AP News, May 18th, 2007
The Detroit Police Department says its effort to reduce police brutality and other abuses has been so expensive that it now wants a federal court to lighten up on its oversight.
The U.S. attorney said he would oppose the move.
The city in 2003 pledged to make significant reforms in how officers use force, detain prisoners and question witnesses. A federal monitor was appointed to oversee the reforms after the city signed the consent decrees with the Justice Department.
But in a court filing Wednesday, the department argued that the federal settlement should require it only to develop new policies, not implement them, except where explicitly stated.
Assistant Police Chief Ralph Godbee said complying with the court orders has cost the city about $24 million.
"We are not in any way attempting to avoid complying with the consent decrees," Godbee said. "(However), we have a fiduciary responsibility to the citizens who pay taxes."
U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy said his office will file a response to the judge opposing the department's request.
"The basis of the motion really surprises me," Murphy said. "To think that a consent decree would be entered which requires policies to be devised and not have them implemented is really counterintuitive."
The filing also drew swift criticism from the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, which had pushed for the federal intervention.
"What is the sake of having a policy if you can't make sure that policy translates into some kind of action?" said Ron Scott, a spokesman for the group.
The settlement resulted from a federal investigation that concluded that improperly trained officers used excessive force, made false arrests and illegally detained people. The probe was launched amid a public outcry over police shootings.
One of the department's reforms was a computerized early warning system intended to identify troubled officers, police spokesman James Tate said. But the federal monitor considers it inadequate.
