DOJ probe finds Phoenix Police Department committed civil rights violations

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, the head of the Department of Justice's civil rights division, said on Thursday that the agency found that the Phoenix Police Department committed civil rights violations.

“This finding is historic,” Clarke said in her announcement of the violations documented in a full report. “This marks the first time that the Justice Department has found violations of the civil and constitutional rights of people who are homeless.”

Clarke said DOJ found that the Phoenix Police Department "uses excessive force, often unreasonably escalating the level of force within the first few minutes, or even seconds, of an encounter."

The "behavior includes improper use of tasers, projectiles, leg restraints, police dogs and even deadly force – including guns and neck restraints and compression restraints. Officers also routinely delay medical aid and employ excessive force on wounded people," she added.

Clarke also said the Phoenix police "enforce drug and alcohol offenses more severely against Black, Hispanic and Native American people than against white people."

The Phoenix Police Department hasn't responded to the allegations in the report.