Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Engel pledged support for reallocating police funding to social programs and replacing police with social workers.
The University of Arizona (UArizona) law professor made those remarks in a resurfaced 2020 Clean Elections interview, which her Republican opponent Juan Ciscomani shared.
“What we need to do is shift where the money is going. Not every 911 call requires a police officer to show up at your door,” said Engel.
IN HER OWN WORDS:
“Defund the police. Would you support a reduction in police budgets…”@EngelForArizona: “Yeah… the way you’ve asked that question, I agree with it.”
In Kirsten Engel’s America, our police are defunded and our neighborhoods are left unprotected. #AZ06 1/ pic.twitter.com/vB1QtqVMOc
In June 2020, Engel sided with Tucson Councilwoman Lane Santa Cruz after she accused Tucson police officers of murder and violence concerning the death of a man in custody.
The man in question, Carlos Ingram-Lopez, died from cardiac arrest due to excessive cocaine in his system. Contributors to Ingram-Lopez’s death bore striking similarities to that of George Floyd’s less than a month earlier: a drug overdose, enlarged heart, and physical restraint. The Tucson Police Officers Association (TPOA) disclosed that the officers Santa Cruz accused falsely of killing Ingram-Lopez resigned out of fear for their families’ safety.
Engel criticized TPOA for speaking out against Santa Cruz’s fabrication. She accused TPOA of bullying and intimidation.
Then-Police Chief Chris Magnus offered to resign over Ingram-Lopez’s death. The city rejected his resignation. Magnus would later be appointed as the head of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
At the height of the BLM riots, Engel donated to the Arizona Justice Bailout Fund, which pledged to use donations to bail out BLM protestors. That bailout fund was launched by the scandal-ridden Our Voice Our Vote Arizona in conjunction with Arizona Coalition for Change.
Engel’s 2020 advocacy marked a departure from her previous years in the state legislature, when she was endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).
I am thankful that the Fraternal Order of Police have put their trust in me to help make where I can. pic.twitter.com/NP2alF0UYv
Engel’s social media postings about police slowed after the summer of 2020, when she signaled support for the sweeping police reforms and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests across the nation. Additionally, Engel’s campaign platform doesn’t address policing at all. However, Engel’s recent campaign actions indicate that her perspective on policing hasn’t veered too far from her 2020 stance.
In June, Engel signed a pledge by the Reparations Pledge PAC. That PAC and its founder, Redeem Robinson, advocate for defunding the police.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Several people in chicken costumes showed up Friday at a campaign event for former State Rep. Kirsten Engel (D), carrying signs asking where she was the night before.
Those signs refer to Engel’s absence on Sept. 22 from a well-publicized debate in Casa Grande with Republican nominee Juan Ciscomani. The livestreamed event was intended to give Pinal County voters a chance to compare the two candidates for Congressional District 6.
Engel’s campaign said after the no-show that the candidate was advised of the event nearly two months ago, but Engel’s calendar “was still up in the air” at the time. After that, Engel was “not provided with any further details” about the event before last Thursday, according to the statement.
That explanation did not set well with some people. The next night Engel had a campaign event at Club Congress inside Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson.
Hotel Congress is not within CD6.
Engel’s absence renewed attention to the fact other Democrats, including Katie Hobbs, have avoided face-to-face debates this election cycle.
Hobbs, the current Arizona Secretary of State and Democratic nominee for governor, has admitted she wants to avoid a face-to-face debate with her Republican rival Kari Lake. Her decision leaves voters across Arizona with no opportunity to hear her in direct comparison to an opponent.
In fact, Hobbs took the same “no debate” position in her primary contest against former Nogales mayor Marco Lopez.
For his part, Ciscomani appeared to benefit from Engel’s no-show last week by having an opportunity to speak about his policy positions without any distractions or interruptions.
Democratic congressional candidate and former state senator Kirsten Engel declared on Wednesday that there isn’t a border crisis.
Arizona Horizon host Ted Simons asked Engel during an election debate whether she agreed that the current state of the border constituted a crisis. Engel said she didn’t, adding that additional borders security wasn’t the solution.
