciate it.

I'm not please don't think I like a picking on you or something.

You're you're here and it's you know, you're given the presentation.

So I just I just think we do need to have an honest conversation rather than say it seems like it won't got better in one month.

Like last year, fire got better, but then they followed it up with an even better year.

Like one could be a little fluky, same with a month, like if you do it for a few straight months, okay.

Now maybe you're on to whatever you're doing, keep doing it.

But um it is uh it's just I've been on these this committee for a long time, getting these briefings every month or so for years, and it just it hasn't really picked up, which is probably more of an overall commentary about big city policing than it is about Phoenix, but it's still uh frustrating to see.

Not a reflection on your guys's work, though.

I know you're trying.

Just please try to make sure you're doing think outside the box and you're doing everything you possibly can to recruit mostly younger people.

So getting advice from me on that would be foolish, but I'm sure you guys can come up with something, I hope, and turn this around.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you.

Councilwoman O'Brien.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, Lori, if you could remind us first, um, for the the years, the number of years that we and which years they were that the city of Phoenix was not hiring any officers.

Mr.

Chair, uh Councilwoman O'Brien, members of the subcommittee, I believe that was a five-year period.

I'm just not entirely sure exactly when that started.

I'm gonna turn to the chair, because I think he might know that answer.

I wasn't sure I wanted to give you a shot, but I don't hold that you don't know against you.

Yeah, I believe it was from about 2007 through about 2012, we were not hiring.

Mr.

Chair, that was gonna be my guess, and I think so.

I think between the two of us, we may be right.

Yeah, it was in there, yes.

So, because I too am concerned, we are at a lower number of filled swarm positions than when I came on um the council five years ago, and and um the the department has taken many actions to uh turn that around best they can.

But the truth is is we didn't hire people for five to six years, and so if I'm doing my math correctly, you know, the we didn't start hiring again until 2013, so so we do still have a ways to go before we get through that period where we have a much larger group who can retire than we have new folks, and we're and we're meeting missing the folks who would be in the middle of their career if I'm-ish if I'm doing my math correctly.

So while that is still incredibly frustrating because we're we're down as councilman Waring pointed out, um, from the 3125 number, which sorry to aid you a little bit, councilman, but that number was a number when I came on, and it and I think it had been the number for several years prior to that, and then we were growing and continue to grow.

So uh it is a struggle, but I do appreciate all the efforts that you have made, um, and the turnaround, at least in getting applications and hiring more recruits.

We've we've made some good steps, but we still have to figure out how do we make up for this this lack of officers on slide nine, which is I think the next slide from where you're at right now, you have total recruit applicants from January and February of of this year and last year.

My question about those numbers are um are those completed applications, or are those applications that have come in and may or may not be completed.

Chairman Robinson, members of the subcommittee councilwoman O'Brien, I believe those are the initial applications submitted to um express interest or apply for the job with it with HR.

Okay, I would request a follow-up at my next briefing about the difference in the number between that initial application and then how many people are actually completely filling out the application because until they've completely filled it out, we can't do a background check or start them through the process.

So these are nice numbers given that you know you're comparing apples to apples, but I think we need to start comparing oranges to oranges too to see what's the falloff from I initially applied and now I I either made it or I didn't make it all the way through that application process to even truly be considered as an officer.

Um that would be helpful to me.

And then I would again commend you all on the joint annual event.

Um I I got there a little bit late, so I didn't get to see the line, but that's exciting news.

There were a lot of people there, and I would encourage you to um collect age information, um, and and if we can separate right, I had to sign the waiver, so I'm probably one of your 500, and I'm never gonna be a firefighter or a police officer.

So if there's another box to to check, you know, because it looked like there were a lot of um parents or friends, you know, with their people so we could delineate who's there to actually check it out, and and where are they at in their life?

Are they 15 and trying to figure out what they need to do?

Are they 20, 25, second career, those kinds of things?

I think that will be helpful.

Also, on who you focus with and um focus on follow-up with as well, and how do you provide them good follow-up information?

I think many of our young people don't understand.

I mean, there were probably some younger than 15 there, that you can make mistakes in those high school years that can impact your ability to be a firefighter or a police officer with the city of Phoenix.

So that's another aspect that I think we should be providing when we're there, and and maybe you did that because I didn't get to every um booth or table, but it was really great to see all the folks out there um working in the vent and and all the community members out there to to check out those careers.

Um, so kudos to all of you.

I know I can't imagine the hours it takes to put that all together.

Thank you so much, Chair.

Thank you.

I just have a couple questions and uh probably an observation more than anything else.

Just checking my notes real quick.

On slide number three, online testing.

And we said we heard from 24 different states.

The um, how much of their process can they get through out of state?

