State AGs are ‘stepping into the police reform business’ to hold officers accountable

While these investigations are regarded as even more important amid heightened public scrutiny of law enforcement, there is disagreement on whether federal involvement in local policing leads to tangible reform, experts say.

In California, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced an agreement in August with the city of Bakersfield to overhaul its police department after an investigation initiated by the Justice Department in 2016. In Colorado, the state’s attorney general last week released the findings of an investigation that his office began last year after the death of Elijah McClain at the hands of Aurora police officers and paramedics. In Illinois and Colorado, state legislatures only recently gave the attorneys general the authority to investigate local police departments. “We started this investigation under the prior (presidential) administration, and they had a categorical policy of not conducting these investigations,” said Colorado Attorney…

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