Lauren Raysor
Civil Rights Attorney Lauren P. Raysor is speaking out against the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to halt investigations into alleged misconduct by the Mount Vernon Police Department and several others across the country. The announcement, made just one week before the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s death, has sparked concerns that racial injustice in policing will go unchecked.
On May 21, 2025, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon announced that the DOJ will close investigations into police departments in Mount Vernon, NY; Phoenix, AZ; Trenton, NJ; Memphis, TN; Oklahoma City, OK; and the Louisiana State Police. The DOJ also stated it would dismiss lawsuits against the Louisville, KY and Minneapolis, MN police departments with prejudice. Dhillon criticized the prior administration’s findings, claiming they were based on “flawed methodologies and incomplete data,” and argued that local, not federal, entities should oversee police accountability.
However, Attorney Raysor strongly disagrees, pointing to the DOJ’s December 2024 findings under the Biden administration, which revealed:
- Excessive use of force by Mount Vernon officers, including the overuse of tasers and physical strikes, even when suspects were already restrained
- Unlawful strip and body cavity searches, continuing at least through 2023
- Arrests without probable cause
- Racially biased practices in vehicle stops and evidence collection
While the Mount Vernon Police Department has since introduced policy changes and implemented body-worn cameras, Raysor believes those efforts are not enough without sustained federal oversight.
“There should be no reason for the Justice Department to stop investigating police departments that have violated the rights of its citizens, especially those who are Black,” said Raysor. “Five years after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, racial profiling and discrimination are still prevalent among our local police force. Now, people can be arrested by police for no reason, other than the color of their skin.”
Raysor is calling on elected officials, civil rights organizations, and the public to demand the reinstatement of DOJ investigations into departments with documented civil rights violations.
