DISTRICT COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS 
DIVISION OF ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
Plaintiff, 
v. 
THE TERRITORY OF THE VIRGIN 
ISLANDS, and VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE 
DEPARTMENT, 
              Defendants. 
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Civil No. 2008-158 
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ATTORNEYS: 
 
Thomas Jackson Morse, esq. 
United States Department of Justice 
Washington, D.C. 
 
For the plaintiff, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Claude Walker, Attorney General 
Carol Thomas-Jacobs, AAG 
Virgin Islands Department of Justice 
St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. 
 
For the defendants.  
 
ORDER 
 
On December 23, 2008, the United States filed a Complaint 
in this matter. The Complaint alleged that the Virgin Islands 
Police Department (“VIPD”) had engaged in a pattern of conduct 
that deprived people of the rights and privileges that were 
guaranteed to them by the Constitution and laws of the United 
States. On the same date, the parties submitted to the Court a 
proposed Consent Decree (the “decree”). That decree was approved 
by the Court. 
Case: 3:08-cv-00158-RAM-RM   Document #: 245   Filed: 11/28/16   Page 1 of 3
US v. VIPD 
Civil No. 08-158 
Order 
Page 2 
 
 
The decree lists in detail the various steps VIPD is to 
undertake to correct the pattern of conduct that led the United 
States to bring this suit. The Court has instituted a system of 
quarterly evidentiary hearings in this matter. The hearings 
serve the purpose of keeping the Court informed of VIPD’s 
progress towards achieving compliance with the decree’s 
requirements. The quarterly hearings also provided an incentive 
for VIPD to continuously work towards achieving compliance with 
the decree’s requirements. 
 
Since the establishment of the quarterly reporting system, 
experience has shown that a great deal of progress is made 
towards the end of a quarter. For most of the quarter, little 
progress is made. 
 
To ensure that progress towards compliance is measurable 
and consistent, the Court at a hearing held on, November 21, 
2016, directed the parties to provide the Court with regular 
monthly reports that would assess VIPD’s efforts towards 
achieving compliance with the Consent Decree’s requirements. 
 
The premises considered, it is hereby 
 
ORDERED that on the twenty first day of each month, the 
parties shall submit to the Court, via the electronic case 
filing system, a report on VIPD’s progress towards achieving 
Case: 3:08-cv-00158-RAM-RM   Document #: 245   Filed: 11/28/16   Page 2 of 3
US v. VIPD 
Civil No. 08-158 
Order 
Page 3 
 
compliance with the decree’s remaining outstanding requirements; 
and it is further 
 
ORDERED that VIPD shall achieve substantial compliance with 
all of the Consent Decree’s requirements no later than February 
23, 2017. 
 
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