AMNA NAWAZ: A sweeping new report from the Justice Department reveals a pattern of racism and excessive force at the Phoenix Police Department.

Released yesterday, it's just one of 11 agency investigations into police departments nationwide since 2021.

The three-year probe into Phoenix followed a series of high-profile incidents of misconduct and one of the highest rates of officer-involved shootings in the country.

Joining us now is Taylor Seely, reporter at The Arizona Republic, who's been covering this investigation since it was announced.

So, Taylor, before we get into some of these findings, tell us more about what spurred this investigation in the first place.

So we saw a similar probe in Minneapolis after police killed George Floyd, in Louisville after police killed Breonna Taylor.

What happened in Phoenix?

TAYLOR SEELY, The Arizona Republic: In Phoenix, rather than one large event, it was actually a string of controversies that garnered public attention and we believe eventually led its way to get the attention of the Justice Department.

So, as you mentioned in 2018, Phoenix Police Department was one of the most lethal -- well, actually, was the most lethal police force in the country.

And in years past and in years since that, we have continued to remain a department that has substantially high number of officer-involved shootings.

And there have been a string of other controversies as well.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, there's a few findings to unpack here.

Let's begin with the finding of a pattern of essentially racism and excessive force.

What does the report detail on that front?

Who is the worst impacted there?

TAYLOR SEELY: So, on that front, they had a lot of findings.

But when it came to racial discrimination, they really looked at low-level offenses like traffic stops or trespassing citations.

What they found was that officers were given a broad level of discretion.

And what ended up happening was, bias was injected into the equation.

So you saw Black drivers were 144 percent more likely to be stopped, Hispanic drivers 40 percent more likely.

In other cases, you saw indigenous people were also substantially more likely to be stopped by an officer.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's a number of shocking allegations in this report, Taylor, but did anything in particular strike you, especially as someone who's been following this so closely for so long?

TAYLOR SEELY: Yes, this investigation has gone on for three years, and we knew the five subject areas the Justice Department would be looking into.

What we did not realize was that they would find serious concerns over the treatment and interactions with children.

So what the department found was that Phoenix police officers interact with children the same way they would with adults, using combative language, also not reading their Miranda rights.

So the Justice Department equated that type of behavior to coercion and said they were concerned about the lasting effects it would have on Arizona's future generations.

AMNA NAWAZ: There are also findings in here about the police targeting unhoused people.

There's one portion of the report in particular that says the pattern of stopping citing and arresting unhoused people was so widespread that, between 2016 and 2022, 37 percent of all Phoenix Police Department arrests were of people experiencing homelessness.

The report goes on to say many of those actions were unconstitutional.

Taylor, what has the Phoenix Police Department said in response to that and all the findings?

TAYLOR SEELY: It's interesting, because our police chief, Michael Sullivan, told investigators in the report that he did not believe Phoenix should have strong interactions, a lot of interactions with the homeless population, but, nonetheless, city policy defaults to Phoenix officers having so many interactions with homeless individuals.

When I spoke with him yesterday, he said he was surprised at the Justice Department finding.

He said that, in his experience, he believed that Phoenix was a model city for interacting with people experiencing homelessness.

So I think it took him by surprise.

AMNA NAWAZ: And has there been any response on the allegations and findings of racial discrimination?

TAYLOR SEELY: No.

At this point, our city has been, I would say, pretty cautious and measured in their response.

They have been slow to say -- this is a large report, 126 pages.

So we want to take our time, read it thoroughly.

The City Council and our mayor are going to discuss it with their lawyers on June 25.

And I think, until that point, we may not hear what they're thinking.

AMNA NAWAZ: We know the City Council, right, is also going to vote on whether or not to enter into a consent decree, which will essentially be a court order that's overseen by a judge and an independent monitor to reform the police department.

What does your reporting show you about whether or not you think that vote will go through?

TAYLOR SEELY: My reporting has shown that, for months, the city council, the mayor, our top leaders are not in favor of a consent decree.

They have serious concerns over the costs associated with independent monitors, as well as what they call federal creep, where what if the independent monitor looks at our progress and says it's not enough and then they keep finding new things to stack into our compliance reports?

So they have been against it.

But, at this point, it's a consent decree, which the Justice Department and city would mutually negotiate.

And if they say no to it, it will likely go to litigation.

And, in that case, they could be slapped at the court order where they will have even less say of what they want to be bound to legally.

AMNA NAWAZ: Taylor, I just have a few seconds left, but I have to ask, how are these findings going down with the people of Phoenix?

TAYLOR SEELY: I would say I have been somewhat surprised.

People who were protesting the streets four years ago demanding change in our city, they say that they're not shocked at all by these findings, that they're disgusted and they are heartbroken.

But we have not seen the level of protests or demonstrations at City Hall that we did in years past.

And I think that that surprised me.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Taylor Seely, reporter with The Arizona Republic, joining us tonight.

Taylor, thank you so much for your time.

Great to see you.

TAYLOR SEELY: Thank you.