Federal authorities expressed satisfaction with the outcome of a consent decree summit hosted by the Virgin Islands Police Department. The 15-year-old decree seeks a change in use-of-force practices by VIPD officers and supervisors.
The Virgin Islands is one of 13 U.S. police departments ordered to implement reforms arising from consent decrees. Under the direction of former Gov. Kenneth Mapp, police achieved substantial compliance in 2018 but failed to maintain that status for two years.
The mid-December summit’s goal was to resolve three outstanding provisions in the 2009 court order. About 40 VIPD officials attended.
Lawyers from the U.S. Justice Department Civil Rights Division for Special Litigations have been pressing for consent decree compliance. In a Dec. 20 court filing, the chief of special litigation in the U.S. Justice’s civil rights section said participants achieved their stated goals.
“Timely completion of investigations and accountability were significant focuses of the summit. Attendees seemed to be positively engaged during the summit and reported that they found it useful. The United States believes the summit to have been a success,” said Special Litigations Chief Regan Rush.
The results of those efforts are expected to be presented to District Court Chief Judge Robert Molloy at a status hearing scheduled for Dec. 30 at 2 p.m.
