Phoenix council approves contract to expand OAT mediation program after questions on data and measures of success

PhoenixCity Council on Sept. 3 approved a contract to supplement the Office of Accountability and Transparency(OAT) mediation program aimed at creating facilitated, one-on-one conversations between impacted community members and individual officers, despite council membersexpressing reservations about data, metrics and oversight. The motion to approve item 31 passed 7-2.

The approval authorizes the city to supplement OATstaff with outside mediators as needed; council members were told the funds would come from OATbudget and would only be spent if OAT determines external mediation services are required. Councilwoman Hernandez said she was not comfortable voting without more information, and asked OAT for additional demand data and clearer success measures before the city relies on mediation to deliver officer accountability.

OATinterim director Shannon described the program as designed to allow "individual officers to sit down with impacted community members for them to have a facilitated conversation that allows for that 1 to 1 accountability." Shannon said OAT has completed five department-level mediations so far and is building an operations order to enable individual-officer mediations, which implicate human resources, labor and discipline processes. Shannon said the officehired a director of mediation in 2022 and that the mediation director and staff have been developing policies and training.

Council questions and staff responses

Councilwoman Hernandez said she was "not comfortable quite voting on this contract today" because she did not believe the council had enough data or a clear measure of how mediation would reduce misconduct or change department behavior. She moved that, before approving the contract with Arville Hogan Coaching and Mediation, OAT return with documentation of community demand, an explanation of how expenditures align with OAT's mission, and whether the Phoenix Police Department could assume funding responsibility instead of OAT. Hernandez said she would not support the contract if those conditions were not met.

Ginger (OAT staff) responded that the mediation requirement is included in the OAT ordinance and that the contract is to "supplement the services of the office so that we can continue to grow the mediation program." Ginger added, "The monies that have been allocated are coming from the OAT budget and will only be used if we have to go outside and use 1 of the external mediators." Shannon said OAT can provide additional jurisdictional funding models and program information from comparable programs in Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Key program details discussed

- Statutory/ordinance basis: Council and staff repeatedly referenced the OAT ordinance requirement for mediation; staff said the ordinance language appeared in both the May 2021 ordinance and the May 2024 amendment that changed the language from "assist in mediation" to "conduct mediation." - Current workload and staffing: Shannon said OAT has a director of mediation and is a larger team that would be 15 people if fully staffed; individual-officer mediation capacity is limited until the operations order and cross-department procedures are finalized. - Program volume to date: OAT has completed five department-level mediations (which do not implicate personnel discipline) and is still developing protocols and a referral process for individual-officer mediations. - Confidentiality and voluntariness: Shannon said mediations would be voluntary and confidential and that a state statute governs mediation confidentiality unless a threat of violence occurs during sessions. - Evaluation and training: Staff said they survey mediation participants and reported positive survey results from completed mediations; OAT plans trauma-informed training for its staff beginning in January 2026.

Council action and next steps

After debate, the council approved the contract 7-2. The roll call recorded votes as: Gerardo yes; Hernandez no; Hodge Washington yes; Pastor yes; Robinson yes; Stark yes; Waring no; O'Brien yes; Diego yes. Council members asked OAT to provide additional documentation on demand, funding models used by other jurisdictions, and proposed success metrics; Shannon said she could provide the requested information within a week. Councilwoman Hernandez said she would work with OAT on establishing measurable outcomes and shared conditions for future spending.

Why this matters

Supporters argue mediation can give harmed community members a forum to express harms directly to officers and potentially produce restorative outcomes; opponents on council sought evidence that conversation-based mediation would reliably produce accountability or systemic change. The contract expands the city's ability to use external mediators if internal capacity is insufficient, but the office must complete operations orders and interdepartmental processes before individual-officer mediation becomes routine.