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Police union member survey says Phoenix Police Department is headed in the wrong direction

Darrell Kriplean
Matthew Casey/KJZZ
Darrell Kriplean, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association

Phoenix is in the midst of a national effort to hire the city’s next police chief.

The largest union of rank and file officers says the department is moving in the wrong direction under the interim chief’s leadership.

The powerful labor union is called the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association. And most members recently surveyed said they want an internal candidate to be chosen as the next Phoenix police chief.

PLEA President Darrell Kriplean said interim Chief Michael Sullivan has punished officers for using force despite review boards having found their actions were in policy.

Phoenix police are delaying the launch date for new rules on when officers can resort to violence or use physical force on suspects until Feb. 18. The policy has been under construction for nearly the entire tenure of the interim police chief who took over the agency in 2022.

“The perception, and I don’t think it’s incorrect, is that he’s taking direction from others within city management,” Kriplean said.

Sullivan has said he would apply to be permanent chief.

He came to Phoenix during a years-long federal civil rights investigation of the city and its police.

A department spokesperson said Sullivan was not available to comment on the union survey.

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Matthew Casey has won Edward R. Murrow awards for hard news and sports reporting since he joined KJZZ as a senior field correspondent in 2015.