“No. It does need help at the border. We do — Washington, I would say, has failed us. It’s not just this administration. It’s the past administration. We do need help at our border. We do need to secure our border. We have issues of drug trafficking and human smuggling that need to be addressed, but certainly not walls. I mean walls are a 13th century solution to a 21st century problem.
Engel, who resigned from the state senate last September, insinuated that turning away illegal immigrants was the real crisis.
“I mean, let’s look at what’s going on here. We have people, migrants, coming who want to make a home in our country. You know, these people are like our ancestors coming here. That is — that’s the crisis. That’s a humanitarian crisis,” said Engel. “What we need from Washington is having an orderly asylum process. That’s national law, that’s international law. We need comprehensive immigration reform. We have to help our Dreamers.”
WHOA: Democrat candidate Kirsten Engel, who’s running in a swing border district, denied the border crisis exists in a debate last night.
Simons: “Does Arizona have an immigration crisis?” Engel: “No.”
The debate also featured Engel’s Democratic opponent, State Representative Daniel Hernández Jr. (D-Tucson), who disagreed with Engel. He said that a wall wasn’t enough, pointing out the need for more security technology like drones.
“We are seeing that people don’t feel safe where they’re living, even though we are saying that this is an issue that has gone time after time,” said Hernández. “To say there is no crisis is wrong.”
Engel agreed that a federal presence was necessary at the border, as well as more technology, but emphasized her opposition to a border wall.
“Walls are not going to do it, and neither are photo ops,” said Engel. “It’s not all drug smugglers. It’s families with little kids.”
Hernández said that his perspective on rescinding Title 42 reflected that of Democratic Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema: the policy should be removed, but there should be a plan ready to fill the void left behind.
“These are people coming here trying to get a better life, so we should treat them humanely with dignity, but make sure we have a plan to actually address [them],” said Hernández.
Engel agreed, calling Title 42 a “stop-gap solution.” She pointed out that about half of the people returned to Mexico under Title 42 ended up reentering the country, citing that as a failure of the policy. Like Hernández, Engel said she wanted to see a plan first before rescinding the policy.
“There’s no adjudication of their claim,” said Engel. “Title 42 is not the answer.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Arizona’s legislators have a lot on their plates with this week’s start of the new session. Yet while many are focused on financially strapped small businesses, election integrity issues, and getting schools reopened, Senator Kirsten Engel is concerned about paper and plastic bags.
At issue are the kind of bags used by thousands of people every day along with other types of “auxiliary containers” such as cans, bottles, boxes, and cups to take merchandise or food from a business. But those businesses could be forced to come up with new options if a bill introduced by Engel, a Democrat from Tucson, passes.
Engel is the sponsor of SB1132, which seeks to repeal ARS § 9-500.38, the state law which prohibits cities and towns from regulating auxiliary containers. The bill has not yet had its First Read during the new legislative session.
In 2016, the Arizona Legislature deemed the regulation of the use and disposition of auxiliary containers to be a matter of statewide concern. There is nothing on Engel’s website explaining why she believes it is important to allow every city or town to set its own container rules.
But the result, especially for companies with stores or restaurants in multiple cities or towns across Arizona, would likely be chaos, as well as higher costs. For instance, without ARS § 9-500.38, it would be possible for a Target store in Tucson to be prohibited from utilizing single-use plastic bags, while the Target store in Sierra Vista has no such restriction.
Or a grocery store in Florence could be forced to use paper bags constructed of a certain percentage of recycled products while a store for the same chain in Flagstaff could be required to use bags with a different percent.
The owner of several restaurant franchises in Pima County was surprised to find a Tucson-area senator pushing for the change.
“This is not a business friendly bill,” he said. “It seems like someone hasn’t thought this through very well, or just doesn’t want Arizona to be business-friendly.”
Despite ARS § 9-500.38, the City of Bisbee changed its city code in 2016 to ban retail businesses from utilizing single-use plastic bags. The city code included a fine of up to $500 per violation.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich was asked at the time by Sen. Warren Petersen to investigate the city’s code. In October 2017, Brnovich issued an opinion that the code conflicted with -and thus violated- state law, the same law Engel now seeks to do away with.
