The New Orleans Police Department is officially entering a new chapter as federal monitoring under the long-running consent decree comes to an end.
Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick says this next phase will be defined by “strengthened controls, consistency, and transparency” as the department prepares to govern itself for the first time in more than a decade.
The consent decree, implemented to correct systemic failures within the department, required sweeping changes to training, discipline, supervision, and use-of-force policies. Federal monitors say the NOPD has demonstrated the ability to carry out a comprehensive reform plan; a key milestone that opened the door to ending federal oversight…