The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the Louisiana State Police over numerous allegations of excessive force and racially discriminatory policing.

Justice Department officials announced a civil investigation on Thursday to review state police policies, training, supervision and force investigations, as well as other agency systems for misconduct and discipline.

“Protecting the civil rights of all Americans and building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve are among the Justice Department’s most important responsibilities,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “This investigation, like all of our pattern or practice investigations, will seek to promote transparency, accountability and public trust that is essential to public safety.”

The development comes amid an ongoing federal criminal investigation into Louisiana State Police troopers involved in the deadly arrest of Black motorist Ronald Greene in 2019, an event that also sparked a legislative investigation into the response by the agency’s leadership and Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Edwards, who is expected to testify before lawmakers, pledged support and cooperation with the pattern or practice investigation in a prepared statement.

“It is deeply troubling that allegations of systemic misconduct exist that would warrant this type of investigation, but it is absolutely critical that all Louisianans, especially African Americans and other people of color, have their faith, confidence and trust in public safety officers restored,” Edwards said.

“This investigation is one part of that process. I share the Department of Justice’s goal of ensuring that Louisiana State Police are policing in a constitutional way.”

The federal action follows an investigation by The Associated Press that uncovered at least a dozen cases involving troopers accused of beatings of mostly black men over the last decade, as well as a pattern of deflecting blame and impeding efforts to address misconduct.

The AP found troopers made a habit of turning off body cameras during pursuits and supervisors rubber-stamping use-of-force reports. In Greene’s case, state police withheld body camera video that showed troopers beating, stunning and dragging Greene along the road following a crash in Monroe.

“In some cases, troopers omitted uses of force such as blows to the head from official reports and in others troopers sought to justify their actions by claiming suspects were violent, resisting or escaping, all of which were contradicted by video footage,” according to the news wire.

“This systemic misconduct was blessed by top brass at the Louisiana State Police,” Alanah Odoms, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, told the AP. Louisiana State Police Col. Lamar Davis, who took over the agency’s leadership amid the Greene scandal, vowed in a statement Thursday to “continue to offer our full cooperation as we have done with all investigations over the last several years.”

“Our personnel truly make a difference in our communities and I am grateful for the sacrifices they make on behalf of public safety. That does not change the fact that we have had some employees violate the trust of our citizens and of their colleagues,” Davis wrote. “When that occurs, it is incumbent upon our agency to uphold our public safety oath and make the changes necessary to ensure that this does not ever happen again.”

Davis pointed to numerous policy changes since taking over as head of the state police, including banning chokeholds and use of impact weapons to the head and neck, instituting a duty to intervene policy and defining accountability for supervisors to review, track and report excessive force incidents.

“Implicit bias training is already in effect and de-escalation/duty to intervene training will begin this year. These improvements and reforms affect every aspect of our department and are only possible through the dedicated efforts of our Troopers, DPS Police Officers and support staff. These steps are vital to ensuring that we provide the best services and constitutional policing possible to the communities we serve,” Davis wrote.

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