Why NOPD says it doesn't need federal oversight anymore
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The City of New Orleans is inching closer to ending federal oversight over the New Orleans Police Department after more than a decade.
Why it matters: City leaders say ending the federal consent decree will free up officers to do their jobs more effectively, while critics say they are concerned about discriminatory practices if the feds aren't watching.
Catch up quick: The consent decree is a formal process for federal oversight of the police department until certain benchmarks are met.
- The city, NOPD and DOJ entered the agreement in 2013 to ensure that NOPD's services "improve public safety, increase public confidence and protect the constitutional rights of all citizens," according to the federal monitor's website.
- It came after former Mayor Mitch Landrieu requested the DOJ look into the department after deaths of unarmed civilians in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, AP reported.
The big picture: NOPD agreed to the decree as a way to "fundamentally change the way it polices" after that investigation found reasonable cause to believe the department had a pattern of excessive force, discriminatory policing and unconstitutional stops, searches and seizures.
- Now, city leaders and the DOJ say NOPD has improved enough to merit the winding-down phase of the agreement.
- The groups will next accept public comment before a judge decides if NOPD can move onto the final step, a two-year sustainment period of continued monitoring and court oversight.
The intrigue: This is one of the few times Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, and Mayor LaToya Cantrell, a Democrat, align.
- "This consent decree has plagued the city of New Orleans for over a decade," Landry posted on X, lauding last week's request. "I look forward to its end."
- "The consent decree handcuffs our officers by making their jobs harder, pestering them with punitive punishment and burying them with paperwork that is an overburden," Cantrell told reporters in 2022, according to NBC.
The other side: Community members with New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police are opposed to ending federal oversight.
- They gathered this week to push for the decree to stay in place, according to WDSU.
How it works: The agreement is one of the nation's most expansive consent decrees and details department-wide reforms. Read it.
- It outlines dozens of focus points, including use of force, crisis intervention, searches and stops, interrogations, photographic lineups, bias-free policing and sexual assault response.
- Ongoing trouble points include bias-free policing, police accountability, excessive force and unconstitutional stops, searches and arrests, court documents say.
Flashback: The city moved to terminate the decree in 2022, but the DOJ opposed that motion, saying there was no evidence of sustained compliance.
What's next: The first virtual public meeting is noon Tuesday. Attend via Zoom.
- More meetings will be held this month, but specifics haven't been announced yet.
- Residents can send feedback before Oct. 25 to [email protected] and [email protected] as well.