Sessions Orders Review of All Police Reform Agreements

Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a review Monday of all police reform agreements and investigations initiated by the Justice Department, part of an effort to cut back on federal oversight of local law enforcement.

The directive, issued in a two-page memorandum , effectively opens a re-examination of an aggressive effort by the Obama administration to force local police to change many policies, USA Today reports.

Under President Obama, the Justice Department opened investigations into more than two dozen police agencies and secured court-enforceable agreements in more than a dozen cases to force changes in local law enforcement policy.

"Local control and local accountability are necessary for effective policing,'' the Sessions memo stated. "It is not the responsibility of the federal government to manage non-federal law enforcement agencies.''