SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - A federal judge is no longer watching over the Springfield Police Department after four years.

A federal consent decree between the Springfield Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice came to an end on Thursday. That decree was put in place after a 2018 investigation found a pattern of excessive force inside the narcotics bureau.

Superintendent Larry Akers says the end of federal oversight doesn’t mean the end of reform, it means reform has taken hold.

City leaders and community organizations gathered at City Hall this morning to discuss the ruling.

Groups like the Pioneer Valley Project, the NAACP, and Mass Senior Action say the test isn’t what’s written in a policy, it’s what happens when an officer shows up in your neighborhood.

If you live in Springfield, that answer starts now.

“Because policies don’t build trust, people do,” said Sister Melinda Pellerin with Pioneer Valley Project. “Trust grows when people are treated with dignity, fairness, and respect every single day.”

Community groups say they’re not stepping back, they’re pointing to a new public data dashboard that lets anyone track what police are doing in real time. They plan to keep meeting with Akers to make sure the progress made under federal oversight doesn’t slip.

Bishop Talbert Swan, president of the Greater Springfield NAACP says public safety and civil rights are not opposing values and that the progress of the past four years must not be reversed.

The consent decree may be over, but in Springfield, trust between police and the people they serve is still being built.

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