After major police endorsement, Rep. Gallego faces backlash from progressive groups

After drawing praise for an endorsement by Arizona police, Rep. Ruben Gallego has now drawn anger and disappointment from some Arizona progressives for discouraging the Department of Justice from imposing federal oversight on the Phoenix Police Department.

In a letter to the Justice Department — sent one day after the Arizona Police Association announced it’s backing Gallego in the state’s U.S. Senate race — the congressman said federal investigators “missed the mark” in their examination of Phoenix police.

That nearly three-year investigation concluded in June that Phoenix police have engaged in a “pattern or practice” of using excessive force, acting with bias and violating constitutional and civil rights.

In his letter, Gallego described those violations – “a mere 120 or so unspecified incidents across eight years,” he wrote –  as isolated, not pervasive. And he argued against the need for federal oversight for the city’s police department, a position aligned with some of the Phoenix City Council members, who’ve resisted calls from com for the DOJ’s further involvement.

Phoenix police and city officials “already welcome reforms,” he wrote.

Oversight, Gallego wrote, would be best left to local government.

Police back ‘a freaking loser’

When it was announced Monday, the Arizona Police Association’s endorsement was a coup for Gallego’s campaign.

The APA describes itself as an umbrella organization – “an association of associations” – that brings together various law enforcement entities from across the state. In doing so, they represent thousands of law enforcement officers in Arizona.

The week prior, APA President Justin Harris had joined Donald Trump onstage at a rally in Glendale to announce the organization’s support