The two officers who shot Osman — Jared Gibson and Brennan Olachea — said that he had thrown “unknown objects,” which were later identified as pebbles, at their squad cars. Osman was unarmed when he was shot at least three times in the neck, according to his family’s attorney, Quacy Smith.
In October 2023, Osman's family filed a notice of claim, the precursor to a lawsuit, against the city of Phoenix seeking $85 million over Osman's death. While the $5.5 million settlement is a long way from the sum Osman’s family was seeking, Smith said he was “appreciative of the city of Phoenix” for the speed with which a settlement was reached.
“We believe that the decision by the city council today was an effort to try to make it right for our clients,” Smith said Wednesday.
The settlement was approved in a 6-1 vote, with Councilmember Jim Waring casting the lone vote against it. Waring said that Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell’s decision not to prosecute the officers was one of the reasons for his vote.
“I also feared voting yes would imply I support negative claims about the department, which I do not,” Waring added.
Quacy Smith, a local civil rights attorney, frequently has represented the families of victims of police misconduct.
Katya Schwenk
‘Step in the right direction’
Although the officers did not face legal action, Smith applauded police Chief Michael Sullivan for his efforts to change the department’s use-of-force policies, calling them a “step in the right direction.”“Police officers have some of the most difficult jobs in the world. We sleep under the blanket of safety that they provide every night,” said Smith, a former police officer. “No one suggests that their job is easy, but we do stand firmly on the principle that authority should never be given without accountability. This is simply about accountability.”
Mayor Kate Gallego, who voted in favor of the settlement, called Osman’s death a “tragic loss” but said the police department learned from its use of force.
“It (the settlement) does not bring him back, but that lesson learned will save lives to come,” Gallego told Phoenix New Times on Thursday at an event kicking off renovations at the police department's future headquarters. “The problem was at a policy level. We did not have the right policies guiding how to respond, so we have dramatically changed what we would do today.”
Sullivan said in a written statement to New Times he hoped the “loved ones of Mr. Osman continue to heal from their loss.”
“One of my primary focuses since joining the Phoenix Police Department is for the agency to focus on de-escalation and continuous improvement,” Sullivan said. “We have implemented the use of nonlethal tools, provided training for officers regarding next-level de-escalation, provided training regarding proactive intervention, and we are nearing the completion of revising our use-of-force policies.”
For more than two years, the U.S. Department of Justice has been conducting a widespread investigation into the use of excessive force by Phoenix police, but it has not given word on when it plans to wrap up its misconduct investigation.
Smith said Justice Department officials contacted him during its probe, but he would not comment on whether he talked with them.
