Title
Homelessness, Accountability and Transparency, and Public Safety Update
Description
This report provides an overview of the City's efforts to address homelessness, an update on the Office of Accountability and Transparency (OAT) and information on the City's continued efforts to improve public safety and address concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
City's Efforts to Address Homelessness
With direction from City Council, the Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS) was created in July 2022, and became operational in October 2022. OHS’s two-year transformation has included an increase in staffing and the implementation of an expanded proactive outreach approach. OHS staff and operations have shown to be effective in the City’s approach to addressing homelessness. Since 2022, OHS has nearly quadrupled its staffing level, building a diverse team with expertise through work experience and/or lived experience. Additionally, the shift to a more proactive outreach approach has increased visibility throughout the community. A team of 11 Homelessness Liaisons directly engage with people experiencing homelessness to connect them with services and work with the community to address encampments to achieve measurable results.
The Maricopa Association of Governments 2024 Point-in-Time Homelessness Count data reflected a 19 percent decrease in the number of unsheltered individuals and a 15 percent increase in the number of sheltered individuals in Phoenix. This positive change is a direct result of the City of Phoenix’s ongoing investment in creating new shelter beds and connecting people with services.
Since its creation, OHS staff have focused on several key initiatives including:
Creating additional shelter capacity throughout the City,
Opening the City's first structured campground called the Safe Outdoor Space,
Addressing the State of Arizona’s largest encampment in a holistic and compassionate manner,
Implementing property storage programs,
Launching services in support of the Phoenix Community Court,
Improving heat response efforts for people experiencing homelessness; and,
Increasing supportive housing.
The City has prioritized the creation of additional shelter capacity. By 2025, the City will have contributed to a net total of 1,382 new indoor shelter beds since 2022. This is in addition to the 482 temporary shelter beds created in 2023 to assist with decommissioning the encampment around the Key Campus. OHS opened a structured campground called the Safe Outdoor Space in November 2023 as an alternative solution for people who may not be ready for shelter. The Safe Outdoor Space is an example of the City’s efforts to provide a diverse array of options to people experiencing homelessness. While shelter alone does not solve homelessness, it is a critical step to moving people off the streets into safe spaces and connecting them to resources and support. Ultimately, OHS is focused on creating long-term solutions such as permanent housing. One project currently underway is development of supportive housing for older adults at a former hotel located at Northern and the I-17, which is being converted to 126 units of affordable housing for low-income seniors.
A key consideration for individuals to accept services is storage of their personal belongings. In January 2023, OHS developed and implemented a process for property storage. The process has been implemented to address unattended property and includes an assessment and notification process. In addition, storage is provided for property at new shelters and for individuals around the Key Campus enabling people to safely store their belongings.
Another initiative of OHS includes the establishment of services in support of the Phoenix Community Court. Phoenix Community Court launched in January 2024 in collaboration with the Phoenix Municipal Court, Prosecutor’s Office, Public Defender’s Office and Community Bridges, Inc. (CBI). Community Court provides long-term solutions and services for people experiencing homelessness through an alternative path to the traditional criminal justice system. CBI Navigators help to create individualized plans to assist individuals in addressing their homelessness and help participants achieve their goals, including the opportunity to connect with resources such as shelter, employment opportunities, and substance use and mental health support. As of August 31, there have been 198 participants in Phoenix Community Court. From January 1 through August 31, there have been 20 individuals that graduated from Phoenix Community Court.
Each summer, the City places emphasis on heat response efforts for individuals experiencing homelessness as these individuals are some of the most at-risk populations during extreme temperatures. To prepare for Summer 2024 (May-September), additional actions were taken to add a 24/7 site, an overnight site, and three extended hour heat respite locations in areas demonstrating the highest need based on 2023 data. CBI Navigators are present at each site to offer resources and referrals. Additionally, OHS Homeless Liaisons are stationed at the 24/7 site at Burton Barr Library to provide additional support. Preliminary data through the first week of September shows over 28,000 visits, with roughly 90 percent reporting experiencing homelessness. Burton Barr has been the most frequently visited site and resulted in more than 600 individuals being placed in shelter. Additionally, heat related calls for service reflected a 22 percent reduction from the same time period last year.
The transformational work that has occurred since the inception of OHS and the impact made has been shown through much of the aforementioned activity. OHS continues to hold a very visible place throughout the community and has established itself as a much-needed resource. OHS also actively manages multiple contracts for services to support effective services. Non-profit partners are also critical to providing comprehensive services, and OHS is equipped to monitor and support contracted services. Ongoing support of the Office of Homeless Solutions will ensure the City's momentum to address homelessness continues.
Office of Accountability and Transparency Updates
The Mayor and City Council established the Office of Accountability and Transparency (OAT) in 2021 to perform independent civilian oversight of the Phoenix Police Department (Police). OAT reviews Police administrative investigations of incidents involving sworn personnel and provides community members a way to freely communicate complaints, commendations, and concerns about officers and the Police Department without fear of retaliation.
Phoenix City Code, Chapter 20, as amended by City Council on May 15, 2024, states OAT's role is to:
Take community complaints or commendations,
Establish procedures for receiving anonymous complaints,
Conduct outreach with the community,
Provide support services to impacted community members,
Review Police Department administrative investigations or civilian employee complaints,
Make recommendations to the Police Chief regarding policy, rules, and training issues,
Conduct mediation to resolve disputes,
Administer a youth outreach program; and,
Address other issues of concern to the community.
Since February 2024, OAT has released 15 monitoring reports detailing its review of Police Department investigations and its findings as to the completeness and thoroughness of those reviewed investigations. OAT issued recommendations for future investigations in 13 of the 15 reports, the majority of which the Department has agreed to implement. OAT is actively monitoring 88 cases and continues to add new cases to its caseload.
