Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday that the Justice Department will be taking a series of new actions regarding the monitoring of police departments, building on existing tools they use to get departments to comply with their standards.
Addressing the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Garland noted that the DOJ already conducts pattern-or-practice investigations of police departments, and utilizes consent decrees and monitorships to impose reforms. He then said that more is needed.
“Those investigations and the resulting settlements have led to significant improvements in police departments across the country. That, in turn, increases community trust, which is essential to making your difficult jobs safer and more effective,” Garland said. “It is also no secret that the monitorships associated with some of those settlements have led to frustrations and concerns within the law enforcement community.”
The attorney general said that after a review conducted by Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, which involved speaking with police chiefs and other leaders, she recommended – and Garland agreed to – 19 different actions with the stated goal of improving the “efficiency and efficacy” of consent decrees and monitorships.
