Policing Without Federal Oversight

For several decades the DOJ has been Investigating Local Police Departments across the United States. for violations of civil rights violations and or use of force incidents. Those federal investigations and possible court orders to follow could take years to complete. Local police departments under federal oversight have complained about the immense strain on resources and personnel it takes to meet court-approved benchmarks for accountability, training, and amended use-of-force policies. Community activists sometimes feel federal oversight does not do enough to fix systemic issues.

Lawyers in charge of monitoring the progress of the local police departments, and current and former law enforcement officials suggest that while federal oversight cannot solve every issue in local policing, it can spur significant changes that would not have been possible without it. But it hasn’t come without a lot of controversy and where some agencies have challenged DOJ consent decree orders.