ACLU Files Lawsuit Against City of Phoenix for Police Transparency Violations

PHOENIX — The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit today against the city of Phoenix for unlawfully denying access to public records that would shed light on the police department’s use of force policies and practices. The public records request, sent in May 2025, seeks 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. The ACLU filed similar requests in six other jurisdictions across the country where the Trump administration abruptly ended federal oversight.

“Nearly a year after we submitted our public records request, PPD is still refusing to turn over information the public has a clear right to see,” said Sapana Anand, staff attorney at the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project. “The Trump administration let PPD off the hook before they had to do the work to fix the serious problems that plagued the department, and now the public is left in the dark about whether that 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.”

In May 2025, 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.

“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.”

“Since the DOJ came to Phoenix, the police department and the City Council that enables them have been parroting talking points about ‘continuous improvement’ and ‘self-correction,’ but the lived experience of Phoenix residents says otherwise,” said Ben Laughlin, interim director of Poder in Action. “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’s public record request seeks information about continued excessive force at the moment the Trump administration retracted findings, to determine whether the misconduct uncovered by the DOJ is continuing absent of federal oversight. PPD denied the request, despite the request fitting comfortably within the category of information that PPD is required to produce under state law.

The complaint is available here: https://www.aclu.org/documents/poder-in-action-v-city-of-phoenix-police-department-verified-complaint-for-statutory-special-action-and-injunctive-relief