OAT’s Community Engagement Team is fully staffed for the first time since OAT’s inception as of June 2024. With this expansion, OAT has significantly increased its reach to the community. In the third quarter of 2024, OAT tripled the number of new community contacts from the second quarter and attended as many events as OAT staff attended in all of 2023.
OAT’s Director of Mediation conducted the first mediation between Police Department designees and community members in February 2024. Since February, OAT has now completed three mediations, with a fourth currently set for early October. All mediation participants receive an evaluation survey at the conclusion of the mediation and the results have been 100 percent positive for all participants so far.
City Council established the Civilian Review Board in May 2024 and OAT has been working diligently to research practices and procedures for boards with similar authority, including collecting sample foundational documents. OAT has also been working to build a training program for Civilian Review Board members to ensure that they have the necessary understandings to engage in reviewing and analyzing OAT’s reports and the Police Department’s responses.
OAT staff will continue to focus on issuing monitoring reports, expanding the mediation program, and growing the Office's presence and reach throughout the community.
City's Continued Efforts to Improve Public Safety
Throughout the past decade, the City Council has guided the City of Phoenix to implement numerous updates and improvements to the Phoenix Police Department. Through the direction of City Council and engagement with the community, City staff have worked to improve public safety throughout the community. These efforts include reforms prior to the DOJ initiating their investigation, during the DOJ's three year review, and in developing the City's plan for the future to address the concerns raised in the DOJ's investigative report.
The City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department worked with the community to implement several major initiatives prior to the DOJ's investigation. Examples of some of these major initiatives include:
2014: Body-Worn Camera Pilot Program,
2015: Crisis Intervention Team Implementation and Training,
2016: Community and Police Trust Initiative (CPTI),
2019: Mayor's Review and Implementation Ad Hoc Committee,
2020: #8Can't Wait Adoption,
2021: Executive Order on Safe Policing Compliance,
2021: Less-Lethal Pilot Program,
2021: Community Assistance Program (CAP) Expansion Approval.
Community Assistance Program
In June 2021 the City Council approved a $15 million investment to expand the Community Assistance Program (CAP). CAP consists of Crisis Response Units (CRUs), Behavioral Health Units (BHUs), and Behavioral Health dispatchers. CRUs continue to co-respond with police and fire on traumatic incidents to provide on-scene crisis stabilization. BHUs may respond as a singular unit to assist individuals experiencing a behavioral health or substance use concern or as a co-response unit. CAP has achieved many of the goals identified for its expansion. The accomplished goals include:
The expansion of CAP added 130 FTE positions. CAP has partnered with Human Resources to complete multiple recruitments and fill 64 percent of the program's positions.
Hired contracted Peer Support Specialists with lived experience skills that help augment the BHU services.
Established five BHUs providing support seven days per week for 20 hours of daily coverage.
Established six CRUs providing support seven days per week for 24 hours of daily coverage.
Created BHUs as an alternate alternative response to incoming 9-1-1 calls that does not require police, fire, or EMS to respond to a behavioral crisis. Currently, calls transferred from police for BHU response is trending as 466 percent increase when comparing the first seven months of 2023 to the first seven months of 2024.
The DOJ announced its investigation into the City of Phoenix and Phoenix Police Department on August 5, 2021. Over the next three years, the City cooperated with the DOJ to provide more than 200,000 documents and Body Worn Camera videos, conducted interviews with over 130 City employees, and performed over 200 hours of ride-alongs with the Police Department. In additional to this collaborative effort, the City of Phoenix and Phoenix Police Department also worked to implement reforms and other improvements to enhance public safety. Improvement initiatives that have been implemented while the DOJ conducted their investigation included:
Expansion of the Less Lethal Program
Use of Force Policy Update
Integrating Communications, Assessment and Tactics (ICAT) Training
Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Training
Staffing the Continuous Improvement Unit
Addressing Concerns Raised by the Department of Justice
In June 2024, after 34 months, the DOJ released a findings report from their investigation of the City of Phoenix and Phoenix Police Department. The DOJ's report identified 10 specific areas of the investigation and provided 37 Recommended Remedial Measures (RRMs) to improve public safety in Phoenix. Police and Law staff conducted a comprehensive two-month review of the DOJ's report and identified a total of 90 recommendations based on the RRMs with over 300 project deliverables.
Staff has organized these project deliverables into short-term projects (within six months), medium-term projects (six months to two years), and long-term projects (more than two years). Staff then conducted an analysis to determine timelines for the project deliverables and resourcing status. This analysis will serve as the basis for the proposed work plan that staff seeks to receive feedback and guidance on from City Council and community.
Throughout the next several months, staff plans to provide numerous opportunities to receive community feedback on the proposed work plan. Staff will host community meetings, collect written feedback and establish a department work group to focus on this process. For each of the project deliverables identified through this effort, staff will incorporate a continuous improvement process to ensure the project deliverables are achieved. This process will include:
Review of standards of practice and legislative requirements.
Policy planning with process mapping and subject matter expert work groups.
Policy development to include the creation/drafting and public comment opportunities.
Training development.
Training delivery.
Implementation of the active policy and compliance framework.
Compliance levels.
By implementing the continuous improvement process, developing the project deliverables in association with the DOJ's RRMs, and establishing key measures of the reforms and updated policies, the City will facilitate a sustained improvement to public safety and more effectively address the concerns raised by the DOJ.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Lori Bays, Deputy City Managers Ginger Spencer and Gina Montes, the Police Department, the Office of Accountability and Transparency, and the Office of Homeless Solutions.