The Hill Op-ed: When federal oversight fails, police decertification must lead the way

With the passing anniversaries of the tragic deaths of Breonna Taylor — a beloved family member to one of us — George Floyd, Tyre Nichols and countless others who died during encounters with police, cities such as Louisville, Kentucky, Memphis, Tennessee and Minneapolis find themselves at a crossroads. 

As federal consent decrees are stalled, weakened or abandoned altogether, communities across the country are confronting an urgent question: What comes next for police accountability when Washington cannot be relied upon to intervene?

The answer is not to give up. The answer is to move accountability closer to the people most impacted by police misconduct.

For decades, communities have looked to the U.S. Department of Justice to step in after catastrophic failures in policing. But federal oversight has always been politically fragile. One presidential administration may aggressively pursue change while the next abandons it. That instability leaves families, communities and local governments trapped in recurring cycles of misconduct, public outrage and incomplete change.

Louisville illustrates this challenge.

Following the killing of Taylor and the Justice Department’s findings detailing patterns of unconstitutional policing within the Louisville Metro Police Department, city leaders repeatedly pointed to federal oversight as the primary vehicle for reform. Yet as meaningful federal intervention becomes increasingly uncertain, Louisville’s response has remained dependent upon internal reforms that historically have failed to produce lasting accountability.

Meanwhile, residents continue to witness police-involved shootings, allegations of excessive force and persistent community distrust. These incidents demonstrate that accountability cannot exist solely through public statements, symbolic commitments or one-off policy changes. Accountability must exist within enforceable systems capable of removing dangerous officers from positions of authority before additional harm occurs.

This is where police decertification becomes critical. Decertification is one of the strongest accountability tools available because it targets what officers value most: their ability to continue serving as police officers.

An officer who is suspended can return to work. An officer fired from one department can often seek employment elsewhere. But an officer who is decertified loses the legal authority to serve as a law enforcement officer within that state.

Unlike federal consent decrees, decertification is governed through state law and administered by state peace officer standards and training or POST commissions. These systems remain available, regardless of changing federal priorities.

For Louisville, that means ensuring serious misconduct cases are referred to the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council, publicly tracking decertification proceedings and outcomes and ensuring officers who engage in serious misconduct are not simply allowed to resign or move quietly to another agency.

Without these structural accountability mechanisms, Louisville risks recreating the very conditions that led to national outrage, federal scrutiny and widespread demands for change.

Across the country, states have increasingly recognized the importance of decertification. According to “License Revoked: State Police Decertification Laws National Report Card,” which was written by one of us, states are expanding the authority of POST commissions to permanently remove officers whose conduct demonstrates they should no longer serve in law enforcement.

Perhaps most importantly, civilians are not powerless in this process.

In Tennessee, residents can file complaints with the Tennessee POST Commission to trigger investigations into officer misconduct and potential decertification proceedings. Similarly, in Minnesota, community members can submit complaints directly to the Minnesota POST Board to initiate the decertification proceedings.

Kentucky law is more limited as it does not expressly allow civilians to initiate decertification proceedings. Instead, the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council can review civilian complaints and evidence of misconduct to pursue decertification but also has discretion to take no action.

These distinctions matter because community members, civilian oversight authorities and journalists often learn of serious misconduct before police leaders act, if they act at all. 

The future of police accountability cannot depend predominantly on whether federal officials choose to intervene. Communities need accountability systems that remain operational regardless of the federal administration. That means ensuring problematic officers are reported to POST commissions, strengthening civilian oversight and expanding public awareness of decertification for accountability.

Federal consent decrees may disappear. Federal administrations may change. But state law, civilian oversight mechanisms and community-driven accountability systems remain available as tools for protecting the public and restoring trust.

Louisville, Minneapolis, Memphis and other communities affected by police misconduct now face a defining moment. They can continue reacting to tragedy after tragedy, or they can become national models for accountability rooted in civilian oversight, decertification, and meaningful change.

Accordingly, Kentucky should strengthen and expand its police decertification law to ensure that officers who engage in serious misconduct cannot simply move from one department to another, helping prevent future tragedies and restoring public trust. Kentucky should also change state law to require the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council to review complaints from civilians and civilian oversight authorities and initiate the decertification process, like in Minnesota and Tennessee.

Likewise, Louisville must strengthen independent civilian oversight and fully utilize Kentucky’s decertification framework as a permanent accountability mechanism.

Community members have already demonstrated their commitment to change. The question now is whether state and local leaders are willing to match it.

This work cannot wait for Washington.

Bianca Austin is cofounder and executive director of Families United and the aunt of Breonna Taylor. Carlton T. Mayers II is founder, owner and CEO of Mayers Strategic Solutions, and former policy counsel for the policing reform campaign at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He also directed the NAACP national office’s criminal justice reform program and is the author of the State Police Decertification Laws National Report Card.

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