What Is Police Reform
Police reform is any change to the rules, oversight, or tools that shape how police use their power, from limits on force to body cameras, crisis responders, and federal court orders. Most of it happens city by city and state by state, because local departments and state laws set most policing rules. The federal government’s main tool is investigating a department and asking a judge to enforce the fixes.
Some reforms have strong evidence behind them, and some have little. The strongest results come from changing who answers certain calls.
Key facts
- Police fatally shot 1,175 people in 2024, up from 995 in 2015 (Washington Post data).
- In a trial with 2,224 D.C. officers, body cameras had very small, statistically insignificant effects on use of force (PNAS).
- Sending health workers to some Denver calls cut reports of less serious crimes by 34% (Science Advances).
- In May 2025, the Justice Department dropped its cases against the Minneapolis and Louisville police (NPR).
- The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act has 136 House cosponsors and no action since September 2025 (govinfo).
The phrase covers a wide range of ideas, from retraining officers to shifting some duties away from police entirely. This page sorts the most common reforms by what studies have measured, then tracks where the federal and state fights stand.
The Minneapolis Record
The clearest record of why reforms get proposed is the Justice Department’s investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department, opened on April 21, 2021, one day after a jury convicted Derek Chauvin of murdering George Floyd. Investigators found that officers used neck restraints in at least 198 encounters from January 2016 to August 2022, and made no arrest in 44 of them (DOJ findings, June 16, 2023).
One case in the report shows how the failures stacked up. In September 2017, officers answered a mother’s call about her teenage children. According to the findings, officer Derek Chauvin struck a Black 14-year-old in the head with a flashlight, pinned him to a wall by his throat, and knelt on his neck or back for more than 15 minutes while the mother pleaded, “Please do not kill my son … He’s only fourteen!” At least two more officers arrived, found Chauvin kneeling on the teen, and did not intervene. Because of “poor supervision and a failed force investigation,” the department’s command did not learn what happened until three years later, after Chauvin killed Floyd. The city later agreed to settle the teen’s lawsuit for $7.5 million.
Neck restraints nearly stopped after Minneapolis banned them in June 2020. The department went from an average of about 46 encounters a year in 2016 through 2019 to one in 2021.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 52 |
| 2017 | 41 |
| 2018 | 40 |
| 2019 | 49 |
| 2020 | 15 |
| 2021 | 1 |
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Investigation of the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department (June 16, 2023). The ban took effect June 9, 2020.
The ban worked on what it targeted, but the same report found that it “met considerable resistance.” Officers told investigators it was “knee jerk” and “politically driven,” and one warned that “if you can’t touch the head or neck, the result is you punch ‘em.” The department did not train officers in other tactics until the year after the ban.
What the Evidence Shows, Reform by Reform
The evidence is uneven. Crisis responders and some reporting rules have measured effects, while body cameras have mixed results. Federal investigations helped in some cities and backfired in others.
Common police reforms and what studies have measured
Source: Dee and Pyne, Science Advances (2022); Jennings and Rubado, Public Administration Review (2017); Yokum and others, PNAS (2019); Williams and others, NBER (2021); DOJ Minneapolis findings (2023); Brennan Center (2021); Devi and Fryer, NBER (2020)
The Denver result is among the strongest because the study was preregistered and used a quasi-experimental design. The researchers found that health responders were less likely to report the people they helped as offenders, and that the program also reduced crime during hours it was not running (Dee and Pyne).
The body camera evidence depends on where you look. The D.C. trial randomly assigned cameras to 2,224 officers and found “very small and statistically insignificant effects on police use of force and civilian complaints” (PNAS). A review that added more recent, larger studies found cameras “may affect a number of policing outcomes,” particularly use of force, and estimated that their benefits are worth about five times their cost (NBER).
How a Consent Decree Works
A consent decree is a court-enforced agreement between the Justice Department and a city to fix a pattern of unconstitutional policing. The authority comes from a 1994 federal law that makes it unlawful for a police agency to “engage in a pattern or practice of conduct” that deprives people of their constitutional rights, and lets the Attorney General sue to stop it (34 U.S.C. 12601). Most of those rights come from the Fourth Amendment’s limits on stops, searches, and force, explained in our 4th Amendment explainer.
