With the Trump and Sessions “tough on crime” agenda it now appears Justice Department investigations into police department abuse of civilians civil rights, as well as physical abuse by police officers, may come to a grinding halt. \u00a0There exists a fine line between enforcement of the law to protect the public and abuse, one that shouldn’t be crossed. Officers or departments that cross this line have little, if any respect for the civil rights of the individual. Policing this is a the responsibility of our government.<\/p>\n
VOX<\/a> –\u00a0<\/strong>A new memo by the Trump administration makes it official: The US Department of Justice is putting police reform on hold.<\/p>\n
The March 31 memo<\/a>, published by the Washington Post<\/a>, instructs Attorney General Jeff Sessions\u2019s top two deputies to \u201cimmediately review\u201d reform agreements \u2014 known as \u201cconsent decrees\u201d \u2014 reached with police departments across the country after Justice Department investigations found that these departments routinely violated their residents\u2019 civil rights. The memo argues that the review is necessary to, among other things, ensure public safety comes first and to \u201chelp promote officer safety, officer morale, and public respect for their work.\u201d<\/p>\n
In short, Justice Department deals that enforced reforms \u2014 from revised use-of-force policies to greater emphasis on \u201ccommunity policing\u201d \u2014 at police agencies are under review to ensure Sessions and President Donald Trump\u2019s own agenda on policing issues is represented in them.<\/p>\n
Given that Trump and Sessions both support a \u201ctough on crime\u201d approach<\/a> to criminal justice, that could mean that the Justice Department will now take a more tolerant approach to police abuses and a less tolerant view of police reforms than the Obama administration did. In fact, the Trump administration might even try to revoke the Obama-era reform plans altogether.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nThis isn\u2019t unexpected. On the campaign trail, Trump consistently decried what he characterized as the Obama administration\u2019s aggressive attitude toward the police. He argued<\/a> that the administration\u2019s policies have fostered a broader anti-police sentiment, enabling more crime and violence against cops. And he suggested<\/a> that he would allow police to be even more aggressive than they are today.<\/p>\n
Sessions expressed a similar view. \u201cThere is a perception, not altogether unjustified, that this department, the Civil Rights Division, goes beyond fair and balanced treatment but has an agenda that\u2019s been a troubling issue for a number of years,\u201d he said<\/a> during a November 2015 Senate hearing called \u201cThe War on Police.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n
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Before the March 31 memo, it was already clear that Trump\u2019s Justice Department wouldn\u2019t conduct many more investigations into police. Sessions said as much earlier this year<\/a>, acknowledging that his agency will \u201cpull back\u201d on its inquiries into police departments.<\/p>\n
Now we also know that the Trump administration is reviewing \u2014 and may potentially ax \u2014 police reform plans, even after the Justice Department under Obama found that police departments routinely violated American citizens\u2019 constitutional rights.<\/p>\n
This, however, just keeps a promise Trump made while running for president. On the campaign trail, Trump described<\/a> himself as \u201ctough on crime.\u201d He advocated for more police departments to adopt stop and frisk<\/a>, which was ruled unconstitutional in New York City because it was used to target minority residents. He said<\/a> at a February 2016 debate that police officers are \u201cabsolutely mistreated and misunderstood.\u201d And he even suggested<\/a> that Black Lives Matter protesters may need to be investigated by the Justice Department.<\/p>\n
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It wouldn\u2019t be the first time the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division was effectively gutted by an administration. As Ryan Reilly reported for the Huffington Post<\/a>, the Bush administration between 2001 and 2009 severely weakened the agency\u2019s ability to investigate any<\/em> civil rights violations, much less police departments\u2019. So Americans were by and large left in the dark about some of the worst abuses from law enforcement and other government officials.<\/p>\n
That history now looks certain to repeat itself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Full article\u00a0BELOW THE FOLD<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"