Phoenix provides new details on homeless incidents in DOJ report

PHOENIX (AZFamily) – Arizona's Family Investigates took a closer look at how police handled incidents involving homeless people mentioned in the Justice Department's scathing report on the Phoenix police department.

Between January 2016 and March 2022, officers in Phoenix spent nearly 370,000 hours on nearly half a million trespassing cases, according to federal investigators.

They found that 37% of all Phoenix police arrests and citations were of homeless people.

Bodycam video from February 15, 2020, shows police approaching a man outside a gas station near 32nd Street south of Interstate 10 after seeing him talking to two women who they later said appeared uncomfortable.

“I have not committed a crime,” the man is heard saying.

They repeatedly asked for his name and wanted to check whether there were any arrest warrants against him.

But the situation quickly escalated. They handcuffed the man.

“I didn’t do anything,” the man told police.

“What are you up to? Resisting arrest and trespassing,” an officer remarks as he searches the man’s backpack.

This is one of 22 incidents involving homeless people that the Justice Department cited in its report.

“This is not surprising at all,” said Stan Kephart, a former police chief and current expert witness.

Phoenix police said they found their officers did not comply with regulations.

An internal investigation later revealed that one of the officers did not know why the other had stopped the man.

After the inspection, the officer who carried out the first check was suspended for 8 hours.

The city said this incident was the only one of 22 that was subject to administrative review, meaning the calls did not involve the use of force or allegations of misconduct at the time they occurred.

Kephart said police do not have the resources or training to effectively handle these calls.

“The only thing they can use is this trespassing ordinance that tells them to leave,” he said.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June changed the way cities can respond to homeless people.

They can now ban them from sleeping outdoors, even if there are not enough emergency shelters.

In Phoenix, starting September 1, camping will not be permitted within 500 feet of a school, daycare center, shelter or city park.

On Friday, police released videos, photos and reports of more than 100 incidents cited in the Justice Department's investigation.

The city wrote that releasing this information would give people “a better understanding of the allegations” while police look for ways to improve.

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