CNN
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A day after the Trump administration created new uncertainty over the fate of a Justice Department agreement aimed at reforming local police departments with a history of misconduct and abuse, city leaders in Minneapolis and Louisville said no matter what. He also vowed to carry out the agreed reforms.
“Unfortunately, the Trump administration may not be interested in working with us to improve policing and support our communities, but make no mistake, we are committed to working with the people of Minneapolis. We have the means, the determination, and the community support to deliver on that promise,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) told CNN in a statement Thursday.
“Our efforts are unstoppable,” he added.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg’s office similarly issued a statement saying that he and the city’s police chief “remain committed to implementing the reforms” set out in the reform agreement (known as a consent decree) with the Department of Justice. Announced.
“Regardless of what happens in federal court, Louisville Metro Government and LMPD will move forward and honor their commitment to meaningful improvements and reform,” Greenberg’s office said in a statement.
Louisville’s ordinance was reached in mid-December after a year-long investigation into the city’s police department in the wake of the 2020 shooting death of Breonna Taylor. The agreement reached with the city of Minneapolis earlier this month comes several years after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of city police. A police and Justice Department investigation found that department officers used excessive force, including “unreasonable deadly force.”
In a significant and expected move, the Trump administration announced Wednesday that it was canceling an agreement that called for reforms in police departments where the Justice Department found a pattern of misconduct.
The Biden Justice Department has launched more than a dozen such “patterns or practices” investigations into police departments across the country, but some consent decrees handed down in the waning days of the administration still await approval by a federal judge. I hadn’t received it. This is an important final step. They have been protected from attacks by the new government.
“The new administration may wish to reconsider settlements and consent decrees negotiated and approved by the previous administration,” the memo released by Acting Deputy Attorney General Chad Mizell said.
Legal experts say a court-approved consent decree would ensure that police departments comply with the reforms set out in the agreement through independent monitors, but that cities would He said it was possible to implement reforms on its own.
“Well, if it’s not finalized, the judge will obviously have the option of saying one of the parties to the negotiations has dropped out, so there’s no point in continuing and they could potentially dismiss the whole thing.” said Dennis Kenny, a professor at the university. John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
“The agency doesn’t actually need a consent decree to make changes,” he added. “That’s within their power. And just negotiating may be enough for them to identify things that need to evolve, things that need to change.”
If the Trump administration asks the judge overseeing the consent decree not to approve it, that request could be denied. Such was the case in 2017, when the Justice Department tried to overturn an Obama-era consent decree for the Baltimore Police Department that had not yet been approved by a judge when the new administration took over.
The Minneapolis Police Department is already under a court-approved consent decree reached between the city and the state Department of Human Rights, but that agreement is not as comprehensive as the one proposed by the federal government.
