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Community groups urge Councilwoman Guardado to back policing resolution limiting detentions for minor traffic stops
Summary
Activists and community members asked Councilwoman Betty Guardado to support a local resolution they described as directing Phoenix Police Department to adopt cite-and-release practices, end routine stops for low-level violations, and prevent city funds from enabling deportation or immigration enforcement.
Community organizers and residents asked Councilwoman Betty Guardado at the budget hearing to back a resolution they described as protecting residents from detention following minor traffic stops and restricting city resources from being used in ways that lead to deportations.
Monica Marientos, who identified herself as an organizer with Boiler in Action, asked the councilwoman to "make the commitment to support the resolution for thriving communities." Marientos said the measure contains "four directives from city council to Phoenix PD that will help protect our community, which are to implement cite-and-release practices for online violent offenses, to end traffic stops for low level violations..." (verbatim as delivered in testimony). She also cited the Department of Justice report on the Phoenix Police Department published last summer, saying it confirmed long-standing community concerns about uses of force and civil-rights violations.
Several Spanish‑language speakers asked the council to ensure municipal funds are not used to facilitate detentions leading to deportations. Lupe Mora said, "We don't want a single dollar of our taxes go to situations where they stop our people, detain them, deport them," and other community members repeated that request and asked for a formal commitment from the council.
Organizers asked for four changes they described as part of the resolution: cite‑and‑release practices for certain offenses, ending traffic stops for low-level violations, ending enforcement practices that lead to arrests on immigration-related issues, and clear limits on use of tax dollars for enforcement that results in detentions. The transcript records the requests and repeated calls for Councilwoman Guardado's public support; the hearing did not include a formal council motion or vote on the resolution.
Ending: Organizers asked the councilwoman to publicly endorse the resolution and to bring it to the full council; no formal action or vote on the measure occurred during the hearing.
