The Justice Department recently announced that it will drop police reform agreements reached with the cities of Louisville, Kentucky and Minneapolis.
Announced by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, the move dismisses the agreements, also known as consent decrees, which are generally approved by federal judges to incorporate a monitoring system when civil rights are being routinely violated. Along with the reform agreements reached with Louisville and Minneapolis, investigations and claims of policing injustice are also being closed in Phoenix, Memphis, Tennessee; Mount Vernon, New York; Oklahoma City; Trenton, New Jersey as well as Louisiana.
The civil investigations were initially authorized by Congress in 1994, urging the DOJ to investigate abuses by the police as a response to the 1994 case of Rodney King, who was a victim of police brutality.
During the Biden administration, 12 more of these investigations were launched. Of these investigations, however, consent decrees were reached only with Louisville and Minneapolis as a result of the deaths of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor and 46-year-old George Floyd.
In a public statement, civil rights Attorney Ben Crump, who represented both the families of Taylor and Floyd, reacted to the removal of these consent decrees, claiming that the latest choice will only “deepen the divide between law enforcement and the people.”
“This decision is a slap in the face to the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tyre Nichols, and to every community that has endured the trauma of police violence and the false promises of accountability,” said Crump in a statement. “These consent decrees and investigations were not symbolic gestures, they were lifelines for communities crying out for change, rooted in years of organizing, suffering, and advocacy.”
The announcement by the DOJ comes days after the five-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd. On May 25, 2020, Floyd died after former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds.
His death sparked nationwide and international protests to draw attention to police brutality, urging Minneapolis officials to get justice for Floyd. As a result, Chauvin was fired. Eventually, a state jury convicted him of his role in the murder. After pleading guilty, Chauvin is currently serving a prison sentence for over two decades.
Three other former police officers- Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng- were also convicted for their roles in Floyd’s murder.
With the latest announcement by the DOJ and calls to pardon Chauvin, Minneapolis officials warn that efforts for police reform and fairer policing will be more complicated to achieve.
Still, leaders of both Minneapolis and Louisville have doubled down on their commitment to achieve reforms in the policing systems.
“The DOJ is moving to dismiss its case with prejudice, meaning that the case will be permanently closed. We believe the court will grant this motion,” said Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg at a press conference. “While this is not the outcome we hoped for when we stood right here in December and announced the decree, it is an outcome that we have planned for. We as a city are committed to reform.”
