The Phoenix Police Department (PPD) is lowering its standards and shifting hiring practices in order to recruit and hire more female cops by 2030.
PPD leadership explained during a city council meeting that they are working to align with the 30×30 Initiative, in which participating law enforcement agencies pledge to have female officers make up 30% of the force by 2030 at minimum.
PPD Commander Warren Brewer confirmed that the department aims to have 30% of academy classes consisting of females by 2030.
“That is a focus for us hiring,” said Brewer. “Hopefully we will stay in the double digits when it comes to hiring the female applicants.”
11 other law enforcement agencies in Arizona have signed onto the 30×30 Initiative pledge: Apache Junction Police Department, Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, Arizona State University Police Department, Gilbert Police Department, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Mesa Police Department, Queen Creek Police Department, Tempe Police Department, Tucson Police Department, University of Arizona Police Department, and Yuma Police Department.
Nearly 400 law enforcement agencies across 46 states have signed onto the 30×30 Initiative pledge. The only states without any law enforcement agencies signed onto the pledge were Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
PPD’s latest academy class had 14 females enrolled, which Brewer said was “the highest” he’d seen in a recruiting class since he’s been in the department. The next class coming in has seven female recruits enrolled.
PPD confirmed that they’ve already begun lowering fitness standards to boost female recruits.
Megan Avalos, PPD’s assistant director for human resources, explained that PPD has lowered pre-academy testing standards for physical agility and ability.
“Pre-employment, we’re giving them an additional 12 seconds because they believe that they can get them ready for that test at the academy,” said Avalos.
PPD’s Physical Ability Test previously required candidates to complete a course simulating essential job functions within two minutes and six seconds. In order to hire more women, PPD has increased the time limit for pre-academy testing to two minutes and twenty seconds.
The test requires candidates to complete an obstacle navigation through climbing over barriers and maneuvering through tight spaces, pursuit simulation through short-distance sprinting and directional changes, victim rescue through dragging a weighted dummy to safety, and equipment carry through lifting and transporting weighted objects.
Per PPD, the test is designed to reflect the real-world physical demands of policing.
This year, PPD once again failed to fill its sworn hiring target of 3,125.
Total recruits in the academy fell from the July 2025 total, but were higher than they were in July 2024. There were 127 recruits in the academy as of July, compared to 135 last July and 70 in July 2024.
Total filled sworn positions also fell for the third year in a row, from 2,527 in July 2024, to 2,501 in July 2025, and then to 2,467 this July.
There were 2,594 total filled sworn positions and recruits this July, which was below July 2024 and July 2025 levels: 2,597 and 2,636, respectively.
However, PPD did report that year-to-date applications represented a 9.6% increase over 2025, and that monthly application totals in 2026 have consistently exceeded or met prior-year performance.
Avalos emphasized that PPD has worked at streamlining its recruitment and hiring processes to encourage candidates and prevent the loss of applicants along the way.
Councilmember Jim Waring was skeptical of PPD’s narrative that recruitment and hiring processes were causing low recruitment. Waring said that recruitment was “worse off” than it was two years ago.
Waring contended that the ongoing recruitment woes were the continuation of a social shift that occurred in 2020, citing the much higher recruitment numbers for the decades leading up to the pandemic.
“Something changed in 2020 that made people not want to be Phoenix police officers, long before the incident that was mentioned or a lot of incidents that have been in the media, or whatever,” said Waring. “If we could figure out what that something is and address it, because that’s your problem. I don’t think it’s processes and so forth, that didn’t seem to effect things for the 20 years I’m looking at before. We used to kind of routinely get 300 people to fill up the classes without really putting a lot of effort into it, and now we’re not.”
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The transgender Muslim Antifa activist whom Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to prosecute for a 2024 murder has once again threatened gun violence ahead of scheduled anti-Trump protests.
Sumayyah Dawud posted the threat on Facebook last week. Dawud fatally shot Paul Franco, 51, on July 4, 2024.
By Franco’s girlfriend’s account, Franco was shot while defending Renteria from Dawud and other pro-Palestine protesters that had followed them home. By the protesters’ account, Franco instigated the confrontation, and was shot after he attacked a protester who assaulted Renteria.
