Phoenix Police to hand certain critical‑incident investigations to Arizona DPS starting June 30
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Summary
The Phoenix Police Department will have the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Major Incident Division investigate officer‑involved shootings and other critical incidents beginning June 30, as required by recent state law; Phoenix will maintain administrative investigations in parallel and coordinate victim‑services briefings.
Phoenix Police told the Public Safety & Justice Subcommittee Wednesday that the department has agreed to have the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) take lead on independent criminal investigations of critical incidents, effective June 30, following a change in state law.
Assistant Chief Ed DeCastro summarized current procedures and the change that will take effect: local homicide units have handled criminal investigations of officer‑involved shootings and other critical incidents while the Professional Standards Bureau conducted administrative inquiries. House Bill 2650 (2023) and the cited state statute require independent investigators for critical incidents; DPS has been funded to create a Major Incident Division (MID) to serve that role statewide.
"We have chosen the Arizona Department of Public Safety to perform this investigation," Assistant Chief Ed DeCastro said. He described a transition process in which DPS personnel have been shadowing Phoenix investigators at recent incidents to align procedures and relationships prior to the June 30 start date.
Under the arrangement, DPS investigators will respond to critical incidents (officer‑involved shootings, in‑custody deaths, and other incidents at the chief’s discretion). Phoenix will dispatch a homicide supervisor to serve as a liaison and the city’s Professional Standards Bureau will continue to pursue the administrative investigation. DeCastro said DPS will coordinate with the city’s victim advocate office and that either chief would resolve any disputes about investigative process.
DeCastro told the subcommittee the department retains discretion over emergent public information releases and that DPS agreed to honor Phoenix’s regular two‑week critical incident briefing video to share relevant information with the public.
