Story highlights Police departments could sign up for the program voluntarily

Sessions ordered the Justice Department to review all programs involving local law enforcement

(CNN) The Justice Department announced Friday that it is significantly scaling back a program created during the Obama administration to help reform police departments after controversial incidents such as police-involved shootings.

The department will no longer issue audit reports of police departments or suggest reforms; instead it will focus on assisting local law enforcement agencies with specific grants aimed at fighting violent crime.

Under the department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), police departments could sign up for the program voluntarily and work with Justice Department officials to improve trust between police and the public. But, according to a background document provided by the Justice Department, the program over the past several years evolved to much broader investigations of police departments and led to tension and a more adversarial relationship between Justice and the participating departments.

"Changes to this program will fulfill my commitment to respect local control and accountability, while still delivering important tailored resources to local law enforcement to fight violent crime," said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "This is a course correction to ensure that resources go to agencies that require assistance rather than expensive wide-ranging investigative assessments that go beyond the scope of technical assistance and support."

On March 31, Sessions directed the Justice Department to review all of its programs involving local law enforcement -- including this program, the Collaborative Reform Initiative for Technical Assistance, which COPS administered. Friday's announcement brought the review to a close.

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