The Phoenix Police Department has launched an administrative investigation into a November incident involving an officer who detained a Black Wall Street Journal reporter doing his job outside a bank, local station KNXV reported Thursday (Jan. 5).

Police officials announced the probe after The Journal’s Editor-in-Chief Matt Murray sent a letter on Dec. 7 to Phoenix Chief Michael Sullivan demanding an internal review of the handcuffing of journalist Dion Rabouin and action to ensure journalists rights are protected.

According to the department’s statement, Sullivan’s letter was sent to its Professional Standard Bureau that is conducting the investigation.

Also prior to the announcement, Rabouin told KNXV that he received a call from a police official saying that the officer did nothing wrong.

This internal probe follows the U.S. Department of Justice’s launch in 2021 of a federal pattern or practice investigation of Phoenix and its police department. Among other issues, federal prosecutors are looking into whether they engage in discriminatory policing.

Rabouin was in Phoenix visiting family during the Thanksgiving holiday when the incident occurred, according to KNXV. The New York City-based reporter told the station that he went to a Chase bank in North Phoenix on Nov. 23 to conduct man-on-the-street interviews for a story about savings accounts.

A pair of employees asked Rabouin, who was wearing street clothes, what he was doing on the sidewalk in front of the bank and then returned inside. Unaware that the sidewalk was private property, Rabouin said no one from the bank asked him to leave.

Phoenix police officer Caleb Zimmerman approached Rabouin about a trespassing call he said a bank employee placed. Rabouin said he identified himself to Zimmerman as a Wall Street Journal reporter working on a story.

The officer claimed in his report that bank employees said Rabouin refused to leave and he initially refused to identify himself. Although Rabouin told Zimmerman that he would leave, the officer declined to look at his credentials or let him leave, the reporter told KNXV.

At that point, a bystander identified as Katelyn Parady began recording the exchange between Zimmerman and Rabouin.

“I heard him say he was going to leave. This is ridiculous. He’s a reporter,” Parady is heard saying to Zimmerman on the video after the officer forcibly puts Rabouin in handcuffs.

Zimmerman attempted to put the reporter in the back of his police vehicle but Rabouin told the officer he didn’t want to get in.

“I didn’t trust what was going to happen. While the woman was recording, I thought the odds of him not doing anything to me whether physically or anything else are a lot higher. Once he closes that door, he could take off, He could take me somewhere. I could be placed under arrest,” Rabouin told KNXV.

Zimmerman removed the handcuffs and released Rabouin roughly 10 minutes into the recording when other officers arrived.

A police statement about the incident said, “Bank personnel contacted police after they received customer complaints that a man was approaching people as they entered the bank asking them personal questions. The interaction between the officer and the man who was the subject of the complaint took place on private property.”

Meanwhile, the DOJ’s probe of the department is assessing all types of use of force by Phoenix officers, including deadly force. It is also reviewing possible police retaliation against people for conducting protected First Amendment activities.

In September, a federal judge blocked enforcement of a new Arizona law restricting how the public and journalists can film police. The law banned filming police officers 8 feet or closer if the officer tells the person to stop.

“One of the highest priorities of the Civil Rights Division is to ensure that every person in this country benefits from policing that is lawful, effective, transparent, and free from discrimination,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said when announcing the federal probe. “Police officers across the country must use their authority in a manner that adheres to the Constitution, complies with federal civil rights laws and respects human dignity.”