Washington (WUSA9) — There's a D.C. non-profit raising red flags. The group says Attorney General Jeff Sessions is undermining relationships between police forces and communities.
At the heart of it, this non-profit, non-partisan group believes everyone’s safety is at risk if the current path continues.
Ferguson was mentioned during the interview.
During the summer of 2014, police-community relations flared in Ferguson, Missouri pushing Police Use of Force into national headlines. The riots happened under the Obama Administration but Myesha Braden with The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, believes under the Trump Administration “trust and the legitimacy of policing is being undermined."
How? She accused Attorney General Jeff Sessions of essentially getting rid of Department of Justice programs police officers could go to with questions around civil rights. One is called Collaborative Reform.
Sessions announced changes to the program to "fulfill my commitment to respect local control."
Braden doesn't buy it.
"Experts at the Department of Justice were responsible for working with police organizations through the collaborative reform process,” she said.
Braden also pointed to 'Consent Decree' – a tool to reform departments accused of police misconduct. According to Braden, the Trump Administration has not issued any.
"That they claim to support police without supporting that principal is no more than lip service,” she said adding of police departments. “They're kind of on their own and you also signal to the public that it doesn't matter that people are being shot by police …"
Not all departments operate the same. One thing Braden did say is for citizens get involved, get to know their leaders behind the badge and build trust.
The group pursues legal action where civil rights are being violated. In December, the group announced victory in a case against the Orleans Parish Criminal System, a group they say, "criminalized poverty."
