DOJ investigation into Phoenix police conduct may be over after civil rights cases are frozen

The Biden administration did not take legal action against Phoenix to impose sweeping changes the U.S. Justice Department said were needed following a yearslong civil rights investigation.

Now the new Trump administration has put a freeze on civil rights cases.

In June, when Phoenix leaders would not immediately agree to federal oversight after the Justice Department delivered a blistering civil rights report, a standoff ensued. Phoenix was essentially daring the Biden administration to sue, but it never did.

Now the Justice Department under Trump has halted civil rights litigation until further notice.

“They freeze this. That pretty much means this whole investigation is done,” said Benjamin Taylor, an attorney in Phoenix.

Taylor said the report on Phoenix could be revived after Trump leaves office.

A city spokesperson says there has been no word from the Justice Department. And work continues on implementation of a comprehensive public-safety-improvement strategy laid out in September.

Taylor worries the strategy may be lip service because at least two civil-rights incidents involving police happened after the report came out.

“But until people on the streets are not being brutalized, until people are not being searched illegally and shot and killed illegally, there’s no change out there,” said Taylor.

The Justice Department did not reply to questions on the status of the Phoenix investigation.