Seattle police have demonstrated "sustained compliance" with a federal consent decree put in place more than 13 years ago in response to the department's allegedly unconstitutional use of force, a Washington federal judge has ruled, returning full control of the department to city leaders.

U.S. District Judge James L. Robart agreed Wednesday to terminate the 2012 consent decree between Seattle and the U.S. Department of Justice, ruling that the city has met all requirements of the court-approved agreement, which also focused on crisis intervention, department accountability and police stops and detentions.

Most recently the Seattle Police Department revised its policies around crowd management, changes Judge Robart approved in a separate order Wednesday. That satisfied the consent decree's final remaining requirement, which was added in 2023 after violent police responses to protests in the city in 2020.

Seattle's effort to lift the consent decree was unopposed by the DOJ and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington, which together told the court in July that "the United States has confidence that the city and SPD are prepared to meet future challenges and provide effective and constitutional policing to the people of Seattle."

While critics maintain the department is in need of further reforms, especially around community accountability, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell told Judge Robart at a hearing Wednesday that SPD has significantly reduced its use of force since the consent decree was put in place and created "one of the strongest and most robust accountability systems in the country."

"This is a different department than it was in 2012, it's a different department than it was in 2020, and I know it will be a different department in the years to come as we strive for continuous improvement," the mayor said, adding that "reform and continuous improvement are built into the Seattle Police Department's DNA."

Since entering the consent decree, SPD has standardized the use of body cameras and provided more public data around police stops, incidents involving force and reports of crime, Seattle said in an announcement Wednesday. The department has also stepped up training and begun dispatching mental health professionals alongside officers when responding to individuals in crisis, the city said.

Teal Luthy Miller, the acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in a statement that the department "has worked over many years to develop and implement policies and procedures that have transformed the department into an example for other police forces."

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division congratulated the police department on the reforms.

"We are proud," she said, "to stand by the men and women of the Seattle Police Department as federal oversight ends and the court returns full control of local law enforcement to the city."

Terminating federal oversight also had support from the Seattle Community Police Commission, a group established under the 2012 consent decree to provide community input on police reforms. In a July amicus brief in the case, the group recognized that "substantial process has been achieved under the consent decree" while arguing that further reforms are needed.

"Much work remains to be done to ensure that the Seattle Police Department provides fully accountable, nondiscriminatory policing and eliminates any pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing," the group said. But it added that it "does not believe that federal oversight under the consent decree is likely to lead to substantial further progress on police reform."

Further changes — such as public reporting of office discipline and other accountability measures — are matters subject to collective bargaining between the city and the Seattle Police Officers Guild, the Community Police Commission acknowledged. Judge Robart has previously said the court is "restrained" from influencing collective bargaining.

"With federal oversight ending, authority returns to the people of Seattle," co-chairs of the Community Police Commission said in a statement Wednesday, "and we remain committed to ensuring that community voices shape the future of public safety in our city."

The Seattle Police Officers Guild, meanwhile, said it "emphatically" welcomed the consent decree's termination, describing federal oversight as "weaponized financial grift" that ultimately took a toll on public safety.

"With the consent decree's overly burdensome policy restrictions put onto Seattle's police officers, these policies have had a detrimental impact on Seattle's public safety," President Mike Solan said in a statement, claiming that Seattle's combined violent and property crime make it "the 4th most dangerous city in the U.S."

According to the 2011 DOJ investigation that led to the consent decree, Seattle police used excessive force in nearly 20% of civilian encounters that involved force, Judge Robart noted at Wednesday's hearing, often against people who were disabled, intoxicated or in crisis.

The DOJ investigation was sparked by a police officer's lethal shooting of John T. Williams, a Native American artist who was carrying wood and a closed pocketknife. Judge Robart said at the hearing that he wished Williams "could realize the significance of what his death has created."

Representatives for parties in the case declined to comment further on Thursday.

Seattle is represented by Kerala Cowart and Jessica Leiser of the Seattle City Attorney's Office.

The government is represented by Matt Waldrop and Annalisa Cravens of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington and Jeffrey R. Murray of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

Amicus curiae Seattle Community Police Commission is represented by Daniel J. Shih, Edgar G. Sargent, Floyd G. Short, Drew D. Hansen, Jordan Connors and Katherine M. Peaslee of Susman Godfrey LLP.

The case is U.S. v. City of Seattle, case number 2:12-cv-01282, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

--Editing by Linda Voorhis.