Minneapolis native Kateri Wozny watched distant flames ignite the sky near her Pasadena home on Tuesday evening.

She lives just south of the evacuation warning zone for the second-largest fire of five actively burning in LA County as of Wednesday evening.

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“It looks closer than it is, because the flames are so, like, you know, vibrant and stuff. It looks like it’s right at you, but it’s actually, like, further away,” she said, describing a video she took of flames burning north of her.

As of this report, Wozny was in a safe zone near the Eaton Fire, just south of an evacuation warning zone.

Her balcony view on Wednesday afternoon was smothered in haze as white ash particles continued to fall.

“The smoke is kind of, in a sense, covering up the flames,” she said. “It smells like a fire, like, kind of like if you’re burning wood, like at a campfire, or something like that.”

“It’s terrible, it’s heartbreaking, it’s devastating,” Wozny said.

“We have a phrase out here that we will rebuild because we’re very strong and vigilant. We will rebuild. And when we come together as a community, you know, and just helping one another, we get stronger and we get through it.”

In announcing a settlement with Minneapolis for police reform, U.S. Department of Justice officials cited five other cities that have seen success following similar court-ordered action: Seattle, Portland, Newark, Albuquerque and New Orleans.

“Cities that have worked collaboratively with the Justice Department have made important, tangible progress toward better, safer and lawful policing,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said Monday. 

The Minneapolis consent decree comes nearly five years after the murder of George Floyd and almost two years since the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report finding excessive force and discrimination within the Minneapolis Police Department against Black and Indigenous people. 

But it’s common for it to take years for federal court agreements like the one in Minneapolis to take effect. The federal consent decree process was first introduced in 1994. 

It’s no coincidence the Minneapolis City Council approved the settlement with the DOJ two weeks before the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. During his first term, Trump called consent decrees a “war on police,” so his upcoming administration poses a threat to this sort of oversight. The consent decree will become legally binding once a federal judge signs off on it.

Clarke, who has 30 years of experience working on police reform, said it’s clear consent decrees are successful in achieving reform. 

Here’s a look at those cities: 

The Seattle Police Department 

Seattle was placed under federal consent decree in 2012 after community members and organizers rallied for federal police oversight following the police murder of deaf Indigenous woodcarver John T. Williams in 2010. 

A federal judge terminated most provisions of this consent decree in 2023 after determining the department had completed “significant policing reform.” 

According to the DOJ, the department reduced its use of serious force by 60%, with force used in only one-quarter of one percent of all events to which officers respond. SPD also developed an advanced crisis intervention program in which civilian mental health professionals and non-police mobile crisis teams respond to behavioral health crisis incidents. Department officers are now also trained on how to “secure people’s rights” during police investigation stops. 

“The court monitor found that officers complied with legal and policy requirements in almost all instances it assessed,” according to a DOJ news release. 

The Portland Police Bureau 

Portland was placed under a federal consent decree after the city entered a settlement in a 2012 federal lawsuit that accused the police department of using excessive force against people with mental illness. The lawsuit stemmed from a DOJ investigation that launched in 2011. The city and DOJ entered a settlement agreement in 2014. 

The court terminated portions of this consent decree in 2023, concluding that the police bureau “sustained substantial compliance” for three years. This compliance included implemented provisions around “electronic control weapons” (such as use of tasers) and the creation of multiple additional oversight committees for behavioral health response, police training, communication, coordination and citizen review of the department. 

The termination of parts of this consent decree required the city to select an independent monitor to oversee compliance with the settlement rather than the DOJ being responsible for this, according to local publication the Portland Mercury. 

Before this partial termination, the DOJ reported in 2022 that the city was out of compliance with several parts of the agreement, including police response to the racial justice protests of 2020.

