On 21 October 1999, the Civil Rights Division on the US Department of Justice found that "CPD officers are engaged in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, making false arrests and lodging false charges, and conducting improper searches and seizures in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution." An effort to have the Division sign a Consent Decree failed. Since that time many of the DOJ mandates have been implemented through policy changes and additional training.