In 2018, Phoenix police were involved in 44 shootings that took 22 lives. The number made Phoenix the department with the most officer-involved shootings in the nation that year.
But that changed drastically in 2019. Last year, Phoenix logged 15 officer-involved shootings, the fewest the department has seen in the last decade, according to The Arizona Republic. So, what has changed?
After the city’s grim, record-setting year in 2018, Phoenix sought an outside opinion. The non-partisan National Police Foundation came up with nine recommendations to change the department’s course, and Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams committed to following them.
Chief Williams declined an invitation to talk about what has been working for her officers.
Instead, The Show talked to one of the co-authors of the National Police Foundation study on the Phoenix Police Department. Justin Nix is a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.
