Federal Civil-Rights Commission Calls for Increased Scrutiny of Local Police

A federal civil-rights commission called for the Justice Department to increase scrutiny of America’s local police departments, a week after departing Attorney General Jeff Sessions tightened restrictions on when and how the U.S. government can fight law-enforcement abuses. In a 200-page report published Thursday, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded that black Americans harbor “valid” concerns about police-officer accountability and police brutality in general, The Washington Post reports. Under President Obama, the Department of Justice investigated alleged civil-rights violations by local police departments.