Justice Department resolves complaint from Delaware State

The Justice Department has resolved a complaint from Delaware State University about an incident involving a busload of Delaware State students and  the police department of Liberty County, Georgia, Delaware Public Media reported.

Delaware State filed a complaint with the Justice Department. The complaint said that the bus was stopped for an alleged traffic violation, and then all of the luggage was searched for drugs (no drugs were found). Several videos were made of the incident. Delaware State is a historically Black institution, and the police officers in the search were white. The Georgia police deny wrongdoing. The students were women’s lacrosse players returning from a game.

The agreement between the Department of Justice and the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office calls for Liberty to review its policies, modernize its policing operations and produce more efforts to prevent and address discriminatory law enforcement practices. The agreement did not find discrimination as alleged by Delaware State.

In a statement, Delaware State says it continues to stand with its players, adding that it disagrees with the outcome of Liberty’s internal investigation, which concluded that its officers acted consistent with the law. Delaware State hopes the Justice Department monitors Liberty’s compliance with the agreement and reopens its investigation if it fails to meet its obligation