Rep. Johnson highlights lack of federal funding for DOJ to investigate police departments
During budget talks, Congressman calls for more DOJ funding to conduct Section 14141 “pattern or practice” investigations of troubled law enforcement agencies
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04) introduced the Police Agency Investigation Improvement Act of 2015, H.R. 4249, which would increase funding to the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) by $25 million to assist in investigations of suspected misconduct to ensure police agencies across the country are not violating citizens’ Constitutional rights.
Over the past seven years, DOJ has opened a record 23 pattern-and-practice investigations in cities across the country including New Orleans, Cleveland, Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri.
Last week, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that the Department of Justice would also investigate the Chicago Police Department (CPD) for systemic violations of the Constitution or federal law by officers of CPD.
However, lack of federal funding to conduct these investigations in a timely fashion has been a sore spot for DOJ.
“The number of attorneys who work on police misconduct matters within the DOJ is so small they could barely field a baseball team,” said Johnson. “Only about 18 lawyers work full time to ensure the more than 18,000 police departments across the country are doing the right thing.”
While Johnson acknowledged DOJ’s hard work thus far, the agency’s failure to intervene in many matters because it simply did not have the human capital to take on another investigation is not acceptable.
“By increasing the appropriated funding to the Civil Rights Division, we guarantee that more resources are being devoted to these important investigations” said Johnson. “My bill would also increase Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants by an additional 50 percent to localities under the management of consent decrees. We want to make sure that we are giving all necessary resources to law enforcement agencies to improve policing and continue building trust between officers and the communities they serve.”
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