The Justice Department is working toward dropping reform agreements with police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, Ky., after killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in those cities drew national attention.

Consent decrees have been a federal government tool for reforming police departments. What happens if the one governing the Minneapolis Police Department goes away?

Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department’s civil rights division, announced the decision days before the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.