Feds, New Orleans Announce Police Reforms

The New Orleans Police Department faces a sweeping operational overhaul outlined in a federal consent decree unveiled Tuesday by Attorney General Eric Holder and Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

The agreement, which remains in effect until the department complies with its provisions for two consecutive years, requires broad changes in policies and practices relating to the use of force; stops, searches and arrests; custodial interrogations; photographic line-ups; preventing discriminatory policing; community engagement; recruitment; training; officer assistance and support; performance evaluations and promotions; supervision; misconduct investigations; and the system of secondary employment known as paid details.

The agreement also requires more transparency, encourages greater civilian oversight, and increases community interaction and partnerships, according to the Justice Department release .

The consent decree is the product of a federal "pattern or practice" civil rights investigation of the agency that began in May 2010. Almost a year later, the Justice Department released a scathing 158-page report detailing "systematic violations of civil rights" relating to use of force.

The report also called department's paid detail system the "aorta of corruption" because lieutenants and captains request moonlighting work from the officers they supervise.

The investigation also found evidence of discriminatory policing based on race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, according to the release.

Related:

DOJ Report Details New Orleans Police Misconduct