Loretta Lynch: ‘You’ve got to hold police accountable’

The federal government has a mandate to hold police officers accountable, outgoing Attorney General Loretta Lynch told the Associated Press in an interview published Saturday.

“You’ve got to hold police accountable, you’ve got to help them hold themselves accountable, and you’ve got to build in community accountability,” she said.

Lynch also noted that relations between local law enforcement and the Justice Department had improved.

The comments came a day after the Justice Department released a scathing report detailing civil rights violations it found Chicago police routinely committed.

{mosads}Lynch, who was sworn in as attorney general in April 2015, presided over a tumultuous period for the Justice Department marked by increased national awareness of police misconduct and criticism of policing practices in black communities.

Under Lynch, the Justice Department became a bulwark against civil rights breaches. The focus of the department is expected to change under Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general. Sessions has suggested that he could amp up the department’s focus on national security and immigration issues.

In the interview, Lynch lamented that Congress was unable to pass legislation to reform criminal sentencing, saying it was her biggest disappointment as attorney general.

“It would have helped people rebuild their lives, it would have unclogged the criminal justice system and allowed us to devote our resources to those people who truly deserve long terms of incarceration,” Lynch told the AP.