Last week, the city of Phoenix said in a statement that it was looking forward to working with the Justice Department following its report on police conduct.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell spoke out against the DOJ’s assessment Tuesday morning.
At a press conference, Mitchell called the report politically driven. It found that the Phoenix police systematically discriminated against people of color and unhoused people, among others.
Some City Council members have mentioned the possibility of the DOJ assigning a federal monitor to supervise the police department.
Mitchell says doing so would undermine local law enforcement.
“The DOJ’s report overlooked thousands, thousands of cases in which our police officers did the right thing. They arrested the right perpetrators in the right way, and they went out of their way to take care of those who were harmed," she said.
Mitchell added she believes the report was filled with inaccuracies and did not cite evidence for its claims. Mitchell is running for reelection as Maricopa County attorney.
