The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a report in 2025 stating that police departments in Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis continued behaviors that had previously drawn federal scrutiny. The report followed the Justice Department's decision to drop its oversight of these departments in 2025.

The ACLU reviewed hundreds of police use-of-force reports in four communities where the Justice Department had previously identified unconstitutional policing. The records reviewed primarily span from late 2024 to early 2025. The Justice Department had argued that reform efforts in Louisville and Minneapolis were "factually unjustified" when it dropped the cases in 2025.

ACLU investigators reported that agencies continued to misuse Tasers and failed to properly review officers' use of force. The report states that officers used excessive force against individuals experiencing mental health crises and escalated encounters by pointing guns at them. In one instance detailed in the report, Minneapolis police repeatedly shocked a man with a Taser after he had complied with their orders. In Louisville, an officer broke a man's car window during a mental health call while a second officer pointed his gun, according to the ACLU. The man brandished a knife after being pulled from the car, and officers then struck him with a baton and shocked him seven times.

The report also states that officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department used excessive force, including striking people in their face, head, or body while they were handcuffed. The department also failed to adequately review incidents of force and mischaracterized facts during those reviews to make force appear more reasonable, according to the ACLU report. The Minneapolis Police Department's records similarly showed evidence of excessive force, improper use of Tasers, and poor reviews of use of force.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson dismissed the ACLU's findings as "partisan talking points." Jackson stated the ACLU "suffers from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome" and added that "President Trump is a champion for our great law enforcement officers and has encouraged them to arrest criminals and enforce the law — unlike the Biden Administration."

Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, Deputy Project Director on Policing at the ACLU, stated, "We did this project because we feared the Department of Justice was abandoning communities that needed help to ensure that reforms were made in their communities, and our analysis of the records unfortunately proves that to have happened." Borchetta added, "That the problems are still persisting in the same way is suggesting to me that the police departments are not doing enough to improve that conduct."

Louisville and Minneapolis have since adopted local versions of the reform agreements they had signed with the Justice Department. Local leaders in both cities have pledged to institute changes overseen by independent monitors.