PHOENIX, Ariz. — The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the City of Phoenix, alleging it unlawfully denied access to public records that could shed light on the Phoenix Police Department’s use-of-force policies and practices, according to an ACLU press release.
The ACLU initially filed a public records request in May 2025, seeking to uncover “whether the Phoenix Police Department (PPD) continues to have use of force problems that were identified in the Biden administration’s 2024 report.”
“In May 2025,” the release states, “the Trump administration retracted the Biden administration’s finding of widespread police misconduct, excessive force, and racial targeting in Phoenix.”
“The report includes horror stories of PPD’s routine use of egregious force, including the use of deadly neck restraints and the use of firearms and tasers on people who were already incapacitated.”
Similar public records requests were also filed in six other jurisdictions where the Trump administration ended federal oversight.
Yet, nearly a year after the request was filed with the city of Phoenix, the PPD failed to turn over crucial information “the public has a clear right to see.”
The lawsuit, Poder in Action v. City of Phoenix Police Department, underscores that “these documents are squarely public records under Arizona law and are critical to ensure law enforcement transparency and accountability.”
The lawsuit continues: “Plaintiffs seek 100 Use of Force reports predating April 30, 2025, which detail officers’ use of strikes, chemical agents, weapons, and deadly force against a person during a police encounter. Officers are required to document such force as a matter of policy and in the ordinary performance of their duties.”
Sapana Anand, staff attorney at the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project, voiced frustration over the city’s failure to disclose information that could shed light on whether police misconduct is continuing.
“Police are supposed to serve our communities, not operate in the shadows. If PPD has nothing to hide, it should show that these abuses have stopped by turning over what we asked for.”
“Transparency is not a courtesy — it is the law. The Phoenix Police Department’s refusal to turn over public records has only deepened concerns that misconduct and excessive use of force continue,” said Lauren Beall, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Arizona. “The people of Phoenix deserve to know how, when, and why their government uses violence against them.”
The police department and City Council have “enabled” the Department of Justice’s presence in Phoenix while “parroting talking points about ‘continuous improvement’ and ‘self-correction,’” said Ben Laughlin, interim director of Poder in Action.
“But the lived experience of Phoenix residents says otherwise. Our reality since the Trump administration retracted the report is 22 shootings, numerous scandals, and blocked transparency. We need these records released so that everyone can see what our communities already know from experience: PPD is a violent agency that must be held accountable.”
The ACLU is seeking transparency and accountability through its public records request. It aims to uncover the extent of “continued excessive force at the moment the Trump administration retracted findings, to determine whether the misconduct uncovered by the DOJ is continuing absent federal oversight,” according to the press release.
Yet, “PPD denied the request, despite the request fitting comfortably within the category of information that PPD is required to produce under state law.”
Citing Phoenix New Times, the complaint states that “despite the urgency for the public to learn about its use of force, the Department refuses to provide records that it electronically maintains in the ordinary course of business related to officer use of force.”
The complaint continues: “The Department’s denial of Plaintiffs’ records requests violates the APRL [Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers] and runs afoul of its ‘core purpose,’ which is ‘to allow the public access to official records and other government information so that the public may monitor the performance of government officials and their employees.’”
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