Congressman Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) issued a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, calling on him to rescind a Department of Justice report on the Phoenix Police Department. Hamadeh characterized the report as an example of the weaponization of the DOJ based on cherry picked narratives by the outgoing Biden Administration to support “their political agenda.”
In part, the letter from Hamadeh read, “The Biden DOJ’s ‘pattern or practice’ report on the Phoenix Police Department was a desperate witch hunt. It is nothing more than an attempt to undercut valid police work, leaving my constituents – both officers and civilians – at risk.
“Despite the Biden DOJ’s baseless claims, our officers did everything right, voluntarily cooperating in good faith, opening their records, and participating in lengthy interviews. They were met with stonewalling, mischaracterized testimony, and a final report riddled with glaring inaccuracies. The Biden DOJ’s claim that Phoenix Police Department officers violated constitutional standards during unrest following one of President Trump’s rallies was absurd. That claim is especially ludicrous because the Ninth Circuit affirmed that the department’s actions were lawful. The Biden DOJ ignored this and many other court-backed facts, choosing instead to cherry-pick narratives that support their political agenda.
“The Biden DOJ sowed distrust, diverting millions from public safety, and discouraging officers — at the very moment when Arizona’s communities need them most.”
As reported by AZ Free News, efforts had been underway during the Biden administration to shackle the Phoenix police with a DOJ Consent Decree designed to place the Department under court-ordered federal oversight. The move came following a report from the Biden DOJ that claimed, “We have reasonable cause to believe that PhxPD and the City engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the Constitution and federal law. First, PhxPD uses excessive force, including unjustified deadly force and unreasonable less-lethal force. Second, PhxPD and the City violate the rights of people experiencing homelessness by unlawfully detaining, citing, and arresting them and by unlawfully disposing of their belongings. Third, PhxPD discriminates against Black, Hispanic, and Native American people when making stops and arrests. Fourth, PhxPD violates individuals’ First Amendment Rights. Fifth, PhxPD and the City discriminate in their response to people who have behavioral health disabilities. Finally, we have serious concerns about PhxPD’s treatment of children, and the lasting impact aggressive police encounters have on their mental and physical wellbeing.”
Hamadeh, who participated in a regularly scheduled Air Support Mission with the PPD, had the opportunity to see the work of Phoenix Police Officers firsthand and a statement from his office said decisively, “Congressman Hamadeh believes that by rescinding the DOJ’s report on the Phoenix Police Department, the Trump administration will send a powerful message that political interference has no place in law enforcement, and that America First principles now govern the day.”
A violent anti-immigration enforcement protest rapidly devolved into a violent riot on Sunday in Glendale near the intersection of 67th Avenue and Camelback Road.
The riot became “violent and unruly” according to Glendale Police with an estimated 1,000+ people crowding the intersection, shutting down traffic, and even stealing a Glendale PD SUV and driving it a short distance before ditching it.
Pro foreign invasion "protesters" steal police vehicle as part of their "protest" in Glendale Arizona…
"Glendale police say more than 1,000 people gathered near 67th Avenue and Camelback Road Sunday in protest of the Trump Administration’s new immigration policies" -ABC15… pic.twitter.com/WfiuXhojuO
In a statement reported by AZFamily, a Glendale Police spokesman wrote, “Both Glendale PD and Phoenix PD were already in place with the purpose of ensuring the safety of protestors, commuters, nearby businesses/property, and officers.”
As reported by KTAR, the event was planned far beforehand and officers of both Glendale and Phoenix PD were already deployed to ensure the safety and orderliness of the scheduled protest at about 5 pm. The protest went forward peacefully along the sidewalks for the first couple of hours. However, by 7:30 pm, with over 1,000 people spilling into the roadway, events took a destructive turn with rioters igniting fireworks and becoming violent with officers hurling rocks, concrete pieces, and glass bottles at them. They were described as “behaving unruly and defiant towards officers.”
KTAR released footage from two Glendale PD vehicle cameras in a post to X.com, showing a rioter jumping onto a vehicle with at least one officer inside and stomping the windshield in.
Glendale Police released footage of two of their patrol vehicles being damaged during the protest on Sunday evening. pic.twitter.com/p2JEvIavLp
By 10:16 pm the outlet reported that Glendale PD closed traffic to the area and employed crowd control tactics to “disperse the unlawful assembly.” Officials said “various chemical agents” were deployed by officers and the intersection was cleared in approximately twenty minutes.
As reported by AZFamily, five marked Police SUVs were damaged by the rioters with windshields and windows shattered, tires slashed, hoods and body panels dented. One of the police SUVs was even briefly stolen and driven a short distance before the would-be thief abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. 12News obtained video footage of the brief theft and posted it to YouTube.
