WASHINGTON – In a new press release issued in collaboration with more than 100 community organizations, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) demanded that the federal government reassert its authority over law enforcement oversight. The call comes in response to the Trump administration’s rollback of key Department of Justice (DOJ) accountability mechanisms.
The ACLU and its allies sharply criticized the Trump DOJ for its refusal to fully utilize federal consent decrees—binding legal agreements often used to curb law enforcement misconduct.
Under the Biden administration, DOJ investigations revealed systemic patterns of police abuse in seven states: Tennessee, Massachusetts, New York, Arizona, Mississippi, Minnesota, and Kentucky. These findings formed the basis for the ACLU’s “Seven States Safety Campaign,” which pushes for public access to records to expose misconduct and demand reform.
Jen Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the ACLU, stated: “The DOJ under Biden found police were wantonly assaulting people, and that it wasn’t a problem of ‘bad apples’ but of avoidable, department-wide failures.” She added, “By turning its back on police abuse, Trump’s DOJ is putting communities at risk, and the ACLU is stepping in because people are not safe when police can ignore their civil rights.”
Between 2021 and early 2025, the DOJ launched 12 “pattern or practice” investigations into police departments. In the seven highlighted states, the ACLU reported that officers “routinely used excessive force, targeted people of color, and violated constitutional rights as a matter of practice.” Yet these departments continue to operate without federal consent decrees in place to enforce reforms and prevent further abuse.
According to a coalition statement released by the ACLU and more than 30 allied groups, the Trump administration’s withdrawal from federal oversight marked an abdication of its constitutional duty. “This is a betrayal of the public trust and an insult to communities that have fought for years to hold abusive police departments accountable,” the statement read.
In Minnesota, where the DOJ recently withdrew from a consent decree agreement five years after the murder of George Floyd, ACLU of Minnesota Executive Director Deepinder Mayell voiced frustration.
“This decision does not mean that the Minneapolis Police Department will be free to violate the rights of Minnesotans with impunity,” Mayell said. “The city must still abide by the state-level consent decree. MPD is also on notice that their officers engaged in unconstitutional policing for years, which makes it easier to hold the MPD liable for any future violations down the road. Now is the time to follow through—not just with promises, but with real action to fix what is so clearly broken.”
The DOJ’s findings were informed by thousands of police records, hours of video footage, and interviews with officers across the country. Examples of misconduct cited in the reports include:
- In Memphis, TN, officers punched and kicked people who were already restrained or handcuffed.
- In Louisville, KY, police deployed K-9 units on compliant individuals, including a 14-year-old child.
- In Lexington, MS, officers tasered a man until he vomited and could not walk.
- In Phoenix, AZ, officers fired tasers and firearms at people who were already incapacitated.
- In Minneapolis, MN, police regularly used neck restraints, one of which rendered a man unconscious.
- In Mount Vernon, NY, and Worcester, MA, officers conducted invasive strip searches and sexually assaulted women under threat of arrest.
Despite such extensive documentation of abuse, the DOJ’s decision to retreat from consent decrees leaves many departments with no binding reforms or federal accountability in place.
Local advocates emphasized the urgency of continued oversight and reform.
Cardell Orrin, executive director of Stand for Children Tennessee, responded: “The DOJ’s findings confirmed what Memphis communities have said for years: MPD’s abuse, excessive force, and lack of accountability are systemic, not isolated. While city leaders keep chasing an arbitrary ‘magic number’ of police, they’ve failed to invest enough in additional support to keep communities safe. The DOJ showed us the critical role access to information plays in accountability, so that our police truly value and respect the lives of all the people in our community. The additional information uncovered through this records request will give us and our local partners, like the Justice & Safety Alliance, stronger tools to push for the real policy changes and investments Memphis needs.”
Ben Laughlin, co-director of Poder in Action in Phoenix, added: “The Department of Justice report released in 2024 confirmed what we all knew: Phoenix police routinely violate the rights of the very people they are sworn to protect. Despite a long history of perpetrating violence and abuse against our communities, the City of Phoenix has dodged accountability every step of the way. Obtaining public records from the Phoenix Police Department is an essential step toward accountability—for the public to know what the police are doing in the name of ‘public safety’ and with our tax dollars.”
While the future of federal police oversight remains uncertain, the message from advocates is clear: accountability in policing is not optional—it is essential. And no policy shift from Washington will halt the growing justice movement taking root in communities across the country.
