Better ... But DPD Still Not In Full Compliance With Consent Decree

DETROIT (WWJ) - The Detroit Police Department, which remains under federal supervision as a result of a 2003 civil rights lawsuit, is still not in full compliance with terms of the court's consent decree, but has made significant progress.

As WWJ's Pat Sweeting reports, Detroit's police chief, Ralph Godbee gave a progress report on how the department is trying to comply with terms of a court-sanctioned agreement with the Justice Department.

"Going from 29 percent two and a half years ago - to being at 85 percent right now - when you look at how we languished for the first seven years of this process, I am very proud of the leadership of this department," said Godbee.

Losing resources will not be an excuse to not police or follow department policy he added.

Godbee said a 'status conference' with the judge this week will give further guidance toward reaching full compliance goals within the consent decree.

"Obviously, the judge always has the option to look at those types of things if there is no forward momentum. But if you look every quarter since this monitoring team has been in place - the Detroit Police Department has gone forward. We have not taken a step backward in compliance any quarter since this team has been put in place," Godbee said.

The consent decrees which arose out of an investigation that began in 2000 involve how Detroit police officers are trained, use force, and how prisoners are housed.

Although not in full compliance Godbee does not anticipate any penalties for not meeting the July 18th deadline.