Local businesses also suffered damage as did several civilian vehicles, and a storage container near a business was set on fire.
The Glendale Arizona FOP Lodge posted a video to X writing, “Law Enforcement in this country is going to need some prayers. Last night, our officers were attacked by a mob. They targeted our vehicles. And they targeted area businesses and civilian vehicles also. This was no peaceful protest. But they held the line. You all know what we’re in for. Keep praying. Good prevails.”
Law Enforcement in this country is going to need some prayers.
Last night, our officers were attacked by a mob. They targeted our vehicles. And they targeted area businesses and civilian vehicles also.
This was no peaceful protest. But they held the line.
Over 7,300 illegal aliens have been deported in President Donald Trump’s first week in office, per the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
DHS published this latest dataset on Monday. Following Trump’s inauguration, DHS and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began posting daily updates with immigration enforcement totals.
DHS reported that among these 7,300 apprehensions were “hundreds of convicted criminals” for crimes such as sexual assault and rape, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault and battery, drugs and weapons offenses, domestic violence, suspected terrorism, firearms trafficking, kidnapping, vehicular manslaughter, driving while impaired, and possession of an illegal substance.
This latest update follows the Senate’s confirmation of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem last Saturday as Trump’s DHS secretary.
“Ensuring Americans’ safety and securing the border is President Trump’s and Secretary Noem’s top priority,” stated DHS.
DHS also reported that their novel implementation of deportation flights returned many of these detained illegal aliens to Mexico, Jordan, Brazil, and El Salvador.
In the first week of the Trump Administration, we have fulfilled President Trump's promise to the American people to arrest and deport violent criminals illegally in the country. In one week, law enforcement officials have removed and returned 7,300 illegal aliens. pic.twitter.com/JKZYMD0f00
In remarks made Monday during the House GOP’s annual Congressional Institute conference, Trump declared his administration’s use of military planes for deportations marked a historic approach to U.S. immigration enforcement.
“For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came — and made clear to every country they will be taking back their people,” said Trump.
Per data provided by ICE in their daily enforcement updates, as of Monday there were over 3,500 arrests and 2,650 detainers lodged since Trump took office.
Under Trump, immigration and law enforcement officials have also begun “enhanced targeted operations” on major hotspots for illegal aliens. On Sunday, ICE announced a partnership on such an operation with the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP, and Marshals Service to enforce immigration law in Chicago, Illinois.
“For the record: targeted enforcement operations are planned arrests of known criminal aliens who threaten national security or public safety,” stated ICE.
Chicago considers itself a “sanctuary city.” Chicago and other cities which adopted this status are now under investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, per a letter sent to local leaders on Monday. Other sanctuary cities named in that letter were New York City, New York; Denver, Colorado; and Boston, Massachusetts.
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) January 26, 2025
Although Phoenix declined years ago to declare itself a sanctuary city officially, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego maintains a position similar to those maintained by sanctuary city leaders. Last November, in the weeks following Trump’s election, Gallego declared that no city resources would be used for mass deportation efforts.
“I can say without equivocation that as long as I’m mayor, Phoenix will not use its police department—or any city resources whatsoever—to assist in mass deportation efforts by the Trump Administration,” said Gallego in a statement to Arizona’s Family.
Phoenix Police Department policy set years ago requires sergeant approval prior to contacting ICE.
Reportedly, Phoenix city leaders plan to meet privately for legal advice on the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The Department of Justice issued a three-page memo last week directing U.S. attorneys to investigate any state and local officials who refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands or requests,” read the memo from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.
The Trump administration put in a workaround to these refusals by major cities on immigration enforcement. Several days after Trump’s inauguration, then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued an internal memo granting immigration enforcement authority to law enforcement agents throughout various agencies, as reported exclusively by The Wall Street Journal.
Days later, the Phoenix office of the DEA announced its partnership with the DOJ and DHS in carrying out illegal alien apprehensions. Like its federal peers, the Phoenix DEA has taken to posting about their work with greater frequency since their Sunday announcement of a federal partnership.
Like Phoenix city leadership, Tucson’s city leaders vowed in a press release to not participate in any federal immigration enforcement efforts.
In his first week in office, Trump’s administration also ended the CBP One app enabling illegal entry into the border, and repealed ex-Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ memo limiting ICE agents.
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The city of Phoenix reported an overall decline in crime for 2024 but noted a marked rise in violence against police.
Notably, the city reported a “significant decrease” in homicides: around 28 percent. Overall crime declined by four percent. Yet, the incidents of violence perpetrated against police officers continues to increase (only officer-involved shootings declined). The Phoenix Police Department reported 14 incidents in which officers were on the receiving end of gunfire. One of those incidents resulted in the death of an officer.