And both that's for that was for the fire department.

I know that's happening for you and for the police department.

I'd like to get an idea of I let's say I live in Omaha, Nebraska.

I'm I'm pining to get back to Phoenix, Arizona, either in police or fire, and I get online and I start that process.

How far can I get without actually having to be here, spend money to get here to do whatever it is I would need to do?

Chairman Robinson and members of a subcommittee.

So that is one of the reasons that that's what online testing did for us.

So they have a two-week period where they can go through the testing process.

We have two interviews, both of those are in person, and so we are now exploring taking our first interview process online that prevents them having to travel.

Because the other piece, when you get through the interview process and you get hired, you there's a bunch of the background screening, clearance through the health center, those things that require you to be here.

So we are looking how we can streamline and prevent them from having to travel out here too many times prior.

So that will be the online interview process that we're going to, and looking how we just structure um onboarding through our process, okay.

Thank you.

Chairman uh Robinson members of the subcommittee um on the police department side, uh we will work with them or background investigators and our recruiters will work with them to uh complete their background packet all the way up through the um the three steps, which is the the psychological exam, the medical exam, and the um and the polygraph examination, and uh our staff will work with them to streamline that as well to ensure that they're that all of those steps are done, you know, for the day or two or for the the period of time that they're um here and stay with us.

Okay, thank you for that.

Another question I had when we talk about recruiting out of state and everywhere we go and all the things we do.

Time and time again, the um the best recruiter for us happens to be our own employees.

That has always been the case.

I was at the academy graduation last week, 25 recruits.

Um, several of them had family members or friends who had been police officers.

So that continues to be one of the best avenues, I believe, for hiring people who get through the academy and who stay, because there's a realistic expectation, I'm sure, on both the fire and on the police side of what the job truly entails.

Now, that having been said, Lori, I think we're still doing that, because I had asked about it before, I know we're still doing it.

Can I get for the future when someone refers somebody and they're actually hired?

There's that 2,500 response.

Can I get an idea in the future?

Don't need it right now of how well that program has been.

Because looking at that class the other day, um, I know that there were a lot of people who were referred.

And this is the police side.

I'm sure it's working the same on the fire side.

2500 is nothing to sneeze at.

You can probably fill up your gas tank with it.

But um, I had to say something.

You did.

Okay.

But um, it's it's another tool that I I would I hope that we're really pushing out there, because we all know somebody who would make either a good firefighter or a good police officer.

And you know, it's it's an it's the process of getting them, you know, introduced to those services so they understand a little bit more.

And that 2500 incentive, the more we talk about it.

I mean, somebody can go out there and recruit 10 people in one year, and you know, it's not a bad way to go.

So I would just like to know later on how often we're actually paying that out, how often that's occurring.

Yes, Mr.

Chair, we'll get you those numbers.

And the entire subcommittee will send it to you.

Thank you.

And the very last question I had, I send the legacy.

Um great presentation, and oh, okay, yeah.

Um, what I was gonna mention is that you know, we were asking a lot of questions about this because clearly it's important to us.

I I would venture to guess all three of our offices, as well as the mayor's office and some of the other council offices, they get questions about public safety day in and day out.

And you know, we're still short about with uh the recruits in the academy, about five hundred and thirty-nine by my number, five hundred and thirty-nine officers were still short that many.

We have to close that gap.

And I know employment services is doing what they can, they're changing some things out, relieving the background investigators of some of the administrative responsibilities you had mentioned.

That court in the presentation, I would implore us as both organizations, both departments, to do as much as we can to once we grab a hold of someone once we know we want somebody to you know wrap them up enough where they won't go somewhere else.

Because that seems to be the issue that folks will start the process, and someone else over here is chirping in there, making more noise, and they run over to that agency when you know we had every intention, but it slows down because of the process.

So I'm hoping that we're doing everything we can to really speed up that process.

Not reducing the quality and the expectations we have of our applicants.

I'm just saying, just when we find that that one applicant, we know we want them to wrap them up as quickly as we can.

So I just wanted to make that note, and I believe Councilman Waring has a question.

So uh Cosman Robinson made a good point.

He said, you know, we all take this seriously.

Well, we prove it.

We had a discussion about the budget yesterday.

Police officers, firefighters, and the support personnel, not the equipment or the stations or anything are 55% of the city's roughly two billion plus dollar budget.

That's a pretty serious outlay of money when you look at it that way.

Uh as an overall part of the budget, um, you know, I think police is 38% and fires 25% or something on the general fund.

So we're definitely taking these operations seriously.

By far, to my mind, it's the most important thing that we do.

Um so I think as recently doing this from memory, and I'm gonna ask for follow-ups for next time.

