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Ruben Gallego got a big endorsement this week. He's running for U.S. Senate in Arizona, and he received the support of a police union, a big deal for any candidate and especially for a Democrat, since police are often seen as leaning right. Now, some progressives think Gallego is too supportive of police. He sent a letter discouraging the federal Department of Justice from imposing federal oversight on the Phoenix Police Department. NPR's Ben Giles reports.
BEN GILES, BYLINE: In June, the Department of Justice issued a scathing report accusing Phoenix police of using excessive force, acting with bias and violating constitutional and civil rights. City officials and community leaders have disagreed over how to respond. Viri Hernandez, executive director of Poder in Action, says police need independent federal oversight.
VIRI HERNANDEZ: It's just ridiculous to - after all of this evidence, to say that this department can change itself. They haven't, and that's the reality.
GILES: On Tuesday, Congressman Ruben Gallego joined the chorus of city council members who argue federal oversight is unnecessary. In a letter to the Justice Department, Gallego said investigators missed the mark in their examination of Phoenix police. Jared Keenan, legal director for the ACLU of Arizona, was alarmed that Gallego described the problems as isolated, not pervasive.
JARED KEENAN: To issue statements like this is, frankly, dangerous because it in emboldens - it will embolden the police not to reform.
GILES: Keenan and Hernandez were also infuriated by the timing of the letter, sent one day after Arizona's largest independent law enforcement organization endorsed Gallego's U.S. Senate bid - infuriated, Hernandez said, but not surprised.
HERNANDEZ: Our community sees the way that police unions, when they support candidates, most of the time, all - every example we've seen also leads to those candidates pushing back against accountability, transparency.
GILES: A spokesperson for Gallego's Senate campaign says there was no agreement tying the endorsement to the letter. The endorsement is, in other ways, a political win for Gallego. Two years ago, the same pro-Trump police union backed Gallego's opponent, Republican Senate nominee Kari Lake, in her failed bid for governor of Arizona. In a statement following the endorsement, Gallego touted his work with the union towards additional resources and practical reforms.
Ben Giles, NPR News, Phoenix. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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