The Newark Police Department 

Newark entered a consent decree in 2016 after a United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and DOJ 2014 report found “a pattern and practice of unconstitutional policing” by the Newark Police Department. The report found Newark’s police officers had no legal basis for 75% of their pedestrian stops from 2009 to 2012, which were conducted disproportionally against Black people. It was also found that the Newark police were detaining people for “milling,” “loitering” or “wandering.”

In accordance with the settlement reached in 2016, a federal court approved an independent police monitoring team led by former New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey. 

Newark officers now conduct stops in compliance with constitutional standards, Clarke said at the Monday news conference in Minneapolis. The city also developed community-member-run safety systems like a community street team of non-police responders. 

“These efforts have been successful at reducing the burden on law enforcement and reduced crime, which is down 40% since we entered the decree,” Clarke said. 

The Albuquerque Police Department

The Albuquerque Police Department is an example of a department now considered to be nearly in full compliance after nine years of court oversight, clocking in at 99% compliance, according to the DOJ. 

The department was placed under a consent decree in 2015 after a DOJ investigation in 2014, a year the department faced deep scrutiny over its use of force and the number of cases where police officers shot civilians. 

The decree was lifted last year after officers were equipped with body cameras, increased crisis intervention training and a new policing reform office, new increased officer training was implemented and a new policing reform office was formed in the city. 

The city remains in a two-year oversight period during which they must demonstrate their ability to sustain the court-mandated reforms outlined in the decree. 

During the Monday news conference in Minneapolis, Clarke said nearly 5% of the call volume to the Albuquerque Police Department is now diverted to the Albuquerque Community Safety Department, which sends a team of civilian responders to assist people with behavioral health needs. 

Additionally, according to the DOJ, officers now receive training on using tasers to “ensure that officers only use these weapons when lawful and necessary.” The department now has trained specialized officers to respond to behavioral health crises and created a new agency called Albuquerque Community Safety to send trained mental health professionals to 911 calls involving behavioral health issues. 

The New Orleans Police Department 

The DOJ entered a consent degree agreement with the New Orleans Police Department in 2013, two years after a Department of Justice investigation found evidence of racial bias and misconduct conducted by police. 

The 2011 DOJ investigation found New Orleans police used deadly force without justification, repeatedly made unconstitutional arrests and engaged in racial profiling, and officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths were “investigated inadequately or not at all.”

Clarke said, in New Orleans, the police department went from a high of 22 “critical incidents” in 2012 to five “critical incidents” in 2023. 

In 2024, there was a push to end the over decade-long consent decree in New Orleans. However, this move has faced pushback within the last year. Residents speaking against ending the consent decree have said in meetings they’ve seen and continued to experience racial disparities in use of force, cited poor handling of sex crimes and said community engagement remains lacking. 

More about the Minneapolis consent decree

The Minneapolis City Council was in closed session for about seven hours on Monday before taking a unanimous vote in favor of the settlement with the U.S. Justice Department. 

This consent decree has long been in the making: The DOJ launched an investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department in 2021 following the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, and officials announced their findings in 2023. 

This agreement makes Minneapolis the first city to enter an agreement like this at both the state and federal level. Chosen in the last year to oversee the state decree, Effective Law Enforcement for All will serve as the city’s third-party evaluator for both the state and federal agreements. This is the organization that will oversee police department implementation of agreed-upon policies.

Some of the reforms under the decree have already begun to be implemented. For example, MPD launched an Implementation Unit last year tasked with improving data collection and reaching court compliance.

Related

The city of Minneapolis has agreed to make systemic reforms to its police department after a federal investigation sparked by the 2020 murder of George Floyd found a pattern of civil rights violations including unjustified deadly force and discrimination.

The city, its police department and federal officials reached a court-enforceable agreement known as a consent decree, the Justice Department announced this week. The agreement aims to prevent excessive use of force and racially discriminatory policing and to protect the public’s First Amendment rights. An independent monitor will be appointed to assess whether the requirements of the decree are being met and report publicly on the city’s progress.

