Attorney General Garland announces reforms for federal monitoring of local police at IACP Conference

In a September 13, 2021 speech to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Department of Justice would be issuing 19 reforms to how federal monitors operate as they work in local police departments.

The Biden Administration has opened investigations into police departments with allegations of pattern abuse. These investigations often result consent decrees, in which the Justice Department and local departments enter into court-approved deals to create and enforce training and/or operational changes. Federal monitors are appointed to oversee the enforcement of these consent decrees between the DOJ and local police forces.

However, local law enforcement organizations have expressed concern that federal monitors need more accountability. During his speech at IACP, Attorney General Garland acknowledge that consent decree settlements and federal monitors have caused “frustrations and concerns within the law enforcement community.” The New York Times reports that because federal monitors are paid fees to oversee police departments, they often overextend their contracts to keep these departments locked into overhaul plans.

In his speech, Attorney General Garland continued, “While consent decrees and monitorships are important tools to increase transparency and accountability, the department can and should do more to improve their efficiency and efficacy.”

To balance the concerns of law enforcement with the need for greater accountability, Attorney General Garland detailed several reform measures that the administration plans to pursue. Overall, the reforms follow five basic principles for guiding the use of monitorships with local police departments going forward.

First, monitorships must be designed to minimize the cost to jurisdictions and to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest. Under this principle, the administration plans to impose a fee limit on how much monitors may be paid for their services. Additionally, monitors will not be able to serve on multiple monitor teams at a time.  

Attorney General Garland said of the reforms, “Monitoring is a public service, and there should be no question that the monitors’ commitment is to the department and community they serve – not to their bottom line.”

Second, monitors will be given a set term that can only be renewed after an assessment of the monitor’s performance and cost-effectiveness. Garland explained this effort as a measure to ensure monitors are accountable for the work they do.

Third, monitors should assess compliance consistently across jurisdictions to promote a uniform approach to police reform.  To that end, the Associate Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights also announced a new group to begin working on a set of best practices, assessment tools, and training materials that can better standardize monitors’ work.

Fourth, Attorney General Garland said monitors must engage in sustained and meaningful community engagement.

Finally, Garland acknowledged change takes time, but said “consent decrees cannot last forever.” The final principle of the reforms aims at incentivizing monitors to efficiently bring consent decrees to an end. After five years, the consent decree will be evaluated in a court hearing and a decision will be made on whether the decree is still warranted. Police departments will have the opportunity to ask for a partial termination if full compliance has not been achieved and present a plan to achieve full compliance.

Attorney General Garland concluded in his video speech to IAPC noting, “I know that we all share a deep commitment to public safety, officer health and wellness and constitutional policing. I am confident that by working openly and honestly with each other, we can best serve our colleagues in uniform as well as the communities that entrust us to keep them safe. I hope very much that we will be able to meet in person soon. In the meantime, please accept my sincere gratitude for everything you do for the policing profession and for our count”