Tresa Baldas

Detroit Free Press

After 13 years of being watched by the federal government, scrutinized over how it handles arrests and lockups, the Detroit Police Department is officially free from Big Brother oversight.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn ended that oversight today in a two-page order that said the department "has met its obligations" under an agreement with the Department of Justice to maintain and improve reforms.

"Further, the parties have discussed the city's and DPD's plans to ensure that the people of Detroit continue to receive constitutional and effective policing after federal oversight ends," Cohn wrote.

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In 2003, the city entered into two consent decrees with the Justice Department after police were accused of unconstitutional conduct, including excessive use of force and illegal detentions.

The consent decrees came after a Detroit Free Press investigation uncovered excessive use of deadly force, illegal dragnet arrests of possible witnesses to crimes and improper treatment of prisoners.

Assistant Police Chief James White said those days are over, and what's emerged after more than a decade of oversight is a "much more organized, constitutional police department."

"We don't look at this process as the end of a journey, but more or less a beginning," White said. "This isn't a new concept for us. We're happy to end the governmental oversight, but the reforms that we have engaged in over the course of the past 13 years are no longer new to us. They are embedded in our police. They are how we believe now ... and we will be truly an example for other forces across the country."

White also commended the DPD's officers, supervisors and Chief James Craig for making the reforms possible, saying: "they've embraced the reforms."

According to court documents, the consent decree triggered major changes over the years at the DPD. By 2014, serious uses of force had “drastically declined” and DPD had “completely ended" the practice of arresting and detaining witnesses without a warrant, records show. Other changes that occurred while under federal oversight:

The department had 17 fatal shootings over five years, compared with 47 in the five years before the Justice Department's investigation began.

DPD averages fewer than 28 shootings per year, compared with 69 per year before the investigation.

The department has established an audit team, staffed with sworn and civilian auditors "to conduct department-wide audits to track the performance of all aspects of the DPD."

DPD also established the Inspection Unit, compliance liaison officers and the Force Investigation Section "to perform intensive inspections of police practices from the precinct to the command levels."

Bringing about change proved costly for the city. Over the years, Detroit paid a federal monitor $87,825 a month — covered by taxpayers — to make sure the police department was making improvements. Along the way, one federal monitor, Sheryl Robinson Wood, became the subject of controversy and scandal when it was discovered through text messages that former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was having an inappropriate relationship with her.

In 2014, the city and Justice Department entered into an 18-month transition agreement. Under that agreement, the federal government would review and evaluate DPD's internal audits, conduct on-site visits and provide "comments and technical assistance where needed, to ensure that DPD's reform efforts continue and are sustained."

As Cohn noted in his ruling, the transition agreement is no longer needed. Both sides have concluded that when it comes to improving policing in Detroit, the city "has successfully completed all terms" of the agreement approved by the court.

"Based on the representations of the parties," Cohn wrote, "this case is dismissed."

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com