Law Commons^™

The Politics Of Policing: Ensuring Stakeholder Collaboration In The Federal Reform Of Local Law Enforcement Agencies, Kami Chavis Simmons

Faculty Publications

Title 42 U.S. C. § 14141 authorizes the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") to seek injunctive relief against local law enforcement agencies to eliminate a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct by these agencies. Rather than initiate lawsuits to reform these agencies, DOJ's current strategy is to negotiate reforms using a process that involves only DOJ representatives, municipality officials, and police management officials. While there are many benefits of negotiating the reforms, the current process excludes important stakeholders directly impacted by the reforms, including community members, who are the consumers of police services, and the rank-and-file police officers, whom …