Phoenix appointed Jeri L. Williams as its police chief in 2016. She oversees the largest police department in Arizona, manages 2,900 sworn officers and around 900 civilian staffers and is in charge of a $600 million-plus budget. She has a big job.
An African-American, she is one of just 12 women running major US city police departments. Out of around 100 chiefs in America’s largest cities including Seattle, Oakland, Honolulu, Atlanta and, yes, Phoenix. Of the 12, half are women of color.
A 28-year law enforcement veteran, Williams came of age in the Phoenix Police Department but after 22 years, and making her way to the rank of assistant chief, took the job as the police chief in Oxnard, California. When she left that job after six years to return to her hometown and become Phoenix’s top cop, one newspaper story’s headline read: “Chief Williams is Finally Gone…” And with a scorching lede that read: “Let’s count the bloody costs of her administration and review the tragedies she left in her wake…”
We’ll get to those shortly.
For now, she has come under fire because her officers are accused, indeed seen on video, terrorizing a Black couple and their very young children over an alleged shoplifting incident. The couple was not charged with any crime related to the alleged shoplifting; they do admit that their 4-year-old had taken a dollar-store, Barbie-like doll. Two of Williams’ cops said, on video, that they’d shoot Dravon Ames, 22, his pregnant fiancée Iesha Harper, 24, and their daughters, Island, 4 and 1-year-old London after stopping the family following the Family Dollar visit.
The video has been shared globally and elicited uniform condemnation of the officers’ actions, and police and city leadership; the cops’ bosses.
In the witness video, Officer Christopher Meyer yells “I’m gonna f***ing put a cap right in your f***ing head.”
Regarding the leg sweep, Meyer wrote – “I made him spread his feet.”
There is no mention of the pregnant mother & two daughters being held at gunpoint @ABC15
There’s no disputing what was done and said as it’s on video, but Phoenix police appear to say the actions of its officers, while disturbing were somehow justified. Williams said she was disturbed the by video but then put out a fact sheet about the case which appeared to blame the victims, at least in part. But pulling a gun on an unarmed pregnant woman and her infant and toddler while doing the same and then assaulting her fiance, has ignited global outrage.
The cops are still on the job. Still getting paid — they earn more than $72,000 a year — for “desk duty.”
And Williams is in charge.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. In a 1-Minute Long Facebook Video, Williams Said Was ‘Disturbed by the Language & The Actions of Our Officer’
Two days after the story broke, on Friday night, Williams posted a one-minute video statement to Facebook. She spoke about her officers “making contact” with the couple. She said, “like you, I’m disturbed by the language and action of our officer,” but said the incident is “not representative of the majority” of the police department.
But retired federal law enforcement officer Larry Athey from New Orleans wrote, “…this wasn’t a one-off. He’s more than likely done this before & his rank probably knows about it.”
“I’d have never handled this situation like this, & no one I’ve worked with would’ve either. The officer responsible for this outrage should be given due process. But, it’s pretty clear he was fully responsible for unnecessary escalation of the incident. At a minimum, he should be fired, stripped of his POST certification and banned, not just from any/all law enforcement work, but any/all public employment. AND, if laws have been found to have been broken, he should be harshly punished to set an example. I also think his chain of command should face a review as well. An incident like this isn’t a one off. He’s more than likely done this before & his rank probably knows about it. Contrast this with the incident the other day when Deputy US Marshals shot & killed an armed, violent, individual they were trying to arrest in Tennessee—resulting in a low end riot requiring substantial local LE backup/assistance. I was appalled, but, not surprised at the reaction of the rioters—-when people like your officer do what has been shown on this video, it’s easy to understand why no one trusts, or believes, law enforcement—at any level.—- When I was in the Border Patrol Academy and later the Criminal Investigators course, the phrase “minimum force necessary” was used over and over and over again. Somehow, I don’t think this is the case with the Phoenix PD, but, probably should be…”
2. Police Said The Couple Was Pursued For Shoplifting the Doll & Underwear & Put Out a ‘Facts Sheet’ on the ‘Shoplifting Incident’ & the Incident Report Written by Cop Christopher Meyer, All Presumably Approved by the Chief of Police
In a statement, police claimed that the couple had stolen underwear from the dollar store and said that they “quickly” drove away and were pursued. The couple told police about the doll, police admit in the statement. But police also claim “the man,” presumably Ames, threw a pair of “stolen” underwear out of the car window. Police also admit they did not believe the family was armed. They said that since the dollar store wasn’t interested in prosecuting the couple, no charges were filed. But Ames, police allege, was driving with a suspended license and that led to his car being impounded.
Police described the entire incident, the violent arrest and threats to shoot the family, as, “a man and woman in the car were taken into custody and detained.”
Then the full report came out, written by the officer who is heard on video threatening to shoot the family, Christopher Meyer.
