Failure to discipline misconduct
Failure to discipline established misconduct is the departmental refusal to impose internal consequences on officers whose misconduct has been documented or adjudicated. Concrete forms include closed cases despite sustained complaints, transfers in lieu of discipline, the rehiring by other departments of officers fired for misconduct elsewhere, and contract provisions that delete sustained findings after specified intervals. The publication tracks documented patterns of non-discipline.
2026 Events (10)
Oregon Journalism Project revealed sworn staff statements alleging Oregon Youth Authority covered up physician abuse of youths
Thirteen former Oregon Youth Authority staff filed sworn statements in federal litigation alleging agency leaders knew for years that a MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility physician was sexually abusing incarcerated youths and failed to investigate, discipline, or remove him, Oregon Journalism Project (via Lookout Eugene-Springfield) reported August 19, 2026. Dr. Edward Gary Edwards, the facility's longtime chief medical officer, is accused of abusing youths in his care from approximately 2000 to 2017. One official who led the agency for part of that period, Fariborz Pakseresht, was appointed interim director of the Oregon Health Authority by Gov. Tina Kotek last month despite being a named defendant in the litigation.
Army substantiated misconduct finding against Fort Jackson chaplain after year of opaque handling, still withheld discipline details
On August 14, 2026, the U.S. Army completed a reopened 15-6 investigation substantiating a finding of "counterproductive leadership" against Chaplain Maj. Edward Blackledge, roughly one year after he allegedly told Capt. Tatyana Jordan, a Black subordinate at Fort Jackson's Chaplain School, "I'll need to tie you to a tree and beat you." In the intervening year the Army bypassed an Equal Opportunity investigation in favor of a fact-finding inquiry that came back "unfounded" without ever being disclosed to Jordan, its Inspector General's office declined to get involved, and military police characterized the incident as a "bad joke"; the case was reopened only after Military.com published Jordan's account in April 2026. An Army spokesperson confirmed the investigation was complete and "appropriate action was taken" but would not disclose what discipline, if any, Blackledge received.
ICE referred only one officer for discipline over use of force since Trump took office, Democrats revealed
After a closed-door briefing with ICE officials, Rep. Seth Magaziner disclosed that of 56 excessive force complaints filed against ICE officers since January 2025, 32 were cleared and only one was referred for disciplinary action — with no discipline actually imposed. The revelation came as two fatal ICE shootings within a single week — in Biddeford, Maine, and Houston, Texas — had drawn national scrutiny over the agency's use-of-force practices. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment.
Hegseth reversed the suspension of 8 S.C. National Guard Apache pilots grounded over a July 4 flyover
On July 10, 2026, the suspensions of eight South Carolina Army National Guard Apache pilots — grounded after a low-altitude "Salute from the Shore" flyover of the state's coastline on July 4 — were lifted after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly objected to the discipline and pressed for it to be undone. Hegseth said late on July 9 that officials would "fix this," and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced the reversal the next morning. It was at least the second time Hegseth intervened to cancel discipline arising from an Apache flyover.
WilmerHale review found New York prison guards' use of force rose for a decade while DOCCS substantiated few misconduct complaints
A 277-page outside review by law firm WilmerHale, ordered by Gov. Kathy Hochul after corrections officers killed prisoners Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, found that New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision pepper-spray use rose from 124 deployments a decade earlier to 4,758 by 2024 and that use of force climbed steadily in the years before Brooks' killing. Of nearly 1,200 excessive-force complaints filed by prisoners against guards in 2024, only 40 were substantiated.
Court monitor report finds Maricopa County Sheriff's Office undermined racial-profiling settlement, retaliated against reform commander
A federal court monitor's investigation published June 25, 2026, found that Maricopa County Sheriff's Office leadership under Sheriff Jerry Sheridan violated court-ordered reforms tied to the Melendres v. Arpaio racial profiling settlement. The monitor determined that MCSO command staff pressured the Professional Standards Bureau commander to reopen completed disciplinary cases against deputies and placed him on administrative leave in April 2025 in retaliation when he refused. The violations caused the department's compliance rates to drop sharply — from 95% to 70% on an internal oversight order and from 88% to 68% on an order addressing investigation backlogs.
AP investigation finds ICE detainees dying by suicide at an unprecedented rate
An Associated Press investigation published May 27, 2026 found that at least 10 people have died by suicide in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since January 2025 — a pace far outstripping the growth of the detained population and unprecedented in the agency's two-decade history, against a historical baseline of roughly zero to one such death per year. Seven of the deaths have occurred since October 2025, already the most in any single fiscal year, and suicides now account for nearly a fifth of the 51 deaths in ICE custody over the period. AP's review of ICE data, autopsy reports, coroner's rulings, and police records found facilities repeatedly violated ICE's own detention standards on intake screening, suicide-risk monitoring, mental-health care, and access to materials that could be used for self-harm.
