NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The city of New Orleans and the U.S. Justice Department are pushing to end more than a decade of police oversight that was ordered in response to a long history of mistreatment of African Americans and notorious corruption, including a 1994 murder ordered by a crooked cop and an attempt to cover up the killings of unarmed civilians after Hurricane Katrina.
Critics say the reform effort is hardly a success story that should be replicated nationwide. At a Tuesday hearing, members of the public shared personal experiences of police brutality and cited continued racial disparities in use of force, poor handling of sex crimes and lackluster efforts to engage the community. One elderly Black man got down on his knees to beg the judge to keep oversight in place.
The city agreed to what it called “the nation’s most expansive” federal oversight plan in 2013 after a U.S. Justice Department investigation found evidence of racial bias, misconduct and a culture of impunity.
Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told The Associated Press that the goals have been met: “We’ve built that system.”