The Phoenix Police Department, grappling with recent Department of Justice findings of civil rights violations, continues to face scrutiny as the number of civilians fatally shot by officers this year has climbed to nine. According to the Phoenix New Times, if this rate persists, 2024 will surpass previous years' fatal police shootings, including 12 in 2023 and 10 in 2022.

The Guardian reports that the Justice Department's investigation, which concluded this past June, revealed systemic issues within the Phoenix police force; these issues ranged from excessive force to the discriminatory treatment of people of color and the homeless—37% of all arrests made in the city between 2016 and 2022 were of people experiencing homelessness. The report's “practice of stopping, citing, and arresting unhoused people was so widespread.”

Despite Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan’s efforts following his September 2022 appointment amid the federal probe, concerns about accountability have escalated following the resignation earlier this year of the head of Phoenix's Office of Accountability and Transparency and the institution of a civilian review board viewed as less effective. The The Guardian relayed Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department's civil rights division's statement, "Many reforms have not yet been implemented. Other reforms exist on paper, but not in practice. In total, these efforts are simply not enough to address the full scope of our findings."

The city's recent record includes Junior Reyes, John Michael Lewis Jr., Guy Vogel Jr., and others who have been shot and killed by officers under varying circumstances, some after allegedly firing at police, others in situations like welfare checks or traffic stops gone awry; these cases have stoked the community's concerns over what they perceive as a pattern of unjustified use of deadly force by law enforcement, the details of which can be found on individual incidents in the Phoenix New Times.