ST. THOMAS — The V.I. Police Department is celebrating a major milestone, after reaching substantial compliance with the terms of a federal consent decree, which is intended to ensure police officers are not using excessive force.
U.S. District Judge Robert Molloy said at an evidentiary hearing on St. Thomas Thursday that “we’ve come a long way from 2008,” when the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against V.I. Police.
“We’ve all heard the stories of how policing was done in the VIPD back in the day,” Molloy said.
The consent decree came about after the Special Litigation Section of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division launched an investigation into the V.I. Police Department’s use of force in March 2004 after The Daily News’ publication of “Deadly Force,” a 44-page investigative report detailing the Police Department’s history of using excessive force and failing to investigate or prosecute the officers involved.
The report detailed 20 years of questionable and illegal use of deadly force by local officers, and there have been ongoing concerns about police shootings, assaults and other misconduct ever since.
The federal investigation ended with the Justice Department filing a lawsuit contending that the police department was violating residents’ civil rights by engaging in a pattern or practice of excessive force, and was tolerating that conduct by failing to adequately train, supervise, investigate and discipline its officers and by failing to establish consistent policies, procedures and practices to appropriately guide and monitor their actions.
Originally set to last five years, a 2009 consent decree gave police three years to comply with the mandates, then required them to maintain compliance for two years under monitoring before they would be released from the court orders.
The department missed deadline after deadline, and briefly came into “substantial compliance” in December 2018.
Only 18 days later, former Territorial Chief Winsbut McFarlande assaulted a handcuffed man at the Crucian Christmas Festival Village.
McFarlande “admitted to the accusations during his compelled interviews,” but resigned before he could face disciplinary action which could have resulted in termination, according to a report by the previous independent monitoring team.
Other serious use of force cases followed, and the department has been working to regain substantial compliance ever since.
On Thursday, Independent Monitor Sydney Roberts testified that the department is in substantial compliance with all provisions of the consent decree, including those concerning timely investigation when officers use force during an encounter.
Molloy granted a motion by Assistant V.I. Attorney General Ariel Smith-Francois to terminate the section of the consent decree concerning citizen complaints, after two years of sustained compliance.
Molloy commended the department, which “has met expectations with regard to constitutional policing” for the first time in six years, and “is now in substantial compliance with all consent decree paragraphs, which I think is a huge milestone.”
He emphasized that “you’re not supposed to be perfect,” but “constitutional compliance should not be the goal, that is the minimum standard.”
The backlog of cases under investigation has been reduced from hundreds down to one, which is “tremendous,” Molloy said. “The light is there, don’t ease up off the gas, full throttle.”
Under the terms of the consent decree, the department must show sustained compliance for two years. Molloy scheduled the next hearing for May 28.
Smith-Francois said the government is interested in shortening the two-year timeframe, and Justice Department Trial Attorney Jeffrey Murray agreed that might be appropriate.
“A concern that I have with that,” Molloy said, is that “the practical reality, this is an election year,” and a new governor will be elected in November because Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. has served two terms in office.
That new leader is likely to appoint their own cabinet members, so Police Commissioner Mario Brooks may soon be replaced.
“I have confidence in the current team, but we don’t know who the next team will be,” Molloy said.
A continual stumbling block in consent decree compliance has been “the continuity of leadership,” or lack thereof. “That would be a concern of mine, if there is a request to terminate this in this calendar year,” Molloy said. “There would have to be assurances that sustainment would be more than a probability.”
Jason Marsh served as acting commissioner after McFarlande resigned in early 2019, followed by Trevor Velinor, who retired in June 2021.
Bryan nominated Ray Martinez to serve as the next commissioner, which he did until June 2024, when he resigned alongside former Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal amid a federal investigation into public corruption in the territory.
Martinez and O’Neal were indicted in January 2025 and convicted at trial in December of bribery, money laundering conspiracy, and wire fraud in connection with manipulating government contracts for personal gain. Martinez was also found guilty of obstruction of justice. Sentencing is set for June.
In response to questions from The Daily News, Brooks said after Thursday’s hearing that an internal investigation to determine the extent of the misconduct is still ongoing.
Brooks took over after Martinez resigned, and he has refused to respond to numerous questions and requests for policies and other records.
At one point during Thursday’s hearing, Molloy asked Deputy Commissioner Jason Marsh if the police department’s policies have been made public.
Marsh said they have not, and they intend to put them on a website at some point.
“It’s something that we’re working on,” Marsh said. “We have to develop the platform.”
Molloy said the process is simple, “put them in PDF form and just post it.”
For months, the department has ignored all requests from the Daily News for copies of its policies, including the document governing use of body cameras and investigation of missing persons cases.
The department has also ignored all Daily News requests for surveillance and body camera video, despite releasing video to the BBC last year.
The department also has provided almost no public information on three deadly police shootings in 2025, despite multiple requests by The Daily News.
Victims shot and killed by V.I. police officers in 2025 include 36-year-old Tyler Simpson, 48-year-old Alejandro Torres III, and 32-year-old Ke’Jah Andreas.
Police said Andreas was armed and determined the homicide to be a justified use of force.
But police have not responded to questions about whether Simpson or Torres were armed, if the police involved are still on leave, if any of the officers involved were wearing functional body cameras at the time — or even what prompted the officers to open fire in the first place.
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