Meyer wrote what has been the narrative so far: the couple’s child took a dollar store Barbie-like doll and the family was pursued based on that shoplifting incident. But it reads that the couple were combative and non-complaint, despite the videos all showing the opposite. It also reads that they admitted to having a stolen $.99 doll in the car and, the report reads, Ames said there was a pair of underwear that had been taken. The report states that the officer, presumed to be the named “Myer, Meyer or Meyers,” wrote that he feared that Harper was reaching for a weapon when she said she could not put her hands up because she was holding her baby. What the report does not state is that police gave mixed commands, held the family at gunpoint, threatened to shoot and kill them, and manhandled, indeed assaulted, court documents allege, Ames, Harper and her baby she was holding.
By Monday, Williams was sort of apologizing.
“This incident isn’t getting lost on me by any stretch of the imagination,” she said, in part. But refused to address a very direct question: When is it okay for a police officer to pull a gun on a family and say “I’m going to put a f*****g cap in your head.” Williams said the incident is under investigation and that investigators will follow “due process.”
Ames and Harper rejected her apology saying it was not one.
Late Monday, Phoenix police apparently released video it says that sows the little girl taking the doll and Ames in the underwear aisle.
People were again incredulous saying that even if a doll was taken and a pair of underwear, the use of “terrorizing” force was unwarranted.
“How convenient that the Phoenix PD releases a video that puts the families character in doubt. I do not care at all of they were shoplifting. The police files zero charges against them for shoplifting. The police escalated this situation and made it dangerous for the family and themselves for NO Reason. They ignored their training. There were children there and they endangered their lives over less than $10? Don’t tell me that they were in the right because of shop lifting,” wrote Cassie Larson. “If you think something this benign is worth threatening to kill a mother and her kids over then you are the problem as well.”
3. Williams Was ‘Shocked’ by the ‘Pure Hate’ Found in Racist, Sexist, Xenophobic Facebook Posts By 75 of Her Officers & 22 Retired Phoenix Cops. An Investigation is Underway
A news report on a project started by a Philadelphia attorney found hundreds of police-posted “racist or misogynistic statements or condoned violence on their Facebook accounts.” There were racist posts from “75 current Phoenix police officers and 22 retired officers.”
As was reported by Meg O’Connor of the New Phoenix Times, Phoenix police officer Joshua Ankert posted to Facebook: “CONGRATULATIONS GEORGE ZIMMERMAN!!! Thank you for cleaning up our community one thug at a time.”
“It’s a good day for a chokehold,” and similar comments and posts by Phoenix officers can be found here in this database.
This is the same police department that just one week earlier made headlines for 97 officers’ offensive Facebook posts calling black people “thugs” and Muslims “rapists” and encouraging violence against protesters
Williams said the “language and terminology used in the posts are embarrassing and disturbing.”
4. While in Oxnard, Williams Was At Once Commended & Condemned; the Former by City Officials & the Latter by Many in the Community For Alleged Police Brutality On Her Watch
Williams served nearly six years as Oxnard, California Police Chief, joining that department in 2010, where she “strengthened police-community relationships and oversaw the implementation of police body-worn cameras,” her Phoenix police bio reads.
She received many awards, led parades and was a Woman of the Year.
But while Williams was chief in Oxnard, Robert Ramirez who was choked to death by police in 2012; the case was settled for $3 million. In 2012, a mentally ill man was shot and killed by police in his house. Alfonso Limon, Jr. was murdered by police in 2012; the City of Oxnard settled for nearly $7 million. Juan Zavala was beaten by police and died of “unknown causes” in 2014.
#MeaganHockaday Killed By An Officer In Oxnard, California http://t.co/1CtxksCWiY http://t.co/DOnMxdyTUk
And Meagan Hockaday, a 26-year-old mother, was shot to death by a cop in her apartment with her children nearby.
5. Williams is Described as a ‘Accomplished Police Executive’ Who’s Been Honored With Myriad Awards & Was Named by Pres. Barack Obama to the National ‘Medal of Valor Review Board’
On the Phoenix Police Department website, Williams’ bio describes her as an “accomplished police executive.”
“Under her leadership, the Phoenix Police Department is advancing progressive strategies essential in contemporary law enforcement. Core components of these efforts are centered on the suppression and prevention of crime, the continuation of community engagement and outreach, the promotion of transparency and accountability to increase legitimacy and the commitment to employees and their well-being,” it reads.
Williams, a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Major Cities Chiefs Association and the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, was named “one of Arizona’s 48 Most Intriguing Women by the Arizona Centennial Legacy Project, in partnership with the Arizona Historical Society and the Arizona Community Foundation for her leadership in the law enforcement profession.” In 2016, apparently just before leaving Oxnard, was recognized as California Assembly District 44 Woman of the Year for “her leadership and outstanding accomplishments as Chief of the Oxnard Police Department.”
In 2016, then-Pres. Barack Obama appointed Williams, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts from Arizona State University and a Master’s degree in Education from Northern Arizona University, to a membership position on the Medal of Valor Review Board.