Addressing Violations: Lessons Learned Recommendations from Civil Rights Litigation
Train supervisors on:
- Reviewing subordinate's reports on stops for completeness, accuracy, and quality
- Strategies for identifying biased police practices
- Evaluating complaints of improper stops
- Recommending and administering proper disciplinary action when necessary
Responsibility of supervisors:
- Document and report investigatory stops and detentions that appear unsupported by reasonable suspicion or are in violation of a department policy
- Document and report stops that may have been compliant with the law and policy but indicated a need for corrective action or review of an agency’s policy
Take appropriate action to address all violations in investigatory stops or detentions
- Responsibility of supervisors
The information provided above has come directly from the consent decree language, which can be accessed by clicking on each corresponding city’s consent decree. When additional information was needed, subject-matter experts from the Department of Justice provided input. This information is intended to guide departments on decisions and actions to improve their Constitutional policing practices. Additional resources and information may be needed to implement these recommendations successfully. For assistance in implementing recommendations, contact the Knowledge Lab team.