Nearly seven years to the day since the Baltimore Police Department first entered federal oversight, it has cleared two major hurdles in exiting it: coming into compliance with two sections of its lengthy agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Police Department has been deemed to have reached “full and effective compliance” to two provisions of its federal consent decree relating to the transportation of people in custody and officer assistance and support, according to a Tuesday court filing. The city and its police department must maintain its compliance for another full year before the sections are terminated from the agreement.

The news was tucked away in a court filing as the city sent out an alert of a press conference on Wednesday morning featuring Police Commissioner Richard Worley, Mayor Brandon Scott, the city’s top attorney, Ebony Thompson, and others.

The development is a significant milestone for the Police Department, which has undergone an array of policy changes, training, and other reforms that have largely remade the agency since it first began working toward compliance on its decree.

But there are still more than a dozen “key provisions” left, including some areas where the department is lagging behind, such as the section requiring data analysis on police stops, searches and other interactions.

The story continues at The Baltimore Banner: The Baltimore Police Department just cleared its first hurdle in exiting federal oversight

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