Policing The Police: U.S. Steps Up Enforcement : NPR: The U.S. Justice Department is stepping up its scrutiny of troubled police departments. Federal civil rights lawyers are investigating 15 departments from Arizona to New Jersey, asking whether officers are discriminating against minorities or using too much force.When it comes to federal oversight of local police, there's only one place to start: the brutal attack on Rodney King. A Los Angeles police chief admitted King had been hit with batons more than 50 times, kicked at least seven times and shocked with a stun gun.
That brutal attack caught on videotape by a witness prompted Congress to give the Justice Department the power to investigate patterns of discrimination by local cops.
