Community groups on Thursday demanded a greater say and more transparency in negotiations between the city and the Justice Department over police department reforms, saying they're concerned the talks were taking too long and that any agreement might not reflect their wishes.

The DOJ issued a report last winter saying that Seattle police had a pattern or practice of using excessive force, often in response to minor offenses. The federal agency has threatened to sue unless the city agrees to make changes, including requiring officers to report all uses of force, no matter how minor, and hiring more sergeants to be front-line supervisors.

Discussions aimed at reaching a consent decree that would avert a lawsuit have proceeded in fits and starts, behind closed doors. That has some community groups worried.

According to Mayor Mike McGinn, the talks were being held with a mediator, The Seattle Times reported. Spokesman Aaron Pickus declined to confirm that Thursday.

The community groups were concerned about public indications that the talks might not be going well - such as the city's decision to defend in court an officer's use of a racial epithet just before stomping on a prone robbery suspect of Mexican descent, Martin Monetti Jr.

In that lawsuit, the city's lawyers referred to the DOJ's findings as "inadmissible hearsay opinion" and added: "There are many negative factors that weigh against the reliability and trustworthiness of the DOJ report."

The groups said that position contradicts statements by McGinn and Police Chief John Diaz that such bias has no place in police work.

Although the DOJ did not find evidence that police engaged in a pattern of biased policing, it found what it described as "troubling practices" that could have a disproportionate effect on minority communities. The groups said they want the consent decree to address those.

The groups said they've made their views clear to the DOJ and the city, but have heard little back.

"We're concerned that if we're not part of the discussion, we don't know what we'll get," Jennifer Shaw, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, said at a news conference. "There's a saying: If you're not at the table, you're on the menu.

"We as a community are going to live with this consent decree for years. We should have a say."

The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment. Pickus said that the groups' suggestions are reflected in the city's own plan to complete 20 police reform initiatives in 20 months, but that the city and DOJ have agreed to keep the talks between themselves.

The news conference was called by the police accountability task force, which includes community groups such as the Minority Executive Directors Coalition. That collection includes Estella Ortega, executive director of El Centro de la Raza; Chris Stearns, chairman of the city's Human Rights Commission; and Harriett Walden, president of Mothers for Police Accountability, among others.

The groups were among nearly three dozen organizations that in 2010 called for the DOJ to review the police department following a number of incidents in which officers used force against civilians. Most notable was the fatal, unjustified shooting of Native American woodcarver John T. Williams after he crossed the street in front of a police cruiser.

The groups said Thursday that while they had previously supported the city's "20/20" plan, they don't consider it adequate, and a court-enforced consent decree is needed to ensure reforms take hold.

It "has no enforcement piece, and as long as it has no enforcement piece, it doesn't have any teeth," Walden said. "We need a firm and written commitment from the city to make the plan enforceable."

The DOJ and the city have exchanged proposed consent decrees. Although they remain confidential, The Associated Press has reviewed a copy of the DOJ's proposal, which included a number of the measures being called for by the community groups.