ICE returns agent who killed Renée Good to duty with no discipline as FBI probe stalls
By late April 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had quietly returned agent Jonathan Ross — who fatally shot unarmed Minneapolis mother Renée Good on January 7, 2026 — to active administrative and investigative duty in another state with no disciplinary consequence. ICE's internal-affairs review remains frozen pending a stalled FBI probe, after the DOJ Civil Rights Division under Harmeet Dhillon declined to open a civil-rights investigation into the shooting.
Hegseth lifts Apache crews' suspensions and quashes Army investigation of Kid Rock estate flyby
On March 31, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on his personal X account that the Army aircrews suspended over a March 28 Apache helicopter flyby of singer Kid Rock's Nashville estate would face "No punishment. No investigation," lifting the suspensions and quashing the Army's formal review hours after the service had confirmed it. The reversal came shortly after President Trump commented publicly on the incident, and Hegseth opened his post by thanking Kid Rock.
Police fired 27 shots at unarmed Navy veteran John Jenuwine; he bled out while officers watched
Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies, pursuing an erratic white van, conducted two PIT maneuvers and fired 27 shots at an unarmed driver who did not match the dispatch description. John Andrew Jenuwine, 34, died of blood loss. Officers violated department policy by using deadly force without verbal engagement; the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. Two deputies received 2024 commendations despite the killing.
2025 Events (3)
Border Patrol agent shot Chicago citizen Marimar Martinez five times; DHS's same-day account was contradicted by its own evidence
On October 4, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agent Charles Exum shot Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen and Montessori teaching assistant, five times through her car window in Chicago's Brighton Park after she followed agents' vehicle and honked to warn others of their presence. Hours later DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin publicly said agents had been "rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars" and that Martinez was armed with a "semi-automatic weapon" — claims the next day's criminal complaint, body-camera footage and the agents' own reports did not support. Martinez was charged with assaulting federal officers, the charges were dismissed with prejudice in November 2025, and Exum was placed on paid administrative leave rather than disciplined.
DHS reinstated ICE officer who shoved Ecuadoran woman on video, three days after calling conduct 'unacceptable'
On September 29, 2025, DHS quietly reinstated an ICE officer who had been placed on administrative leave after video captured him shoving an Ecuadoran woman to the ground outside Manhattan's immigration court. The reinstatement came three days after DHS publicly declared the officer's conduct "unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE" and announced a "full investigation," and followed only a "preliminary review." No public statement accompanied the decision; DHS instead deflected follow-up by attacking the character of the detained woman's husband.
FBI Director Patel and Deputy AG Blanche confirmed closure of Homan bribery sting probe, called it 'baseless investigation'
On September 21, 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche jointly confirmed to ABC News that the Department of Justice had closed a federal bribery probe into Tom Homan, the White House's border enforcement czar. The investigation, inherited from the Biden administration, had been predicated on undercover FBI recordings of Homan allegedly accepting $50,000 in cash from agents posing as contractors seeking government contracts. Patel and Blanche publicly labeled the probe a "baseless investigation," stating it had found "no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing."
2022 Events (1)
Border Patrol agent shot unarmed teen in Calexico eight times after two prior disciplined civilian shootings
On July 11, 2022, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Marcos Javier Andrade fired eight shots at 19-year-old Anthony Flores during an attempted traffic stop in Calexico, California, striking the unarmed driver in the neck, hip, shoulder, and hand. Flores, who was not engaged in any smuggling activity, survived with permanent disabilities and lasting psychological trauma. Federal prosecutors later revealed Andrade had previously been disciplined twice — in 2012 and 2017 — for firing his weapon at civilians, yet remained on active duty through the date of the 2022 shooting and for nearly four years after it.
2018 Events (1)
Connecticut prison officers struck and pepper-sprayed inmate J'Allen Jones, who died; medical examiner ruled the death a homicide
On March 25, 2018, correctional officers at Connecticut's Garner Correctional Institution struck, hooded, and pepper-sprayed J'Allen Jones, a 31-year-old incarcerated man in a schizophrenic crisis, who then lost consciousness and died. The state medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, but a Department of Correction internal review found no use-of-force violation and imposed one-day suspensions on the officers and a nurse. The department fought for years to keep video of the death sealed, until a judge ordered its public release in 2026.