Police are not fully cooperating with a federal monitor appointed in the wake of riots in 2001 triggered by an officer’s fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, the monitor said in a report released Monday.
Police officials refused access to documents requested by a member or the monitor’s staff, and refused to let the staffer ride along with police on an inspection of known drug locations, the report said.
Saul Green, a former federal prosecutor, heads the team overseeing implementation of a 2002 agreement to make changes in police policies and a related settlement of a racial profiling lawsuit that accused police of harassing blacks.
Green’s report was submitted to Judge Susan Dlott, who oversaw negotiations for the agreement and the settlement of the lawsuit.
In earlier reports, Green had been critical of the city and police department; his report Monday was the sternest yet, saying the city’s noncompliance is a material breach of the agreement.
In the 2002 agreement, police agreed to improve training, reform use-of-force policies and change the way supervisors track performance. The city also pledged to improve relations between police and blacks. The terms of the settlement are supposed to last five years.
Greg Baker, the department’s executive manager of police relations, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
In October, Mayor Charlie Luken asked the government to end its supervision of police, insisting the department had achieved “outstanding results” and that demands from the Justice Department had become a nuisance.
