Phoenix's ICE misconduct portal has had roughly 30 complaints
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Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photos: Adam Gray/Getty Images and Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Phoenix's portal to report concerns about federal law enforcement activity in the city has attracted a few dozen reports since launching seven months ago.
Why it matters: It's not clear from the numbers whether the portal effectively and accurately captures community concerns about ICE, which has stepped up immigration enforcement around the country under the Trump administration — sometimes with deadly results.
- In a presentation before the City Council on Tuesday, assistant city manager Lori Bays acknowledged that the volume of cases generated from the portal has been "small."
Catch up quick: In March, as part of its Community Transparency Initiative, the city announced a portal residents could use to report violations by federal law enforcement agents.
- Reports can be made to Phoenix police or the Office of Accountability and Transparency (OAT).
- OAT then picks which reports merit a referral to Phoenix police, which investigates and determines which reports to send to the attorney general.
By the numbers: 30 reports have been submitted to the portal or through police and OAT since it went live, per a City Council information packet.
- Of those, 17 were sent on to police for investigation.
- Three of those 17 have been sent onto the AG, though others may still be under review, city spokesperson Dan Wilson tells Axios.
- The AG's office — which has its own ICE misconduct reporting portal — acknowledged an inquiry from Axios about those referrals but hasn't yet responded to questions.
Follow the money: Various city departments have spent roughly $73,000 answering 89 calls about federal law enforcement since April, per the city.
- Phoenix has spent another $65,000 on expenses related to the transparency initiative.
- Axios requested records from the city related to the portal and its expenses but hasn't yet received them.
Between the lines: The small number of reports could reflect that the Valley largely hasn't seen the type of headline-grabbing immigration enforcement activity experienced by other cities — or it could reflect a lack of awareness or trust in the city from its residents.
- The city has advertised the portal with signs around the city and at the airport, directly with stakeholders and with a limited ad campaign on Grocery TV, which residents may encounter in checkout lines.
- Councilmember Anna Hernandez doesn't think the portal's complaint tally is "indicative of the ICE activity" and notes that the residents may be reporting incidents through the AG's portal, which went live first.
- Hernandez adds that there's "still community hesitancy to trust our police department," which has been plagued by scandals in recent years, including one this year that resulted in the arrest and ongoing prosecution of two officers.
What they're saying: "There's also residents that completely understand that even if they report something, the likelihood of under (the Trump) administration anything being actually prosecuted is a little tough," Hernandez says.