How a federal consent decree works, using the Minneapolis dates
- April 2021 Investigation opens The Justice Department reviews force records, body camera video, and complaints, and interviews officers and residents.
- June 2023 Findings report Investigators publish their finding of reasonable cause to believe the department has a pattern of violations.
- January 2025 Agreement approved by the city The city council and mayor approve the negotiated terms, from new force policies to training and data systems.
- Next step A judge signs it A federal judge must approve the decree before it takes effect, and an independent monitor reports on progress.
- Until the terms are met Compliance and exit The court ends the decree once the department shows it has met the terms. In Minneapolis, the Justice Department withdrew before a judge approved it.
Source: 34 U.S.C. 12601; City of Minneapolis, consent decree updates (2025).
A department can still reform without a federal decree. After a federal judge granted the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the Minneapolis decree in May 2025, the city’s mayor signed an order on June 10, 2025 requiring city leaders to carry out the decree’s reforms anyway. A separate settlement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, enforceable in state court, remains in force with an independent monitor (City of Minneapolis).
Deaths in Police Shootings Since 2015
Fatal police shootings rose 18% from 2015 to 2024, from 995 to 1,175 a year, by the Washington Post’s count. The Post’s published data runs through the end of 2024.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 995 |
| 2016 | 959 |
| 2017 | 984 |
| 2018 | 992 |
| 2019 | 993 |
| 2020 | 1021 |
| 2021 | 1050 |
| 2022 | 1097 |
| 2023 | 1164 |
| 2024 | 1175 |
Source: The Washington Post, Fatal Force database (v2), counted by year from the Post's published data through December 31, 2024. Counts cover shootings only, not deaths from other force.
The count covers shootings, not every death after police contact, so reforms aimed at restraints or crisis calls would not show up fully here. In 2024, the Post’s data flagged 175 of the 1,175 shootings, about 15%, as related to mental illness, which is the group that crisis-response programs are built to reach.
Where the Fights Stand
Federal oversight of local police has mostly ended since January 2025. The fights now are in Congress, which has not acted, and in states and cities, which set most policing rules.
Where Federal and State Police Reform Stands
As of September 26, 2026
- Biden policing order (EO 14074) Ended
Revoked on January 20, 2025, by Executive Order 14148. It had set use-of-force and body camera rules for federal agents. (source)
- Review of police consent decrees (EO 14288) Agency action
Signed April 28, 2025. Told the Attorney General to "modify, rescind, or move to conclude" decrees that "unduly impede" policing. (source)
- Minneapolis federal consent decree Ended, state agreement remains
A federal judge granted the Justice Department's motion to dismiss in May 2025. The city ordered the reforms carried out anyway on June 10, 2025. (source)
- Louisville consent decree Ended, city monitor instead
Judge Benjamin Beaton dismissed the case with prejudice on December 31, 2025, so a later administration cannot revive it. The city runs its own "Community Commitment" reforms with an independent monitor. (source)
- Six other federal investigations Ended
Dropped on May 21, 2025, including Memphis and Phoenix, according to NPR. (source)
- George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (H.R. 5361) Proposal
Introduced September 15, 2025, with 136 cosponsors, all Democrats. No committee action. An earlier version passed the House 220-212 in 2021 and stalled in the Senate. (source)
- State chokehold and duty-to-intervene laws Law
In the year after Floyd's murder, 9 states and D.C. banned neck restraints, 8 more restricted them, and 12 states and D.C. created a duty to intervene. (source)
Source: Federal Register; City of Minneapolis; NPR; Louisville Public Media; govinfo; Brennan Center
The state counts come from the Brennan Center’s review of laws passed from May 2020 to May 2021. Many more states have acted since, so check your own state’s law.
If You Need to Act
What to do, by situation
Open the one closest to yours. This is general information, not legal advice.
I want to report an officer's misconduct
- File a complaint with the department's internal affairs unit, and with your city's civilian review board if it has one. Keep a copy and the date.
- Write down the officer's name or badge number, the time, the place, and any witnesses while you still remember.
- For a civil rights violation, you can also report it to the U.S. Justice Department at civilrights.justice.gov.
Most states can revoke an officer's certification for misconduct, and a written complaint is often what starts that review.
I was hurt by police and want to sue
- Get medical care first, and keep every record and photo.
