DOJ ends oversight of Suffolk police, finds it complies with 2014 agreement to provide bias-free policing

The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday it is terminating its oversight of the Suffolk County Police Department, saying the agency has achieved substantial compliance with a 2014 agreement to halt discriminatory policing.

The Justice Department said in an 11-page report it was ending its monitoring because Suffolk police have maintained "substantial compliance" in three areas: bias-free policing, language assistance and community engagement.

The Justice Department stopped monitoring other key provisions of the settlement in May 2024 after it found the county had made significant changes, 10 years after federal oversight first began, in how it investigates and tracks hate crimes and how it accepts complaints alleging officer bias from the public.

"The Suffolk County Police Department is to be commended for taking the necessary steps to achieve the objectives of the 2014 agreement with the Department of Justice and our office," said Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District. "Policing in Suffolk County has been enhanced and become more responsive to community needs."

The settlement agreement was the result of a federal investigation into Suffolk’s relationship with the county’s Latino community that was sparked in part by the 2008 murder of Marcelo Lucero, an immigrant from Ecuador, by a group of teenagers in Patchogue. Advocates said Suffolk police had harassed Latinos and ignored reports of assaults and other crimes against the Latino community.

Civil rights attorney Andrew Case, senior counsel for LatinoJustice, a civil rights organization, called the DOJ announcement "a political move," and that the Trump administration’s Justice Department is moving to end federal oversight agreements or investigations in Minneapolis, Phoenix, Louisville, Kentucky and other cities.

He said the Justice Department’s 2024 announcement that it was terminating oversight of some areas indicated there was additional work to be done by Suffolk police.

"All of a sudden, those continuing problems disappeared," Case said.

In 2023, Suffolk reached a settlement in the 2015 lawsuit filed by LatinoJustice accusing its police department of widespread discrimination against Latinos, a deal that calls for the county to codify elements of the police reform plan adopted by lawmakers in 2021.

Suffolk officials eventually entered an agreement to reform police policies with the DOJ in 2014. Federal monitoring was supposed to last three years, but it continued because the police department failed to make the necessary reforms.

In a statement, Suffolk officials vowed the department would work to continue complying with laws and policies.

"During the past decade, SCPD has worked with the Department of Justice to implement policies, training and community programs that demonstrate excellence beyond compliance,"  Suffolk Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said. "We are confident the improvements we developed have prepared the department for the future of policing, and we will remain data-driven and transparent as we are today."

The county lauded those in uniform.

"The men and women of the Suffolk County PD work every day to keep every community safe," Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine said in a statement to Newsday. "This announcement by the DOJ only serves to support the professionalism of the department, the leadership and the rank-and-file officers."

Lou Civello, president of the Suffolk Police Benevolent Association, said the department was bullied into the settlement agreement, diverting resources and tax dollars "that could have gone to a better use."

"We are pleased this oversight is completed but we believe this was overreach by the federal government," Civello said.

The department is one of the largest in the country, with about 2,400 uniformed officers.

The DOJ commended Suffolk police for improving traffic stop data and said supervisors appear to be conducting quality-assurance checks on officers to ensure the accuracy of the data. It cited a report by Stonewall Analytics, which analyzed almost 160,000 traffic stops by Suffolk officers in 2023 and determined there is no evidence of racial bias in traffic stops made during the day when compared with night, when it is more difficult for officers to discern a motorist’s race.

Community advocates were skeptical of the Stonewall Analytics report, saying its conclusions were based on inadequate research and whitewashed discriminatory policing policies. The Stonewall report noted 19% of motorists stopped in 2023 were Black, even though they represented 9.6% of the county’s population. Suffolk’s Hispanics — making up 23.1% of Suffolk’s 2023 population — represented 27.9% of those stopped. Non-Hispanic whites made up 62.7% of the county’s population and 45.4% of traffic stops.

The DOJ report said police officials are reviewing body-camera video from calls from residents not proficient in English, which will allow the department to monitor compliance with language-access policies. It also said almost all forms are now readily available on the department’s website in Spanish. The department has also made key forms available in Chinese, Haitian Creole, Italian and other languages.

"Considering these results, we find SCPD is in substantial compliance with the requirements in the Agreement to provide Spanish-language access on the website," the DOJ said. "It has maintained its compliance in this area for approximately a year."