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Former US Attorney defends federal oversight of local police reforms

NEW YORK CITY - NOVEMBER 22 2015: Stop Mass Incarcerations Network sponsored a children's march on the anniversary of Tamir Rice's death at the hands of the Cleveland police. (Shutterstock)

When Carole Rendon was asked in March by the Trump Administration to step down immediately from her position as U.S. Attorney of Northern Ohio, she left behind her work with the team monitoring reforms at the Cleveland Police Department.  Those reforms came as a result of a U.S. Department of Justice probe that concluded in 2014 that Cleveland’s police engaged in a pattern of excessive force and civil rights violations.  Rendon helped negotiate the settlement.  She was First Assistant US attorney at the time.  But President Trump’s emphasis on law and order and criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement has prompted concerns that his Department of Justice, under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, will be less aggressive in holding local police departments accountable for civil rights violations and officer conduct.  Carole Rendon is now a partner at the law firm of Baker Hostetler.  Speaking with ideastream's Amy Eddings, Rendon defends the Department of Justice's consent decree with Cleveland and its police force and suggests the U.S. Attorney's Office of Northern Ohio may still pursue civil rights investigations, even though they may not be a priority for the DOJ at a national level.

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