Police Groups to Push Back on Probes in Talks with Merrick Garland

WASHINGTON—Leaders of the nation’s largest law-enforcement organizations and unions said they would air their concerns directly to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday over the Justice Department’s broad civil-rights probe into the Minneapolis Police Department.

Some police groups are skeptical of sweeping investigations like the one launched Wednesday in Minneapolis, saying they can unfairly force cities to make costly changes that are burdensome to rank-and-file officers.

“We recognize that there needs to be more oversight, there needs to be some reform in place, but we need DOJ to work with us because there has to be buy-in from the line men and women who do this job,” said Dane County, Wis., Sheriff David Mahoney, president of the National Sheriffs’ Association, who planned to remotely attend the meeting.