“These incidents represent a complete disregard for law enforcement, the important role officers play in our community and the sanctity of life,” stated the department. “We have trained our officers well and will continue to take the next steps in advanced training to minimize the risk to our community members and officers as they put their lives on the line every day and night to keep our community safe.”
Phoenix police attributed part of the reduction in homicides to its 2024 Crime Reduction Plan released last June. That plan dedicated the department to prioritizing crackdowns on violent offenders, active areas of crime, prohibited gun possessors, and those with warrants. Police reported the number of juveniles arrested for homicide dropped from 23 in 2023 to seven last year; the number of juvenile homicide victims dropped from 23 in 2023 to 15 last year.
The city’s police attributed the overall reduction in crime to its coordinated investigations of syndicated crime and repeat offenders. These included Operation Makeup Breakup to investigate organized retail theft, Operation Full Court Press to investigate certain violent offenders, an FBI partnership investigating a hotel operating as a brothel, and Operation Night Owl to investigate a drug and money laundering network.
“The Phoenix Police Department will continue to strive to be a self-assessing and self-correcting agency while looking for additional ways to increase accountability and transparency,” said the department.
Phoenix police reported that staffing continued to be a challenge last year. The department took in just under 2,300 applications for sworn police officers, and about 160 started the Phoenix Police Academy (in 2023, there were about 150 recruits).
The top sources for applicants, in order, were the department website, a friend or family member, Indeed, employee referral, and then social media. However, the top sources for hired recruits came, in order, from a friend or family, an employee referral, social media, the website, and then billboards.
The department remains understaffed. The city has budgeted for about 3,000 officers; total sworn officers as of last November amounted to just over 2,500.
During last Tuesday’s meeting for the Public Safety and Justice subcommittee, Phoenix police also reported that their hiring total reduced from 167 officers in 2023 (150 men, 17 women) to 144 officers in 2024 (124 men, 20 women).
In order to improve its numbers, the police department said that it has continued traditional advertisement forms in TV, radio, print, and digital media as well as creating recruitment opportunities with Arizona Christian University, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona State University, and Grand Canyon University.
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“Protect and serve” means more than just keeping the peace and enforcing the laws — for Phoenix police, it means ensuring their neighbors have plenty on their tables this Thanksgiving.
Phoenix Police Department’s Desert Horizon Precinct donated 865 turkeys for St. Mary’s Food Bank on Tuesday morning. They couldn’t do it alone: community members rallied around their local department’s cause, making the massive contribution possible.
The collaborative effort between community and police allowed St. Mary’s Food Bank to not only reach but exceed its goal of 10,000 turkey donations this year.
The generosity means that much more, as Thanksgiving prices remained higher than they were several years ago, and more families have turned to food banks for help amid rising inflation. St. Mary’s Food Bank has around 1,500 families coming through its Phoenix Neighborhood Food Center every weekday alone, more than during the height of the 2020 pandemic.
The Arizona Food Bank Network has reported its monthly service numbers amounting to over 600,000 individuals. In July, the state saw a record number of households turning to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits: over 460,000 families. HonorHealth Desert Mission Food Bank reported serving double the number of households daily.
According to the USDA, about 12 percent of Arizona households met the threshold for food insecurity, meaning they lacked consistent access to enough food. Food inflation rose 25 percent from 2019 to 2023 (according to the USDA), with grocery prices increasing well over one percent in the past year alone (according to the Consumer Price Index). That latter increase marked a five percent jump from 2022 to 2023.
Officers also assisted with loading the turkeys and food boxes at the food bank’s headquarters.
St. Mary’s Food Bank president and CEO, Milt Lou, said in a press release that the donation turnout was “exciting.” Lou envisioned the happy scene to be had on Thanksgiving Day, when the many families that came to them for help walked away with a full Thanksgiving spread.
“[We’re happy] to make sure that every family that comes to us today and tomorrow will receive a turkey along with all the fixings, fresh produce, and bread,” said Lou.
Phoenix Police interim chief Michael Sullivan said in that same press release that he hopes this effort serves to show the reliability and dedication of his officers.
“These donations tell me you can bet on the Phoenix PD to come through when you need us and bet on the City of Phoenix,” said Sullivan. “The beauty of Phoenix’s community — now that’s something to be thankful for.”
St. Mary’s Food Bank also collected donations to buy turkeys for this year’s distribution. A $20 donation assured the purchase of one turkey and a meal of pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and a produce bag including onions, carrots, and potatoes.
This year, St. Mary’s Food Bank expects to distribute around 23,000 turkeys across the Valley. That’s above its total of 21,000 turkeys distributed last year.
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