There's no gilding the lily when Justice comes to town

Warren city officials are trying to put as happy a face as possible on the recent interest by the U.S. Department of Justice in the operation of the city police department.
Doug Franklin, the city's safety-service director, said the city welcomes a Justice Department review, and sees it as "an opportunity to get better." Law Director Greg Hicks said his message for the Justice Department was, "Come on down, we're happy to have you."
And that was after the city learned that the special litigation section of the civil rights division at the Department of Justice is not in the business of engaging in casual conversation with police departments. Its mandate is to enforce civil rights laws in cases of law enforcement misconduct.
A day earlier, city officials were characterizing Department of Justice interaction as a "partnership" designed to help the city improve its practices.
Partnership implies an equality that does not exist between the Department of Justice and the Warren Police Department.
One-sided deal
The Department of Justice holds all the cards. It wasn't asked by the city to join a partnership and it will not withdraw until it is satisfied that its goals have been met. The agenda will be set by the Department of Justice and the city will deviate from that agenda at its peril.
And that is as it should be. Warren Police Chief John Mandopoulos and his department did not come to the attention of the Department of Justice by accident. This is a department that has developed a habit of attracting attention.
From the chief famously mugging for a surveillance camera while his sidekick used a racial slur, to officers who conducted illegal cavity searches on suspects, or confiscated drivers licenses from motorists without justification or were caught on videotape manhandling citizens, this was a department that seemed to crave attention.
It got the attention of the local and national Urban Leagues, a ministerial association, plaintiff's lawyers who filed a slew of lawsuits and an insurance company that increased the city's deductible from $25,000 per case to $250,000. It even attracted the attention of the wife of a city police officer who said she was treated rudely when three policemen noticed that she was watching them while they subdued a young man suspected of throwing eggs at a police cruiser.
We would agree with city officials that Department of Justice attention has the potential of resulting in an improved police department. But there should be no question about who is the boss.