In his most recent post, Dawud included a quote from Malcom X which warns that freedom doesn’t come peacefully.
“Armed resistance is the answer to oppression and violence,” said Dawud. “Not love, hugs, and peace with our enemies.”
Dawud identifies as a woman. His former aliases were Britney Erica Austin and Eric Austin.
Following Franco’s slaying, Dawud had his counsel through the People’s Law Firm submit a letter to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) defending the shooting as self-defense, as reported by ABC15.
After some investigating, Phoenix Police Department (PPD) executed a search warrant on Dawud’s home. At the beginning of last year, PPD stated probable cause existed to charge Dawud with murder. Specifically, PPD recommended filing charges for second-degree murder and discharging a firearm within city limits.
Attorney General Mayes received this recommendation sometime around January 2025. The MCAO also referred the case to Mayes. Their agency recused itself because Dawud was involved in an ongoing lawsuit against them and PPD over his arrest during a Black Lives Matter riot in 2020.
Mayes’ office has not acted on those referrals. Without any charges pending, Dawud is free to attend another protest that could turn violent, based on the previous No Kings protests across the Valley last year.
Dawud issued his most recent comment advocating for gun violence just days before another series of scheduled No Kings protests are to occur.
Renteria recalled how Dawud approached Franco and shot him.
“I just remember a black shadow just walking up to Paul and then shooting him,” said Renteria.
In another post from last month, Dawud expressed a desire to burn down the planned ICE facility in Surprise.
“I am glad that ICE facility being built in Surprise was vandalized,” said Dawud. “Too bad it wasn’t burned to the f*****g ground.”
Per his social media posts, Dawud has been a constant presence at protests outside of ICE facilities.
In a recent post discussing white colonialism, Dawud made the argument that white people needed to martyr themselves for black and brown people, especially during protests. Franco, who Dawud shot, was a man of color and a father.
“White people have the most privilege. White people are occupying stolen land. And for the most part, white people don’t do s**t,” said Dawud. “There’s nothing a White person experiences here on Turtle Island that a person of color doesn’t experience ten times worse.”
Turtle Island refers to a Native American name for North America.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
For years, Arizona was governed by Republican majorities in the state legislature—with Republicans also holding the Governor’s and Attorney General’s offices. During that time, we transformed Arizona into one of the most enviable and prosperous states in the nation: a booming economy, a hot jobs market, a flat income tax, strong support for law and order, and universal school choice.
That all changed in 2023 when Katie Hobbs and Kris Mayes—both Democrats—took over the Governor’s and Attorney General’s offices. Since then, they’ve worked to impose a radical agenda and remake Arizona in the image of California. If not for the slim Republican majorities in both chambers of the Arizona Legislature, Hobbs and Mayes would have quickly succeeded.
As the leader of the Senate Republicans, it has been my honor to work with my colleagues to defend Arizona values and push forward conservative priorities. Despite divided government, we’ve used every tool in our toolbox to not only stop the radical left’s agendas, but to also lead. In doing so, we have set the standard for other states dealing with divided government. Here are just a few of the top victories we’ve secured on behalf of Arizonans.
Fully Funded and Protected Universal School Choice
Over the past two decades, Arizona has led the nation in enacting school choice, giving all families the freedom to choose the education that best fits their children. We dramatically increased K-12 funding (now approximately $13,000 per student) during this time, investing heavily in and safeguarding all forms of education across the state—district, charter, home school, online, and empowerment scholarship accounts. The left only wants to give you one choice to educate your child. Both Hobbs and Mayes have prioritized the dismantling of the apparatuses that let parents decide where their children go to school.
I believe educational freedom is a foundation of the American Dream. Families shouldn’t be trapped in failing schools based on their zip code; rather, they should have the right to choose the educational institutions that work best for their sons and daughters. Unfortunately, Hobbs and Mayes have repeatedly rejected this belief to the detriment of our state’s future.
Under my leadership at the legislature, we stopped them. School choice remains fully funded and protected—even in this divided government. Fighting for parental empowerment and school choice has been one of the most consequential and rewarding endeavors of my time as Senate President. I believe that we are rescuing an entire generation of Arizonans from the grip of a broken education system.
