Relying on anonymous sources, the Seattle Times reports that the city has reached a tentative deal with federal lawyers to reform the police department:

Days before it faced a federal civil-rights lawsuit, the city has reached a tentative agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve the DOJ's finding that Seattle police officers have engaged in a "pattern or practice" of excessive force, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. Barring a collapse in the talks, discussions are now focused on the final details of a court-monitored consent decree, one of the sources said.

Let's hope the deal holds, because the only thing apparently that can rein in our police department is... not the mayor (who has caustically bickered with federal negotiators since last December). It's a higher authority from the Department of Justice. As I write this week, the mayor has shown that he won't even enforce his own policing reform plan:

By putting the city's commitments into a legally binding settlement with the Feds, Seattle would have an ironclad promise to address long-standing problems with bias and excessive force. Yes, the mayor has his own "20/20" policing reform plan. But McGinn's plan is meaningless. For example, it calls for pepper spray to be used only as "a self- defense tool, or as a last resort option when all other legal, effective force options have been exhausted." But even after an officer pepper-sprayed a calm, still man in the face with pepper spray last month—a violation of his own policing plan—McGinn's office refused to comment or take any action.

Realistically, McGinn isn't long for city hall. If he wants to leave a great legacy, it will be enshrining specific police reforms in this federal court agreement.

But will this latest tentative agreement be enough?

Chris Stearns, chairman of the Seattle Human Rights Commission, said in a statement today that he's concerned the city is still resisting reforms to address concerns of racial bias. "We still believe that Seattle’s communities of color have every right to expect that the consent decree will include rigorous terms dealing with discriminatory policing," says Stearns.