Peoria is joining eight other West Valley cities to take a regional approach to some aspects of policing and to have officers’ conduct investigating by another city rather than their own department.
Peoria City Council voted unanimously Tuesday, April 20 for the city to join the West Valley Investigative Response Team, alongside Avondale, Buckeye, El Mirage, Glendale, Goodyear, Peoria, Surprise, Tolleson, and the town of Wickenburg. Peoria Deputy Police Chief Benny Piña said the Investigative Response Team will be split into two teams and a Peoria lieutenant, Greg Larson, and a Glendale lieutenant will lead the two teams.
The nine partner cities will each assign at least one officer to the Investigative Response Team, which will be responsible for conducting all “critical incidents” involving an officer of any of the partner agencies, such as officer-involved shootings, officer injuries or other investigations.