- Talk to a civil rights lawyer soon. Deadlines to sue can be short.
- Read our qualified immunity guide, which explains the main defense officers raise in court.
Federal civil rights lawsuits against officers run into qualified immunity, which ends many cases before trial.
My city is debating a police reform
- Ask what evidence supports the proposal, and whether the city will track results after it starts.
- Speak at the council meeting or submit a written comment before the vote.
- Ask whether the city has considered a crisis-response program for mental health calls.
Denver's crisis-response pilot is one of the few reforms with a published, preregistered evaluation showing results.
I want to record police
- Record from a safe distance and do not interfere with officers' work.
- Our guide to your rights at protests covers recording and what to do if you are stopped.
Most federal appeals courts have recognized a First Amendment right to record police in public.
The Honest Disagreement
The case for reform and federal oversight rests on records like the Minneapolis findings, which described excessive force, discrimination against Black and Native American residents, and failures of supervision, and on evidence that some changes work. Supporters point to Denver’s crisis responders and to the national finding that a simple reporting rule for pointed guns tracks with fewer police shootings. They argue that without federal pressure, departments like Minneapolis’s let problems run for years.
The case against rests on public safety and local control. The April 2025 executive order says that when “local leaders demonize law enforcement and impose legal and political handcuffs,” crime rises, and it directs federal support toward “tough and well-equipped” police (EO 14288). The strongest research on this side comes from economists Tanaya Devi and Roland Fryer, who found that federal investigations launched after viral incidents were followed by sharp drops in police activity and, by their estimate, almost 900 extra homicides (NBER).
The two sides agree more than their rhetoric suggests. The same Devi and Fryer study found that investigations not triggered by viral incidents reduced crime. The dispute is less about whether oversight can work and more about how to change police behavior without officers pulling back from their jobs.
What the Evidence Leaves Out
- Many common reforms have few rigorous studies. Civilian review boards, new training, and hiring standards are widely adopted. We left them out of the evidence table because we did not find a published evaluation strong enough to report.
- A result in one city may not travel. The D.C. camera trial and the Denver pilot each measured one place. The researchers of both say so.
- Police shootings are one measure among many. They do not capture deaths from restraints, stops that end without force, or how residents feel about their police.
- Police in schools are a separate question. National studies find that adding officers to schools raises suspensions and arrests, which our school-to-prison pipeline explainer covers.
- Misconduct can reach a death sentence. Official misconduct by police or prosecutors appears in most death-row exonerations, which our death penalty explainer counts by cause.
- Money shapes what police do. In most states, police and prosecutors keep some or all of the property they take through civil forfeiture, often without charging the owner. Our civil asset forfeiture explainer grades each state’s law.
- Reform can mean less policing or better policing. Crisis-response programs shift work away from officers, while most other reforms change how officers do the job, so people who support one may oppose the other.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does police reform mean?
It means changing the rules, oversight, or tools that govern how police use their power. Examples include limits on force, body cameras, sending health workers to some calls, and federal court orders that require a department to fix unconstitutional practices.
What are some examples of police reform in the United States?
After 2020, many states banned chokeholds and required officers to intervene when a colleague uses excessive force. Cities including Denver started sending health workers to some mental health calls. The Justice Department also sought court-enforced consent decrees, including in Minneapolis and Louisville, before dropping both in 2025.
When was the last federal police reform?
The federal power to sue police departments over patterns of unconstitutional conduct comes from a 1994 law. The most recent broad reform bill, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, passed the House in 2021 but not the Senate. President Biden’s 2022 policing order was revoked in January 2025.
What would happen if we abolished the police?
No large U.S. city has abolished its police department, so there is no direct evidence. The closest tests are programs that move some calls away from police. Denver’s program sent health workers to certain calls and saw fewer reports of less serious crimes, with no measured rise in serious crime.
What You Can Do
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Find out who answers mental health calls where you live. Ask your city council whether it has a crisis-response program like Denver’s, and whether it tracks the results.
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Ask your police department for its use-of-force policy. Check whether it bans neck restraints, requires officers to intervene, and requires a report when an officer points a gun.
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Report misconduct in writing. File with the department and, for civil rights violations, with the Justice Department at civilrights.justice.gov.
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Ask Congress to pass national standards. The letter below asks your representative to cosponsor the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.