The US Department of Justice's takeover of Phoenix police will make the city more dangerous

Public safety is the backbone of our community and our men and women in blue are on the front lines.

More than ever, this job means getting up every day and putting your life on the line.

That’s why the Arizona Republic’s recent editorial advocating a hostile takeover of the Phoenix police department by the Biden administration’s Justice Department is so dangerous.

It seems as if the editorial board at The Republic has taken the so-called “DOJ report” at face value and is practically begging the Justice Department to make us a vassal state.

This would undoubtedly reduce the safety of Arizona residents and make Phoenix a more dangerous place.

The Justice Department did not tell the whole story, but asked the right questions

Name one thing – just one – that the federal government has addressed and improved in recent years. The answer: Nothing.

To be clear, abuse of power by government officials should never be tolerated. But the Justice Department report is nothing more than a politically motivated document by those seeking to undermine law enforcement.

What was missing from the Justice Department’s report was a complete set of facts.

Nor were the right questions being asked. For example, the Justice Department asked why there were so many police shootings. But it failed to ask why so many people were shooting at police officers or threatening them with knives and other weapons.

Nor did it take into account the federal government’s failure to combat the fentanyl epidemic and the open borders that have led to increased crime in our neighborhoods in Maricopa County.

But that’s not how the Justice Department works. Instead, it uses bits and pieces of information to allege patterns or practices of wrongdoing without any evidence to support them.

The Justice Department did not clean my house. I have

In many of the situations cited by the Justice Department, the suspect committed a crime and someone called the police. However, the Justice Department questions the purpose of the police intervention and, even more telling, fails to mention the victims of the crime.

To illustrate how the Justice Department is hiding the facts in order to reach a conclusion, one need only look at the references in the report regarding the “involvement of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in the constitutional violations” surrounding the 2020 protests in downtown Phoenix.

It mentions that the Arizona State Bar suspended the prosecutor responsible. The clear conclusion was that the Arizona State Bar needed to step in and clean up the prosecutor’s office. This claim is false.

Here’s the truth: The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has been cleaning up its own backyard. Policy changes have been made and corrective actions have been taken, including dismissing cases and referring this individual to the bar. I fired her and testified against her, along with other attorneys from the MCAO, at her hearing before the bar.

The government only wants to control the Phoenix police

But a complete set of facts does not help the Justice Department achieve its ultimate goal: controlling local police departments.

I have news for you: A group of DC lawyers with no actual law enforcement experience will not Making Phoenix safer. Justice Department consent decrees do not produce better outcomes or safer communities. In fact, most cities subject to Justice Department consent decrees experience increases in violent crime within the first two years.

And then there are the costs. Money that could be spent hiring more officers, retaining existing ones, training personnel, or deploying them to other interception programs is instead spent preventing the creeping expansion of the Justice Department’s mission.

Phoenix’s endgame with the Justice Department:Still remains: “Let’s make a deal”

If you dare to fight the settlement, it’s even worse. Just ask the taxpayers of Maricopa County, who spent nearly $300 million on things that happened years ago.

What do we have to show?

An unelected federal judge running the sheriff’s office, a $100,000-a-year bill for a floor of unused office space, slower investigations, and demoralized deputies. And all of this with no end in sight because the “independent monitor” only gets paid as long as he keeps finding problems.

Keep the city in charge, not the adventurers

Without question, the safety of our citizens is of paramount importance. As District Attorney and State’s Attorney of Maricopa County, I have remained true to my ethical obligation to protect crime victims and uphold civil rights.

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