DOJ looking for discrimination, excessive force in Massachusetts police department. What's next?

N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY
·5 min read

The Justice Department recently announced an investigation into a Massachusetts police department to determine if the agency engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing.

Federal prosecutors will determine if the Worcester Police Department, the latest department to draw federal scrutiny, has a pattern of excessive use of force or discriminatory policing based on race or gender, the DOJ said in a statement.

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, the Justice Department launched similar investigations into police departments in Minneapolis, Kentucky and Phoenix. In June, the department launched a sweeping civil rights investigation into the Louisiana State Police as the agency faced backlash over the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene.

The investigations, which became a priority again under the Biden administration, are often resolved with a consent decree, which require agencies meet specific goals before federal oversight is ended, according to the Justice Department. Though consent decrees have been credited with successfully improving some of the country's 18,000 police departments, some officials have criticized the court-enforced plans for being expensive, time-consuming and ineffective elsewhere.

How does a pattern-or-practice investigation work?

The 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act gave the civil rights division of the Justice Department the power to investigate systemic police misconduct. The department might launch an investigation for a number of reasons, including a community complaint, a high-profile case of police misconduct or media scrutiny, according to Christy E. Lopez, a Georgetown Law professor who led the Justice Department's investigations in Ferguson, Chicago and other cities.

There is often "fierce pushback" said Lopez, but a few mayors and police chiefs have "genuinely welcomed" the investigations, which can take more than a year depending on the size of the department.

The probes focus on systemic issues like discriminatory policing, improper use of force, First Amendment violations, gender bias and unlawful searches, stops and arrests, according to the Justice Department. Investigators examine police reports, watch arrest videos, observe academy sessions and talk with community members to determine if there is unconstitutional conduct and what the causes are, Lopez said.

"They're trying to get a very thorough understanding of whether their accountability mechanisms related to investigation, discipline and supervision are appropriate, whether their training is appropriate, whether the agency is doing everything it can do to detect wrongdoing and deal with it as soon as possible to prevent it from spreading and becoming part of the culture," she said.

What are the outcomes of these investigations?

Of nearly 70 investigations conducted between 1994 and 2016, federal officials closed 26 cases without finding a pattern or practice of police misconduct, according to a 2017 report from the Justice Department.

If that pattern is found, the department negotiates an agreement for reform — typically a consent decree overseen by a federal court and an independent monitor, said Danny Murphy, a police reform consultant and former deputy commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department.

"You can't just revise your policy and training, you have to perform in accordance with the policy and training," Murphy said. "That is generally where agencies have had the toughest toughest time under consent decrees is managing performance and raising performance to the level necessary to be deemed compliant with the consent decree."

There are about 15 consent decrees currently in place with police departments across the nation, Murphy said. He said consent decrees are terminated when the law enforcement agency has completed the terms of the agreement and has been in compliance for an agreed upon amount of time, usually two years. While some agreements have been ended after a few years, the process typically lasts a decade or more, Murphy said.

More: AG Garland reverses Trump-era policy limiting consent decrees in police investigations

Are consent decrees effective?

In a February letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell demanded the Justice Department end Albuquerque's consent decree, saying it has made it more difficult for law enforcement to fight crime. Albuquerque had spent nearly $25 million on its consent decree and had a record number of homicides in 2021, Herrell wrote.

“This consent decree has been in place for over seven years, cost millions of dollars, and failed to make our state’s largest city safer or improve officer retention,” Herrell wrote.

Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, previously told USA TODAY consent decrees can exacerbate tension between police and the communities.

The process can be slow, Murphy said. Agencies need to install mechanisms, like body camera audits and inspections, earlier in the process to better track officer performance and solve problems sooner.

"I have seen changes occur in the departments I work in that would not have occurred without the consent decree," Murphy said. "Hopefully, moving forward everyone can work towards more efficient ways of delivering the necessary results to complete these consent decrees in a more timely manner."

Lopez said she's seen many cases where departments are slow to implement reforms outlined in consent decrees and more aggressive enforcement could increase the pace. If the agency isn't complying, it can be held in contempt and face fines or the officers in the agency can face jail time, but she said such punishments are extremely rare.

She said she's never seen an agency complete every requirement of a consent decree, but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't work.

Departments that go through the process often have fewer instances of unlawful force, fewer lawsuits, fewer stops, decreases in racial disparities in arrests as well as lower crime rates and higher clearance rates, Lopez said. She pointed to New Orleans, which she said saw better reporting and resolution of sexual assault cases, and Ferguson, where she noted millions of dollars in fines were dismissed, as examples of unique kinds of success.

"The DOJ needs to develop a definition of success that's realistic," she said. "It cannot just be, 'Do everything on this consent decree.'"

Contributing: Kristine Phillips, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

Contact Breaking News Reporter N'dea Yancey-Bragg at nyanceybra@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @NdeaYanceyBragg

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DOJ investigates Worcester police: Here's what federal probes do