Meeting Time: October 13, 2020 at 2:30pm MST
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Agenda Item

3 Office of Accountability and Transparency Ordinance Discussion

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    Martina Nicholas about 4 years ago

    I oppose allowing a CORRUPT UNJUST system police themselves. They are incapable of that. It has been proven TIME & TIME & TIME again. An INDEPENDENT org needs to have oversight because the PPD is out of control with NO ACCOUNTABILITY from their office, counterparts, or our county attorney. Multiple MURDERS of suspects when the police were to simply do their jobs & bring them to jail. NOT COMMIT CRIMES THEMSELVES. You are telling the minority you don’t care who our lives? Is that true?

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    Patricia Pagliuca about 4 years ago

    Council & Mayor, our taxes pay you to represent our needs. Yet, you continue to disrespect and ignore Black folx right to safety. You support and protect the nation’s most deadly police force who at every turn target and harm BIPOC, queer, and poor folx. We demand that COPS DO NOT WORK AT OAT! What nonsense!! Cops can’t grade cops! We can’t appeal to your humanity, because you’ve proven you have none. But I promise we will continue to organize and remove you from these seats you do not deserve!

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    Devin Slack about 4 years ago

    The Phoenix Police Department to totally incapable of policing themselves. If they had appropriate oversight, there wouldn't have been months of protests involving thousands of protesters over the summer and into the fall. The oversight committee MUST be made only of non-police affiliated citizens with no police involvement whatsoever. Having police oversee themselves is equivalent to a murderer deciding what their own punishment should be. This comparison will be literal if police are allowed.

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    Jennifer Hernandez about 4 years ago

    It is unacceptable that Council removed independent investigations and community participation from OAT/CRB. Black and brown people are still being targeted, harassed, and killed by Phx police. Cutting our voices out of this process shows you never cared about our health and safety- you only cared about your image.

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    Amanda Mollindo about 4 years ago

    Without independent investigations and community input, the OAT cannot provide the transparency Phoenix residents need. The office must operate separately from law enforcement and allow for community participation.

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    Rene Dario Herrera about 4 years ago

    Civilian oversight of police misconduct and brutality must include independent investigators. How else can the people of Phoenix have confidence in the justice system? Independent investigators alone, should investigate all instances where police have brutalized, targeted, and murdered. Setting aside funds for in-house police investigations biases findings in favor of the police and so, cannot be trusted.

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    Melissa Forbes about 4 years ago

    I am very dismayed by the lack of transparency shown by our local government. In February, you gained support for an independent OAT, and now, just one day before this meeting, tell organizers that you will be voting today to allow police to apply to work at OAT. Pushing to hire police or their relatives to OAT is anti-Black and white supremacist. Stop cutting the community out of this policy drafting process, and delay this vote.

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    Chris Abert about 4 years ago

    Police oversight with police doing the oversight is not oversight at all. We need an independent group of impacted people with investigative powers, not another rubber stamp for PLEA and police violence.

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    Madeline Snarr about 4 years ago

    This council has already ignored their constituents' demands to Defund the police and reinvest in life-affirming and community-building efforts, and instead offered the bare minimum of reform in the CRB/OAT. It is insulting that this board would include police and exclude the community, and proves that this board is not meant to provide any real accountability to a deadly institution. To protect Black, Brown, and poor Phoenicians, this board must operate completely independently from the police.

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    Caroline HudsonNaef about 4 years ago

    The OAT must be completely independent from law enforcement agencies in order to produce trustworthy, transparent results. Furthermore, there must be a pathway for community input on investigations and administrative actions. Failure to uphold these two key features will result in an office that is a marketing stunt rather than an actual solution to the problem of police brutality in Phoenix.

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    Joel Edman about 4 years ago

    Community was promised that the OAT would be truly independent of the PD, and that community would have meaningful input in how OAT is structured. Those promises need to be kept before moving forward.

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    Lisa Olson about 4 years ago

    The people of Phoenix have been asking for transparency and accountability from Phoenix City Council and Phoenix Police for decades. On February 25th, 2020, it was the people that showed up and changed the OAT outcome. If the civilian oversight policy doesn’t have independent investigations and community participation in the policy writing, we demand Council delay the vote until they get it right and honor our clear demands. Something is NOT better than nothing when our lives are on the line.

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    Elena Pierson about 4 years ago

    The civilian oversight board was a sliver of hope, it was never enough, but it was the one minuscule win we were allowed to have. But you baited ya with it, to allow for cops to sit on this board and judge cops is never what we asked for, this is a slap to the face for any of those effected by state violence. Police perpetuate trauma and they have no place on our oversight board.

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    Amanda Steele about 4 years ago

    Putting civilian oversight in place that doesn’t have the power to initiate independent investigations is a slap in the face to victims of police violence and their families. Writing this policy behind closed doors shows us the city never had any intention of increasing police transparency or accountability. Police should be held accountable to the community and be held to an independent review board.

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    Yazmin Sagastume about 4 years ago

    If the civilian oversight policy doesn’t have independent investigations and community participation in the policy writing, we’re against it! Cutting our voices out of this process shows you never cared about our health and safety- you only cared about your image. An office like this, especially if you allow cops on staff, will be nothing but a $3 million rubber stamp for the current process.

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    Jonah Ivy about 4 years ago

    Just as the executive branch becomes tyrannical without the supervision of legislation, the police become tyrannical without the supervision of the people. Oppressive, abusive, and authoritarian behaviors do not happen spontaneously. It is, just as is stated in the Declaration of Independence, from a long drawn out list of abuses'. This list of abuses from the police has become far to long from the comfort of a law abiding citizen. We NEED more accountability and transparency in this democracy.

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    Megan Stephenson about 4 years ago

    If the civilian oversight policy doesn’t have independent investigations and community participation in the policy writing, I ask the Council to delay the vote until they honor the community's clear demands. Something is NOT better than nothing when lives are on the line. Cops cannot grade cops. There should be no current police, former police, or family members of police involved in this oversight committee. We demand transparency, independent investigations, and community participation.

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    Angela Gomez about 4 years ago

    We DEMAND transparent, independent investigations (with community input), not cops (or former cops) investigating cops.

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    Madeline Ramirez about 4 years ago

    I oppose because without legitimately independent investigative power "accountability and transparency" is impossible. Our community deserves better than superficial actions taken for appearances only. Community support for this ordinance was dependent on the office having meaningful investigative authority but that is not what we see here. Community members who have fueled the push for new methods of accountability have been excluded from the discussion. Do the right thing and delay the vote.

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    Nicole Chelini King about 4 years ago

    If this does not include independent investigations as well as community input than I am VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED!! Cops investigating cops is NOT community oversight.