“As in the case of the family of Michelle Cusseaux, the Rumain Brisbon 1.5 million dollar settlement is another example of the City of Phoenix paying significant sums of money to the families of people color that did not have to die. While the settlement funds – without doubt – help to ease the suffering and provide a sliver of hope for some kind of a future for these families, the need for meaningful police policy and training reforms and prosecutions of police who violate – fatally or violently – people’s civil rights remains critically unmet.
“Meaningful reform will require a purging of the ranks of the Phoenix police department. ‘Brady List’ officers should be immediately fired. Substantive and minority crafted sensitivity and engagement training should be a top priority. Emphasis on Black and Latino police recruits should be a top priority. And, most importantly, body cameras should be mandatory and used by every officer working a beat. It’s time for the Phoenix police department and the mayor and city council to stop whining about upfront costs for body cameras and look at the expense as an investment. An investment in the protection of minority resident and an investment in having a solid body of evidence to help them deduce both officers’ and their own liability for fatalities that will undoubtedly continue to occur due to the hostile racial climate in America today.
“Until systemic and institutional racism is rooted out of the Phoenix police department, taxpayers can rest assured that they will continue to pay millions of dollars to the families of people that officers needlessly kill or injure or harass.
“The fact that the city of Phoenix paid out this sum – on such a weak case – shows me that they are very vulnerable to almost any similar litigation because of their poorly enforced policies and procedures. This wasn’t an open and shut case, it was murky at best. But the city is wide open and defenseless. The renegade members of the Phoenix PD that act as judge, jury, and executioner have left the city holding the bag for settlements and payouts to their victims. Lack of enforcement and accountability at city hall over policing issues have made the city little more than a blank check issuer. It’s a sad state of affairs. Immoral, unsustainable, shameful. Just shameful.”
Rev. Jarrett Maupin
