By David Ashenfelter
Detroit Free Press
DETROIT - A court-appointed federal monitor has given the Detroit Police Department high marks in its eight-year quest to reform the force.
The monitor said the department has complied with 78% of the reforms that it agreed to carry out in 2003 to curb excessive force, mistreatment of prisoners in police lockups and illegal arrests of potential witnesses at homicide scenes. The monitor’s report in June said the department was at 72% compliance.
“There is positive momentum that, if sustained, will be a major turning point in this long process toward reform,” monitor Robert Warshaw, a former police executive from North Carolina, said in a 250-page quarterly report filed Monday with U.S. District Court in Detroit.