Springfield Police Alter Procedures After Federal Investigation

From the Associated Press; September 24, 2020:

The Springfield Police Department announced an overhaul of its narcotics unit and other policy changes two months after a federal investigation found its officers routinely used excessive force without consequences.

The department re-staffed its narcotics unit, outfitted more than half its officers with body cameras, and changed how it asks officers to report injuries that happen during arrests, the Springfield Republican reported.

Springfield officers started training on body cameras before the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice released the results of an investigation into the narcotics unit in July.

The investigation found the plainclothes officers who arrest drug suspects “engage in a pattern or practice of excessive force” in violation of the Constitution without accountability. Officers regularly struck people in the head when making arrests even when they did not pose a threat, the report found.”

Springfield citizens may be breathing a sigh of relief, but are probably wondering just how much was paid to settle civil suits from the police brutality which triggered Federal intervention.