NEW ORLEANS — After 12 years, the New Orleans Police Department is taking steps to get out of the federal consent decree. On Tuesday, they held the first of a series of public meetings to decide if they've done enough.
WWL Louisiana Alyssa Curtis reports.
The meeting was held virtually by the court-appointed independent police monitors. They offered a road map as the city seeks final approval to enter a two-year long "sustainment period."
To do that they need to prove that the reforms made so far can be maintained long term.
Again –– the consent decree is designed to correct years of brutality, corruption and mismanagement.
"That is the primary opportunity for the NOPD and the city to demonstrate, for lack of a better term, that they walk on their own two feet," said Jonathan Aronie, Independent Monitor. "Demonstrate that all the work they've done, all the systems they've implemented, all the new policies, will actually work in practice."
Aronie says by the end of the week his team will publish a schedule of future meetings to get public comment.
Federal Judge Susie Morgan will consider that public input while she decides whether to start the clock on the two-year off-ramp.
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