Wednesday April 17, 2024
By TJ L'Heureux
Ali Osman struggled with mental health issues. He was gunned down by officers during a rock throwing incident in 2022.
Ali Osman was shot and killed by Phoenix police in 2022. One of the officers involved in the fatal shooting was fired on April 10. Courtesy Muktar Sheikh
The Phoenix Police Department fired an officer on April 10 for his involvement in the September 2022 fatal shooting of 34-year-old Ali Osman.
Officer Jesse Johnson, who allegedly shot at Osman at least three times, was terminated by Chief Michael Sullivan after an internal investigation by the department found that Johnson's conduct was not in line with its policy, according to a statement from the agency.
“The decision was not made lightly but was done after careful consideration of all the facts,” agency spokesperson Sgt. Robert Scherer said in the statement. “The Phoenix Police Department must hold its employees to the highest standards, conduct and accountability.”
Scherer also noted Johnson can appeal the termination to the Civil Service Board.
ABC15 reported that the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association said it was "unfair to hold one half of the interaction 100% responsible for the outcome." The officers' association did not respond to Phoenix New Times' request for comment.
Johnson's firing for conduct not in line with department policy was the first since May 21, 2020, Scherer told New Times. Jeff Cooke, one of two officers involved in the killing of Ryan Whitaker, was terminated but reinstated by the Civil Service Board on Dec. 9, 2021. Allister Adel, then the Maricopa County Attorney, didn’t charge either of the officers for Whitaker's killing.
Sgt. Brian Bower, a police spokesperson, told New Times the department will not release any information about how Johnson violated its policy until it finishes its investigation into the other officers and the Civil Service Board reaches its own final decisions about the officers' conduct.
Johnson's firing comes as the city of Phoenix is trying to avoid independent oversight of its police department. The U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating Phoenix police for more than 32 months out of concern that the department has engaged systematically in excessive use of force, discriminatory policing, retaliation against protestors and violation of the rights of unsheltered and disabled people. Depending on what the Justice Department finds, it may seek a consent decree, a legally binding performance improvement plan that city officials are determined to avoid.