Consent decree may be held up

Justice Dept. wants time to review reform plan for city police

The U.S. Department of Justice is asking a federal judge for a 90-day pause to further “review and assess” its proposed police reform consent decree with Baltimore.

Supporters of the deal expressed concern the move could suggest the Trump administration has changed its mind about backing the agreement, which was signed in the waning days of Barack Obama’s presidency.

“Weknowthat reform is not important to this president or his attorney general,” said City Councilman Brandon Scott, who chairs the public safety committee.

In a motion filed Monday night in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, the Justice Department cited President Donald J. Trump’s executive order Feb. 9 directing the government “to prioritize crime reduction” and a task force created to address that directive by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“The Attorney General and the new leadership in the Department are actively developing strategies to support the thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country that seek to prevent crime and protect the public,” attorneys for the department wrote.

“The Department has determined that permitting it more time to examine the consent decree proposed in this case in light of these initiatives will help ensure that the best result is achieved for the people of the City.”

The motion was filed along with a recent memorandum in which Sessions called on his top deputies to conduct a sweeping review of all the agency’s activities, including other consent decree agreements across the country.