A proposal to wind down the New Orleans Police Department’s longstanding federal consent decree is drawing pushback from critics who say the department needs ongoing oversight.
At a series of public meetings and protests over the past month, community members and advocates questioned the plan and pointed to lingering systemic issues within the agency. During one of the last scheduled events on Tuesday at Nora Navra Library, attendees pleaded with court-appointed monitors to make time for more input.
“They want to try and pretend they've had a period for public comment, but it feels like they haven't made enough of an effort,” said Rachel Taber, a New Orleans resident and member of Unión Migrante, a local immigrant rights group.
The meetings, which took place over several weeks at NOPD stations, local community centers and libraries, were scheduled after Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the U.S. Department of Justice submitted a motion in September to move the department into a two-year off-ramp plan, also called a “sustainment period.” If approved by a judge, the move would set the city up to exit the consent decree in two years.
During that time, NOPD would remain under federal oversight. And it would have to prove the effectiveness of new policies designed to crack down on biased policing, flawed internal promotions processes and unlawful searches and arrests, among others.
The move would lift a financial and legal weight off the city, leaders argue. Gov. Jeff Landry has also called for its removal.
Why leaders think the NOPD is ready
The NOPD originally entered the decree in 2013 to ensure that NOPD's services "improve public safety, increase public confidence and protect the constitutional rights of all citizens," after an investigation uncovered the department had a pattern of excessive force, discriminatory policing and unconstitutional stops, searches and seizures, according to the federal monitor's website.
The city first moved to terminate the decree in 2022, but the DOJ opposed that motion, saying there was no evidence of sustained compliance. Two years later, city leaders say the NOPD is finally ready.
“Our officers, staff, and leadership have worked tirelessly to build a department that the people of New Orleans can trust and be proud of," said Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick in September. "We remain committed to continuing our efforts in delivering a constitutionally based police department for a world-class city.”
There’s evidence to support that, according to Jonathan Aronie, NOPD’s primary monitor, who walked attendees of recent public meetings through his findings.
“Our purpose here is not to advocate one way or the other,” Aronie said. “The purpose here is to highlight the information that's out there, listen to the public so we know what to take back to the judge.”
Under order from the decree, the department has rolled out new quarterly audits, officer training procedures and disciplinary practices, among other changes, Aronie said.
Policing has improved, too. Even though uses of force have inched up in more recent years, especially among Black women, numbers are down overall when compared to the year NOPD first entered the decree.
Stops, searches and arrests also saw signs of improvement. Over 93% of police pat downs in 2023 were justified under decree guidance, according to department data. And officers gave Miranda warnings properly 97% of the time, said David Douglass, deputy monitor.
“And officers documented the legal basis for their searches from 95% of the incidents reviewed,” Douglass said. “And those are important numbers.”
Why some critics want to pump the brakes
The NOPD monitor’s meetings have drawn tense back-and-forths with community members over a range of concerns, including fears that the agency could backslide without federal oversight. At Tuesday’s meeting, several attendees raised questions about the handling of an ongoing high-ranking NOPD promotions process.
W.C. Johnson, chair of Community United for Change, said he was disappointed by a lack of information about Police Community Advisory Board structures.
“I have not seen it,” Johnson said. “We have pushed to have something done in the court process.”
“I do recall that,” Aronie responded. “You asked and judge said that she would have a hearing. I will absolutely check into that.”
“I mean it is a little late,” Johnson said. “How can we be at this point of possible sustainment when everything hasn't been vetted properly?”
Other audience members took aim at the data used to justify sustainment.
Kristi Dayemo, a researcher with New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP), said she had concerns about the quality of data and methodologies used in evaluating NOPD progress.
“You also have a complete lack of oversight of the monitors when data is being collected,” she said. “I want y'all to stop using the data as a reason to get out of this consent decree.”
Language barriers and the length of public comment was also a big point of concern. More meetings needed to be held outside of regular work hours and materials should be translated into languages other than English, said Taber, member of Unión Migrante, a local immigrant rights group.
“When you commit a week and a half before the alleged public comment period is about to end, to maybe eventually translate the request for public comment into Spanish and Vietnamese, it's as if you're not really interested for the public to be able to comment on this,” Taber said.
Monitor’s ethics called into question by several audience members
Several attendees of Tuesday’s meeting also questioned the NOPD monitor team’s involvement in outside organizations that consult police departments across the country on training practices and consent decree compliance.
David Douglass, New Orleans’ deputy monitor, co-founded Effective Law Enforcement for All (ELEFA), a nonprofit organization that is also leading monitoring of the Minneapolis Police Department’s consent decree.
ELEFA is co-led by Michael Harrison, a former Baltimore police commissioner and former superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department — the only chief in the nation with experience overseeing two departments under federal consent decrees. Harrison and Douglass have worked together on monitoring the Minneapolis decree, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Several audience members expressed concerns about Douglass’ work with the organization and former NOPD officers. As Douglass was explaining his involvement, he mentioned one of ELEFA’s co-founders Dr. Ashley Brown Burns by name.
Burns, who was sitting in the back of the room, stood up and interrupted Douglass.
“I'm not affiliated with it at all anymore. And I agree with the community about the conflict,” she said. “I think it's a great conflict of interest among a lot of other ethical and integrity issues. You don't give a damn about Minneapolis or the people of New Orleans.”
Douglass defended his involvement.
“The notion (with ELEFA) was we could take the lessons we’ve learned and nationally partner with their police outside of consent decree,” he said. “We could work to bring the police and the public together to reimagine policing the way that works for police and the public.”
Another audience member questioned Monitor Jonathan Aronie’s involvement with ABLE, a Georgetown University program that advises police departments on training programs.
“I do not get paid,” Aronie, who serves as chair of ABLE, said. “I think it's a wonderful program to help people and is going to help reform policing across the United States.”
What are the next steps for the decree?
Even though in-person public meetings have wrapped up, the judge overseeing the consent decree is taking public input until November 8th.
People can do that by snail mail or email to clerk@laed.uscourts.gov.
There should also be a hearing at court where residents can give input to the judge in person. The date hasn’t been set, but should be posted on the consent decree monitor’s website.
Then the judge will make a decision. If she says yes, the police department would officially move into its two-year sustainment plan.