I think we still had about 3,000, this is directed to police, 3,000 police officers as recently as 2020.

And if we threw out an academy that had 300 spots, they'd fill those 300 spots.

And then after 2020, it just, or starting in 2020, it just plummeted.

So this is about year six of a problem.

Fire uh from memory was more like starting in 2014, it was just kind of a straight trajectory down, but looking at their numbers on page two chart four, um, that looks more like it would have been 10-12 years ago, which is fantastic.

Maybe the white, the 917 maybe is a little lower.

I sort of remember it being more like a thousand, but still um, you know, they kind of turned that around.

If I could, Chief, it's not too much of a problem going to fire.

If I we could get the charts for next time or whenever the next time you're coming to brief, doesn't have to be something special.

I'd be curious to see that maybe last 12 years or something.

Because I I think I'm gonna, you probably haven't committed to memory, but I'm not gonna put you on the spot.

I, you know, this is this is good news because that was very worrisome.

It's not a one-year trend, it looks like two years of good improvement, um, and really dramatic improvement.

Uh, 25 26.

For police, though, we didn't hire, I came in uh in 2011.

We still weren't hiring, and then my first budget year we started hiring again.

So I think that was right, 20, 20, 12.

Um, but we still had at least approximately the goal of officers as late as 2020.

What we probably didn't have to the not hiring point is like middle career officers who are lieutenants and sergeants, so it's probably a shortage of those people based on experience because you didn't hire for those five years.

But had we been filling the academies like we had always done traditionally, future police officers wanted to work in Phoenix so we can fill the academic.

We would have the number of officers, they might not be as experienced as we would have liked because of what Councilman O'Brien was talking about.

But the real problem is not being able to get people into the academies and then losing some when they do get to the academies.

These last now six years in counting.

My concern is it doesn't seem to get better because we've had attrition, because now an officer is it 25 years when they can retire with a full pension?

Is that right, Kevin?

Yes.

So 25 years.

So in 2020, if you started in 1995, you could start retiring.

That's probably about right.

Now you're about 50, you could probably do something else.

So you start retiring, and we have not been able to fill those spots.

If we could, we would have lost experience, but we wouldn't have lost the number of officers we've lost.

So while yes, the hiring issue from years gone by might be an experience issue, it is not explaining why we're at today with only having less than 2500 officers with no real end of that site.

Unless we change the number of people applying, it's just not gonna change.

You're not gonna let hire people from Portland or wherever we're down that road, it just doesn't produce what you'd think it would.

So I don't know.

Uh, appreciate um fires talking about using Zoom so that people out of state because we always have in migration, California, Illinois.

We could discuss all day why that is.

People are fleeing those states.

Um they want to move here.

So doing stuff on Zoom as much as possible is fantastic.

Everything else is on it, why not that?

Um, making people fly out who maybe are still in college or or community college or just getting out of the military, that's a heavy lift.

Flying is not only a huge hassle, it's expensive.

Uh, so I assume that's something you guys already looked at.

Um, I get that you have to do background checks, but I assume that's mostly online and records and stuff rather than actually in person.

So um just trying to throw stuff out there that might uh get more people in the academies because that's all you can do.

Uh, but I don't think the hiring, the not hiring for those few years explains the situation we're in now.

There's definitely been a shift in big cities about whether people want to do this job.

You want to really get discouraged, go read the Wall Street Journal.

We talk about people under 40, preferably would work from home, but the vast majority, I think it was, wanted to work three days a week.

Well, that's not being a Phoenix police officer or firefighter, that's not realistic in any way, so you got to work around that too.

So, um, I don't know.

I wish you luck.

I would like to see though the academy applications and retentions and so forth for let's say the last 10 years for police, uh, and see how we're doing, and the number of officers for let's say the last 10 years or so the next time you guys come and brief us.

So again, I appreciate your time and appreciate you hearing me out.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, Court, if you can add to that the attrition rate in that first year after graduation, I think that would be helpful to us as well.

Other than that, thank you for the time.

Great presentation.

I'll love the information.

And you know, as we said earlier, we truly care a great deal about public safety, as do our constituents, and so we're gonna continue down this road, continuing asking questions, looking for what's the best possible way for us to move forward as an overall organization.

So thank you very much for the presentation.

So with that.

Items five through eight are for information only.

Um, do any of my colleagues have any questions about um or comments about any of those items?

Seeing and hearing none.

The last item today is a call to the public.

Do we have any registered speakers?

None?

That is wonderful.

From a time standpoint, the time is 11.09.

This meeting is adjourned.

Thank you very much.

Anybody have an answer?

I you you really intended to be disappointed about the likes of people.

It influences how decisions are made, how communities are shaped, and how opportunity is expanded.

From Helen