Tax Cuts for Arizonans
One of our top priorities has been to return money to Arizona taxpayers. Despite repeated attempts by Hobbs to block us, we’ve delivered real tax relief. We eliminated the rental tax in Arizona, saving families and renters hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Charging a rental tax is bad policy, and now these revenues will stay in the pockets of the people who need them the most.
Republican lawmakers forced the governor to sign additional bills that cut taxes for hard-working Arizonans. We raised the state’s business personal property tax exemption, reducing burdens on small business owners. We banned municipal excise taxes on residential leases, relieving tenants of additional tax liability and helping lower housing costs. And we passed the Arizona Families Tax Rebate to return funds directly to eligible families.
At a time when families are feeling squeezed, we’re doing what government should—getting out of the way and letting our hardworking taxpayers keep more of what they earn. These tax cuts are the result of smart, conservative leadership that puts everyday Arizonans first. This is the same pro-growth, American First approach that President Trump is delivering for our nation, and we’re proud to carry that torch here in the Grand Canyon State.
Fully Vetted Agency Directors
One of the most consequential powers of any governor is the ability to nominate and install agency directors, who do the bidding of their chief executive. These individuals wield enormous influence over how state government functions, and under Hobbs, many of her nominees have been extreme, unqualified, or relatively unknown to the public. That’s why one of my first actions as Senate President was to create accountability through a formal vetting process for the governor’s nominees. The purpose was to ensure the individuals chosen to lead integral government agencies were competent and aligned with Arizona values. Despite resistance from the governor, we succeeded. We held her nominees to high standards and protected Arizona from the consequences of unchecked political appointments.
End of DOJ Investigation into Phoenix Police Department
Over the past several years, the Phoenix Police Department was the target of a blatantly politicized witch hunt by President Biden’s Department of Justice. They twisted facts and law in a backhanded attempt to hijack another police department and bring it under the control of the federal government. After I contacted the Trump administration and met with several of the President’s top officials, the White House and DOJ ended this rampage against the men and women in blue from the Phoenix Police Department. The announcement from the Trump administration was complete vindication, and it removed the handcuffs off our law enforcement so that they may do their jobs to keep the City of Phoenix and our citizens safe from criminals seeking to cause harm.
Divided government is messy. The path forward isn’t always easy or clear. But through consensus building, unity, discipline, determination, and bold conservative leadership, we’ve proven in Arizona that progress is possible—even in the toughest of times. The rewards of this hard work are immense for those entrusted with leaving our state and nation in a better place for future generations of Americans. I hope that our efforts in Arizona have not only preserved our rich heritage of conservative values, but inspired other warriors around the country to follow in our footsteps.
Warren Petersen is the President of the Arizona State Senate and represents Legislative District 14.
The Phoenix Police Department (PPD) is considering multiple policy revisions on reduced uses of force.
In all, PPD will act on five policies impacting the usage of spit socks, handheld irritants (oleoresin capsicum and Mark-9 canister sprays, which are pepper sprays, and the MK-3 Repuls Spray, a chemical spray), Tasers, impact weapons (expandable batons), and less lethal launchers (PepperBall launchers, 40mm Launcher, 37mm Launcher).
PPD says its goals in modifying these reduced use of force policies are to ensure trained officers deploy these tools, and that officers modify their use of these tools when faced with certain medical aid considerations.
Spit socks won’t be applied to individuals actively vomiting, exhibiting signs of medical distress, or having had direct or indirect contact with pepper spray. Officers may only apply one spit sock at a time to an individual, and only when two or more officers are present.
The updated policy on handheld irritants also prohibits officers from using pepper spray within three feet, and recommends against deploying chemical spray directly into the eyes. It also requires the immediate handcuffing of the individual sprayed.
Police Assistants (PAs) may carry pepper spray, since they lack authorization to arrest or restrain individuals. PAs aren’t sworn police officers; they handle calls for service not requiring the presence of sworn police officers.
