Who Will Police the Police When They Won't Police Themselves? Consent Decrees, "Pattern & Practice" Investigations & The DOJ.

Light 'Em Up

With this comprehensive, investigatory edition of “Light ‘Em Up” we examine the hotly debated subject of consent decrees, pattern and practice investigations and the role the federal government has in trying to bring about just, equitable and constitutional policing.
What appears to be a never-ending national crisis has exposed deep chasms in the relationships between local police departments and the communities they’re charged with “protecting and serving” all across the U.S.
Unfortunately, the facts bear out that the police have a long and checkered track record of not being very good at policing themselves.
When the police can’t or won’t police themselves — who then shall police the police?
In Latin, the phrase “Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes” means exactly that:
Who will guard the guards, themselves?
In 1994 Congress gave the federal government unprecedented power to intervene against police misconduct among state and local law enforcement agencies.
§14141 of the Violent Crime Control & Law Enforcement Act, commonly referred to as the 1994 Crime Bill, declares it unlawful for law enforcement agencies to engage in a pattern or practice that deprives a person of rights, privileges, or immunities protected by U.S. law.
The U.S. Department of Justice is the governmental agency responsible for enforcing the Constitution and the laws of the federal government.
The Civil Rights Division of the DOJ was created in 1957 by the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. During those tumultuous times in our nation’s history, the Civil Rights Division focused on protecting the vote.
The DOJ has a number of tools that are effective in bringing about lawful and fair policing. One process is a “pattern-or-practice” investigation. The first step in this very detailed legal process is to conduct a thorough and independent investigation to bring to light any persistent patterns of misconduct within a given police department.
George Floyd’s death in May 2020 reignited a national conversation about how to reduce unconstitutional policing harms, especially the disproportionate unconstitutional harm some styles of policing can cause and impact upon minorities.
Our learning objectives for this episode will be to:
♦ Define what a consent decree is.
♦ Challenge you to think critically on how the federal government might play an effective role in reining in police excesses and abuses and work to reshape policing.
♦ Examine the role and purpose that consent decrees serve in 21st century policing.
♦ Provide the historic background on why The U.S. Congress gave the DOJ authority to address systemic police misconduct.
♦ Explore the details on how the DOJ opens a pattern or practice investigation and what exactly do such investigations involve?
♦ Shed light on the role of a “monitor” and their duties and expectations as they oversee the consent decree process.
♦ Highlight arguments of a vociferous group of nay-sayers and detractors of the DOJ — who with their conspiracy-filled rhetoric foment and further hatred for the Federal Government just as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers do. They not only want to halt the practice of consent decrees — but their venomous ramblings sound as if they want to hurt career professionals within the DOJ — which is clearly against the law.
The truth is essential to our democracy!
These cities and entities are currently under consent decrees.
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