State senator whose brother was slain by Phoenix police says DOJ report 'validates' advocates

State Sen. Anna Hernandez has been critical of use-of-force policies by Phoenix police for years, but Thursday's report by the U.S. Department of Justice is "much worse than I thought it would be."

Hernandez, a Phoenix Democrat, became a civil rights activist and lawmaker after a Phoenix officer shot and killed her brother in 2019 after he allegedly pointed a replica rifle at officers, who weren't wearing body cameras. She hopes the new report encourages the reform in the agency for which she and others have pushed.

"I do think that it validates what so many community advocates, families like mine have been saying for years ? that problems exist," Hernandez said of the report.

She believes the problem lies in a "lack of accountability" for abusive police combined with the mentality that police are the response to "every single social issue that we have."

GOP: Fault lies with Biden administration, not Phoenix police

Her feelings on the findings run opposite of some of her Republican colleagues. They fault the Biden administration, not Phoenix police, for the damning nature of the report. Two GOP state senators told The Arizona Republic to "consider the source."

"They're not good people," said state Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "The Biden administration and Biden DOJ is corrupt. They're weaponizing against the citizens and they're anti-cop."

Weaponization of the legal system is a notion Kern, who was fired by the El Mirage Police Department in 2014 for lying to a supervisor, has been talking extensively about this year. Photographed on the steps of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, the Trump-supporting politician is currently under indictment in the state Attorney General's investigation into an alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Arizona. He's currently running for the open seat in Arizona's 8th Congressional District.

DOJ: Phoenix police systematically used illegal excessive force. City pushes back

State Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, a former officer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, criticized the Department of Justice in general when asked about the findings. He accused the department of regularly trying to "get police under their control" with supervised reform programs that are spurred by "negative findings" from their investigations.

The former cop was skeptical of the findings pointing out the relatively large number of people shot by Phoenix police in recent years, saying officers often have little choice in deciding when to shoot people.

"It's people pulling guns or knives on police that decide when they shoot people," he said.

Hernandez says police union 'is blocking any accountability'

Hernandez is leaving the Legislature after one term and hoping voters elect her to Phoenix's District 7 council seat, but hopes the city gets started quickly on possible solutions to the findings in the report.

She lamented the "undermining" of Phoenix's Office of Accountability and Transparency, which was the subject of a 2022 law by Kavanagh that required such investigatory bodies to be packed with officers from the same department being investigated. The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) backed the bill.

"We're getting what you pay for - PLEA is blocking any accountability and now this report is showing that," she said.

State Attorney General Kris Mayes is reviewing the report, a spokesperson said, but she's not ready to comment yet.

Reach the reporter at  [email protected] or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Legislators split by party on DOJ report on Phoenix police conduct