According to a document sent Wednesday, the Trump administration is suspending agreements that require police agency changes after the Justice agency discovered a pattern of misbehavior.
“The new administration may wish to reconsider settlements and consent decrees negotiated and approved by the prior administration,” said interim Associate Attorney General Chad Mizelle in a note.
Mizelle directed the Justice Department’s civil rights division “not to execute or finalize any settlements or consent decrees approved prior to January 20, 2025, 12:00pm.” The memo also directs civil rights lawyers to tell Mizelle of any settlements or consent decrees reached during the last 90 days.
“The memo furthers the department’s goal to speak with one voice in pursuing the administration’s priorities,” a Justice Department official said.
The decision was widely anticipated with the transition of administrations and has the potential to derail police reform efforts in Minneapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, which were announced by the Justice Department in the last weeks of the Biden administration.
The consent decree agreements with both cities are pending final approval from judges in both states, which means that the Trump administration’s Justice Department may try to derail the settlements.
Mizelle sent a another memo on Wednesday ordering civil rights attorneys not to “file any new complaints, motions to intervene, agreed-upon remands, amicus briefs, or statements of interest” until further notice. It is typical for incoming administrations to analyze current litigation to see if it is consistent with their policy objectives. However, current and former Justice Department officials argue that incoming administrations often do case-by-case evaluations.
President Donald Trump and his Republican supporters have long decried the use of court-ordered consent decrees to enact police reform measures.
During his campaign, Trump pledged to “back the blue,” a term that expresses support for police officers even when they are accused of misbehavior or civil rights abuses. During Trump’s first presidency, the Justice Department attempted to dismantle police consent decrees.
The Louisville order was issued in mid-December after a years-long probe of the city’s police force following Breonna Taylor’s deadly shot in 2020.
The agreement’s proposed reforms included a requirement for Louisville police officers to “use appropriate de-escalation techniques and attempt to resolve incidents without force when possible, and use force in a manner that is reasonable, necessary, and proportional to the threat presented.”
It also required that the agency examine “allegations of officer misconduct fully, fairly, and efficiently, and holds all officers who commit misconduct accountable through fair and consistent discipline.”
Years after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers, the city struck a deal earlier this month. A DOJ investigation of the department revealed that its officers used excessive force, including “unjustified deadly force.”
According to the DOJ, the agreement focused on Minneapolis “preventing excessive force; stopping racially discriminatory policing; improving officers’ interactions with youth” and “protecting the public’s First Amendment rights,” among other things.
During Trump’s first term, the Justice force moved to overturn an Obama-era consent decree for Baltimore’s police force, which had yet to be authorized by a judge when the new government took over.
However, that effort eventually failed, with a federal court in Maryland ruling that the Justice Department’s decision to terminate the deal came too late.
“The time for expressing ‘grave concerns’ has passed, and the parties must now execute the agreement as they promised,” US District Court Judge James Bredar said in an April 2017 judgment.