U.S. Attorney General Orders Deep Look Of Justice Department's Role In Police Reform
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is ordering a full review of the Justice Department's role in police reforms across the country.
Would that mean a rollback of reforms implemented in Philadelphia?
A sweeping Justice Department review was talked about at a meeting a few weeks ago between Sessions and several police chiefs from across the country. That group included Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross.
"The Attorney General, I think, has some concerns of his own. Some of which we share, some that we don't," said Commissioner Ross. "I think some of the chiefs pointed out that we believe, even in instances like the quadruple shooting we had today, that it's more than just being heavy-handed with law enforcement. If that's your only remedy you're never going to succeed in this."
Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey asked the Justice Department to investigate the rise of police-involved shootings in the city from 2007 to 2014. During that time period there were nearly 400 officer-involved shootings in Philadelphia. In 2015, the Justice Department released 48 findings of what was going wrong and 91 recommendations to address those issues.
Earlier this year a status report revealed the Philadelphia Police Department completed or made great progress on more than 90 percent of the recommendations.
"We've already made some significant strides and the Justice Department with the previous administration already indicated as such," Ross said. "And for us I can't imagine (the review) would dissuade us or deter us from doing what we're doing. Optimistically, maybe it will only enhance what is going on but I don't know. That's up to the Justice Department."
"We're not going to go backwards. If the reins get loosened that's not something we're interested in. We're going to continue to do what we've had some success with," Ross said.
In the two-page memo about the review Sessions says the administration is concerned that reforms due to a small number of officers doing the wrong thing leads to a negative impact on the majority of those in law enforcement who already serve the public honorably.
Sessions acknowledges the importance of maintaining good relationships between federal law enforcement and state and local authorities. However, he expressed concerns with the level of federal involvement.
"Local control and local accountability are necessary for effective local policing. It is not the responsibility of the federal government to manage non-federal law enforcement agencies," Sessions writes.
