DOJ dismisses investigations of civil rights violations by Louisiana State Police

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KTAL/KMSS)—The United States Justice Department announced on Wednesday that it is shutting down several investigations into police departments for violating civil rights.

The DOJ is also retracting its department’s findings regarding constitutional violations against six police departments, including the Louisiana State Police.

“Today, we are ending the Biden Civil Rights Division’s failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders and police departments with factually unjustified consent decrees,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

The pullback comes amid significant change at the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division under the Trump Administration.

The DOJ began investigating the Louisiana State Police in June 2022 and determined that LSP had engaged in a statewide practice and pattern of using excessive force, which violated the Fourth Amendment.

The most notable case involved the arrest and death of 49-year-old Ronald Greene in May of 2019 near Monroe, Louisiana.

The DOJ report stated that Greene’s arrest and death were described by a sergeant that LSP regarded as its in-house use-of-force expert as a “catastrophic failure in a million different directions.”

According to a press release from the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs, the department also dismisses lawsuits filed against police departments in Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The high-profile killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd sparked the lawsuits.

The lawsuits facilitated consent decrees that sought to overhaul many training and supervision practices within the police departments.

On Wednesday, the mayors of Minneapolis and Louisville held press conferences reacting to the DOJ’s decision.

“It is predictable that they would move for a dismissal the very same week that George Floyd was murdered five years ago. What this shows is that all Donald Trump really cares about is political theater,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg vowed to continue moving forward with the consent decree: “We as a city are committed to reform. I am committed to reform and improvements. Chief Humphrey is committed to reform and improvements.”

A federal judge will ultimately decide whether the consent decrees in those cities will stay in place.

In a social media post, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill praised the DOJ’s decision regarding LSP.

“This report was issued two days before inauguration with one day notice to Governor Jeff Landry and me, and zero opportunity to even read it much less comment,” wrote Murrill. “I’m thankful to President Donald J. Trump and the current DOJ team.”

Retractions were also made regarding findings of constitutional violations by police departments in Phoenix, Arizona, Trenton, New Jersey, Memphis, Tennessee, Mount Vernon, New York, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.