Trump’s victory has Biden Justice Dept. racing to finalize police fixes
© Nicole Neri for The Washington Post
President Joe Biden took office promising greater police accountability, and during his tenure the Justice Department launched a dozen investigations into state and local law enforcement agencies. Nearly four years later, his administration has yet to lock in reform agreements with any of them, putting a major civil rights initiative in jeopardy as Biden prepares to yield the White House to President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump has signaled his intent to abandon Biden’s use of federal power to compel sweeping changes aimed at curbing excessive police force and racial discrimination. That leaves the Justice Department just over two months to secure legally binding consent decrees that could place jurisdictions under federal court supervision and make it more difficult for Trump to change course — or, short of that, to reach settlements or release extensive reports that could sum up investigators’ work and provide state and local officials with road maps toward reform.
The race to formalize police accountability plans comes as Trump is vowing to empower local law enforcement to use more aggressive tactics to fight violent crime and potentially dispatch the National Guard, or even the U.S. military, to help patrol some U.S. cities. Though a shift in enforcement priorities at the Justice Department is typical after transitions between Democratic and Republican administrations, Biden aides have said their concerns are more acute in the face of Trump’s vows to use the department to target his political rivals.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-s-victory-has-biden-justice-dept-racing-to-finalize-police-fixes/ar-AA1ucf8A?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=b2d4007223084e94b52e518c37dd4850&ei=58