As for the updated policy on Tasers, officers may not use them on females known to be pregnant or visibly pregnant, the elderly, juveniles, handcuffed arrestees, and very thin individuals.
The policy would also set limits on ranges of deployment, and the preferred targets.
Similarly, PPD set forth targeting and distance guidelines for less lethal launchers. The various launchers also come with their own restrictions on which officers may use them based on training.
Impact weapons (batons) would be carried at officer discretion and carrying officers must be trained.
The deadline for public input and comments is Friday, Oct. 31.
REMINDER: Phoenix PD is seeking public input on five policy revisions. Please visit https://t.co/qGmDZg70mN for a copy of the proposed revisions. The public is invited and encouraged to review the policy and submit feedback. The public input and comment period ends this Friday. pic.twitter.com/4jMOha2JMV
Earlier this year, PPD implemented a new use of force policy which contained similar, controversial adjectives — “necessary” and “proportional” — as these proposed policies.
Law enforcement experts questioned the vagueness and ambiguity of the descriptors in policy meant to empower officers to action. The word “reasonable” was traditionally relied upon, which critics say was more than enough.
These developments are the latest progression of PPD’s “less-than-lethal” program, which rolled out in 2021 across two precincts. The initial tools used were the 40mm launcher and pepper ball systems.
By 2022, PPD rolled out the program to all city precincts, launched new deescalation training modules, and revised its use of force policy to include the additives of “necessary” and “proportional” to “reasonable,” as well as the duties to intervene and provide medical assistance.
Additionally, PPD launched a pilot program for use of force investigations and evaluations.
In 2023, PPD expanded the less-than-lethal program to include 400 new tools and additional training.
Even with these efforts to revert to alternative weapons and deterrents for use of force, some fatalities have occurred. In January, PPD shot hard plastic projectiles at a wanted felon, Turrell Clay, who was evading police on a roof and had been armed. Clay came down off the roof after being shot by the less-than-lethal projectiles several times; he later died at the hospital during surgery after complaining of chest pains.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is urging the Phoenix Union High School District to reverse its decision to reject armed officers on campus following a violent knife fight between two female students at Carl Hayden High School.
The altercation, reported by the Phoenix Police Department, occurred just after 9 a.m last Monday. Officers responded to reports of a physical fight during which one student struck another with the handle of a closed-blade pocketknife.
The student with the pocketknife was referred to the Juvenile Court Center and faces one count of aggravated assault. The injured student received treatment for minor injuries, and the incident remains under investigation. Horne emphasized the critical need for armed officers, stating, “The safety of students, teachers, and staff members at schools is not negotiable, and a knife fight on the Carl Hayden campus Monday shows the dangers are increasing. This needs to stop immediately. The Phoenix Union governing board needs to reverse a terrible decision they made earlier this year when they rejected requests from the leadership of both Carl Hayden and Betty Fairfax high schools for armed officers on campus.”
“Yesterday, Phoenix Police reported that two female Carl Hayden students were in a knife fight that resulted in injuries,” Horne added. “This proves the need for armed officers and demonstrates the utter lack of concern by the members of the Phoenix Union government board who rejected the request for officers that had been endorsed by the two schools and district administration. It was an outrageous dereliction of responsibility, and the board needs to reconsider this matter immediately.”
The incident at Carl Hayden High School is part of a broader pattern of safety concerns within the Phoenix Union High School District. Earlier this year, a tragic stabbing at Maryvale High School resulted in the death of a 16-year-old student, prompting scrutiny of campus security protocols.
Phoenix Union Governing Board member Jeremiah Cota requested reconsideration of the board’s earlier vote back in August 2025, but again, the Phoenix Union board voted to deny state-funded officers. Cota tweeted, “There will be NO school resource officers agenda item at the Phoenix Union next board meeting. The Board President has refused my calls for improving school safety once again. Shameful for this district to put anti-law enforcement politics before student and staff safety.”
There will be NO school resource officers agenda item at the @PhoenixUnion next board meeting.
The Board President has refused my calls for improving school safety once again.
Shameful for this district to put anti law enforcement politics before student and staff safety. pic.twitter.com/AgBddrV0Vc