“Through this consent decree, the City and the Minneapolis Police Department have committed to instituting reforms that will make Minneapolis a model law enforcement agency that respects everyone’s civil and constitutional rights,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

The announcement in Minneapolis comes after the Justice Department reached a similar agreement in Louisville, Kentucky, where the 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor sparked major protests. The Justice Department has been enforcing more than a dozen such agreements over the past four years after Attorney General Merrick Garland reversed a Trump administration policy limiting the use of consent decrees.

Here’s what to know about consent decrees:

What is a consent decree?

The 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act gave the civil rights division of the Justice Department the power to investigate systemic police misconduct. Of nearly 70 investigations conducted between 1994 and 2016, 20 resulted in the creation of court-enforced consent decrees, according to a 2017 report from the Justice Department.

These decrees are legal agreements requiring changes which are overseen by a federal court and an independent monitor. Conducting the investigations, negotiating the agreements and implementing reforms often take years to complete.

The Justice Department is currently enforcing 15 existing agreements and has opened 12 new investigations into law enforcement agencies since Biden’s term began.

The DOJ wants to oversee MPD: What impact does the incoming Trump administration have?

Do consent decrees work?

Consent decrees have been credited with successfully improving some of the country’s 18,000 police departments. In October, the Justice Department and the city of Albuquerque sought to end certain portions of their consent decree after its independent monitor found the city and police department have fully complied with 99% of the consent decree’s terms.

In Ferguson, Missouri, which became an epicenter for police reform after mass protests following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014, there were major changes eight years later. Ferguson monitor Natashia Tidwell reportedly cited significant progress in officer training and community policing. The mostly all-white police department is more racially diverse. Traffic stops are less frequent and systems have been set up to hear resident complaints.

But some officials have criticized the court-enforced plans for being expensive, time-consuming and ineffective. Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, previously told USA TODAY consent decrees can exacerbate tension between police and the communities.

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The union representing Louisville Metro Police officers filed a motion in federal court opposing the city’s recently signed consent decree, which has not yet been approved by U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Beaton and enacted. The River City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 614 argued the 242-page agreement alters working conditions of officers and has the potential to erode the union’s collective bargaining capabilities.

The city of Memphis told the U.S. Department of Justice in a letter last month it will not enter into a consent decree with the government following the completion of its pattern-or-practice investigation into the Memphis Police Department. The investigation was announced months after Tyre Nichols was fatally beaten by officers with the Memphis Police Department’s SCORPION Unit, though the DOJ said it did not start the investigation solely because of that incident.

“We believe there are better ways to reimagine policing that do not slow the process or cost the taxpayers millions of dollars,” the letter read.

What happens next in Minneapolis?

The consent decree in Minneapolis is pending court approval. If enacted, it will require officers to emphasize de-escalation techniques, limit pretextual stops and avoid handcuffing children under the age of 14. The department must also prioritize non-police response to calls involving behavioral health issues, thoroughly investigate complaints and hold officers accountable.

The agreement comes after a 92-page Justice Department report found Minneapolis police used excessive force, unlawfully discriminated against Black and Native American people, violated the rights of people engaged in speech protected by the First Amendment and discriminated against people with behavioral health disabilities.

The investigation was launched nearly a year after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. Floyd’s death sparked in May 2020 sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism.

“Our commitment to securing a federal consent decree has never wavered – it has been a top priority of my administration, and we are ready to act,” said Mayor Jacob Frey.“This agreement reflects what our community has asked for and what we know is necessary: real accountability and meaningful change. I’m grateful to the Department of Justice for their partnership and urgency in helping us finalize this decree, ensuring we didn’t lose this critical opportunity to advance reforms and build on the important work already underway.”

Contributing: Reuters; Bart Jansen, Kelly Puente, and Terry Collins USA TODAY; Lucas Finton, Memphis Commercial Appeal; Josh Wood, Louisville Courier Journal