Critical Eye on Cops Tests Garland’s Police Reform Commitment

Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision to launch Justice Department investigations into the police departments in Louisville, Ky., and Minneapolis should just be the first step, civil rights advocates say, in what will be a sweeping and extended look into policing practices across the country.

Garland’s move marked a reversal from the Trump administration, which largely shelved pattern or practice investigations into allegations of systemic police civil rights abuses, and also reduced the use of consent decrees, court-ordered agreements between local law enforcement and the DOJ to improve practices.

But Garland’s decision has also brought new pressure on the DOJ, ...