Tucson PD Report Finds Mistakes In Handling Of 2017 Protest

TUCSON, AZ – A report into the police department's handling of a February 16, 2017 immigration rights protest found that the department made several mistakes that contributed to problems that day. The Critical Incident Review Board concluded that the department has since made several changes that would have prevented some of the issues.

The protest outside the federal court, labeled "A Day Without Immigrants," started out peacefully with around 100 people taking part.

Things took a turn, however, when some of the protesters left the sidewalk and officers tried to the get them out of the street. An officer was hit by someone in the crowd and when they tried to arrest the person, the crowd surrounded the officers.

During the melee that followed, officers used pepper spray and pushed some protesters to the ground including an 86-year-old man.

The report found several problems, including:

• A lack of "a clear policy or established practice as it relates to protests that unlawfully take control of an open roadway;"
• "Ineffective and insufficient communication throughout the ODW command structure;" and
• "Supervision of this incident was inadequate, proper prioritization of tasks was lacking, and an incident commander was not properly designated."

The report also found that two officers who used force were justified to do so but used force that fell outside of department policy.

At a news conference to discuss the report, Chief of Police Chris Magnus said that the two are facing disciplinary action that could be decided within weeks.

Since the incident last year, the department has undertaken several changes, including:

• Creation of a Community Network Team of officers specially trained to handle protests;
• Issuance of a First Amendment Activity order detailing what considerations and factors officers need to consider when handling protests; and
• Changes to the department's use of force policy.

Graphic via Patch.