US Justice Department ends post-George Floyd police reform settlements

It’s our view at the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division under the Trump administration that federal micromanagement of local police should be a rare exception, and not the norm,

said Harmeet Dhillon, an assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, said

We will comply with every sentence of every paragraph of the 169-page consent decree that we signed this year,

he said at a news conference

There is a lack of accountability. There is a lack of local control. And there is an industry here that is, I think, ripping off the taxpayers and making citizens less safe,

Dhillon said

This move isn’t just a policy reversal,

Sharpton said

Police officers must often make split-second decisions and risk their lives to keep their communities safe,

the report on Minneapolis reads

Nekima Levy Armstrongactivist

The Trump administration is sending a signal that they don’t care about Black lives,

said Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer and activist in Minneapolis

Brian O'Harachief

This is a police force that has been depleted over the last few years, while the demands of crime and investigations have risen dramatically,

Chief O’Hara said

Keith Ellisonminnesota Attorney General

This dismissal, as predictable and shameful as it is, does not erase D.O.J.’s historic finding that Minneapolis engaged in a pattern of racially discriminatory, unlawful and unconstitutional policing,

Mr. Ellison said in a statement

Today’s decision reflects recognition that additional oversight is unnecessary,

the union said in a statement

We acknowledge there is work that remains to be done to rebuild community trust.”

The statement added

Trump and D.O.J. can abandon police reform,

Ms. Borchetta said

The problems don’t completely disappear,

said Lawrence Hamm, chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress, a civil rights group in Newark, where the department entered a consent decree in 2016.

I have seen dramatic improvements in many aspects of N.O.P.D.’s handling of misconduct,

said William Most, a civil rights lawyer who regularly represents clients who are suing the police

There’s a lot of innuendo and you have to make a lot of logical leaps when you read their findings reports,

he said

Consent decrees remain in effect until a department demonstrates sustained compliance with all requirements,

del Carmen said

Independent oversight ensures that agencies cannot ignore or backslide on required changes, even amid political shifts,

del Carmen said

Theoretically, we are not ruling it out,

she added

Glenn Beckconservative commentator

We need to replace those people, because I have a very robust, affirmative civil rights agenda that I think many Americans will be pleased,

Dhillon told conservative commentator Glenn Beck last month

While the Department of Justice walks away from their federal consent decree nearly five years from the murder of George Floyd, our Department and the state court consent decree isn’t going anywhere,

Minnesota Department of Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said in the press release about DOJ’s action

Under the state agreement, the City and MPD must make transformational changes to address race-based policing,

Lucero continued