The Department of Justice has failed to use its full powers to address police misconduct and restore confidence in policing, according to a new report by the Office of the Inspector General, the DOJ’s internal watchdog.
The report identifies public confidence in law enforcement and the protection of civil liberties as two of the most pressing challenges facing the DOJ, the only federal agency with the power to force reform in local police departments. The problem is particularly acute in light of the wave of protests this year following the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, Inspector General Michael Horowitz found.
“The need for action to effect actual change is even more urgent,” the report said.
In 2015, under the Obama administration, the DOJ used a wide variety of tools to improve American policing, including technical assistance and partnerships between federal and local agencies, improved data collection on use of force and most controversially, “pattern-or-practice” investigations — broad civil rights inquiries that often led to legally binding reform agreements called consent decrees.
Since then, the DOJ has “cut back” on the use of those tools, according to the report, the latest installment of an annual publication on management and performance challenges facing the DOJ.
“We believe that among the most significant challenges facing the Department is responding to the potential erosion of confidence in law enforcement, as evidenced by [a Pew survey on race and policing], as well as embracing its leadership role and using all available tools to address these issues to the fullest extent practicable,” the report said.
The report also highlighted the DOJ’s controversial prohibition on federal task force officers wearing body cameras and the deployment of federal officers without clear identification to police Black Lives Matter protests after Floyd’s death.