A significant shift in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) approach to police oversight was announced Wednesday, as the Civil Rights Division revealed it would be closing investigations and retracting findings of constitutional violations against the police departments in Phoenix, Arizona; Trenton, New Jersey; Memphis, Tennessee; Mount Vernon, New York; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and the Louisiana State Police.
This decision comes amidst a burgeoning controversy, amplified by retired police commander and author Travis Yates.
Yates, through an independent review of the DOJ’s investigation into the Phoenix Police Department, has alleged a staggering 97% rate of false reporting in the federal agency’s summary report. The DOJ’s report had previously claimed to identify a “pattern or practice” of civil rights violations within the Phoenix force.
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The DOJ’s initial investigation into the Phoenix Police Department spanned six years and examined over five million calls for service, culminating in a report detailing 134 incidents that they cited as evidence of systemic misconduct.
However, Yates’ analysis, based on the Phoenix Police Department’s public release of body camera footage and reports for each of these incidents, contends that the vast majority of the DOJ’s claims were either factually or contextually inaccurate.
“From the first incident on, it was apparent that the DOJ never intended for a court or anyone to actually see these incidents,” Yates wrote on his Substack, “Courageous Police Leadership.” He argues that the DOJ’s methodology relied on “anecdotal narratives, hindsight bias, and advocacy framing rather than factual accuracy,” and that investigators lacked expertise in police operations, policy, and relevant case law such as Graham v. Connor.
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Yates highlighted instances where lawful use of force was allegedly misidentified as unconstitutional, and critical context, such as suspect behavior or prior warnings, was omitted from the DOJ’s descriptions.
Yates further asserts that even if all 134 incidents were legitimate violations (which he strongly disputes), they would represent a minuscule fraction (0.000025%) of total police-public interactions during the investigated period, hardly indicative of a systemic “pattern or practice.”
The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) reportedly contacted Yates 18 months ago, expressing concerns about the impending DOJ investigation and the potential for federal oversight, citing the “destructive aftermath” witnessed in other cities under similar scrutiny.
Unlike many law enforcement agencies that have agreed to consent decrees based solely on DOJ summary reports, PLEA and the Phoenix Police Department opted for transparency. Despite pressure from city leaders and supportive media coverage for the DOJ investigation, the Phoenix Police Department released a public website containing details, body camera footage, and reports for all 134 incidents cited by the DOJ. This unprecedented move allowed the public to review the same information used by the federal agency.
Yates suggests that the DOJ’s primary goal, under the Biden Administration, was to secure agency agreement to federal oversight, thereby avoiding the need to prove claims in court and circumventing potential Tenth Amendment challenges to federal control of local police.
He pointed to other instances where the DOJ’s methods have come under question, including a recent hearing in Louisville where the DOJ allegedly refused to provide specific examples to justify a consent decree, and criticisms from a former DOJ statistician in Seattle, as well as a rebuttal report from Springfield, MA, citing numerous errors in the federal agency’s findings.
Yates said that the situation in Phoenix revealed a “broken system” of federal police reform that has led to negative consequences in numerous cities.
Despite these dismissals on Wednesday, the Department of Justice affirmed its commitment to supporting law enforcement agencies nationwide through grants and technical assistance.
The department expressed confidence that “the vast majority of police officers across the Nation will continue to vigorously enforce the law and protect the public in full compliance with the Constitution and all applicable federal laws,” while also reiterating its readiness to address any constitutional or civil rights violations by “bad actors in uniform,” including through criminal prosecution.
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