PHOENIX — ABC15 Investigators have just received the first two police monitoring reports created by the City of Phoenix's Office of Accountability and Transparency.
The video in the player above is from previous coverage of the former OAT Director announcing his resignation.
The Office of Accountability and Transparency was created by the city to monitor police use of force and misconduct allegations and can make recommendations for improvement.
Both reports are extremely critical of the Phoenix Police Department's handling of two internal affairs investigations. In both cases, the OAT reports criticized Phoenix police investigators for insufficient questioning of their own officers.
One report involved officers handcuffing a Wall Street Journal reporter, Dion Rabouin, who was stopped and handcuffed after he was interviewing people outside a bank. The officer involved was never asked whether race played a factor in his decision to detain the journalist, who is Black, according to the OAT report. OAT also noted a deviation from police policy for disciplining the involved officer, saying the officer received retraining instead of suspension because the incorrect policy was applied.
The other case involved an officer responding to a stolen vehicle call, then repeatedly hitting a man, Arthur Ash, on the head outside a Circle K in December 2022. In that case, OAT's monitoring report indicated a "deeper line of questioning" was needed about why the officer decided "to continue striking" after the citizen was "pinned underneath him." OAT also criticized investigators for not watching all the police body-cam videos before determining whether the officer's use of force was within policy.
"[I] am glad that the City of Phoenix’s Office of Transparency and Accountability is acknowledging the severity of Arthur Ash’s injuries and is acknowledging the City could have liability for its officer’s misconduct," said Ash's attorney Paul King. "The officer’s own body camera footage demonstrates that Arthur Ash did nothing threatening towards the officer."
Former OAT director Roger Smith told ABC15 this week that insufficient questioning was a trend he saw as his team monitored dozens of Phoenix police internal investigations.
"A big thing that would come up is the questions that are asked of officers," Smith said, "where specifically important lines of questioning were not getting explored in some cases."
Phoenix's Interim Police Chief Michael Sullivan issued a statement saying the monitoring reports are "insightful" and "valuable." He added he was dedicated to fostering "a culture of continuous improvement" within the department.
"I think the police department needs to devote itself to finding out exactly what happened in these incidents that they're doing investigations for because that will enable them to discipline appropriately, it'll enable them to train appropriately," Smith said.
DIRECTOR RESIGNED IN FEBRUARY
Smith resigned on February 9, two weeks before the monitoring reports were released. Last month, a deputy Phoenix city manager put Smith on a performance improvement plan that included frequent check-ins and lists of actions.
Desired results included "know what battles are worth fighting for," "ensure productive resolution of conflict," and "work more effectively with colleagues."
In a letter to the city manager, Smith said he was resigning because recent events led him to believe the OAT did not have the independence needed to provide civilian oversight of the Phoenix Police Department.
"Sometimes a sound investigation is not in the 'best interest' of the city," Smith told ABC15 Senior Investigator Melissa Blasius in an exclusive interview earlier this week.
Smith said he completed several monitoring reports before his resignation, but he said the Phoenix City Manager's Office delayed their release.
"They were giving specific edits that they wanted to see," Smith told ABC15 this week. "They were commenting generally on the nature of the content of the reports: what kinds of things they wanted to see and what kinds of things they didn't want to see."
Dan Wilson, spokesman for the City Manager's Office, responded by saying in an email that "engaging in a public argument" with Smith "would detract from the work done by OAT."
"That [OAT] team, under the leadership of interim Director Shannon Johanni, finalized the reports released today based solely on what they reviewed and evaluated in their capacity as OAT monitors," Wilson wrote.
Watch more on Roger Smith's resignation from OAT in the player below:
