NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The federal judge overseeing police reforms in New Orleans has told the city’s police chief and other city officials to attend a hearing in her courtroom. The order comes a week after Mayor LaToya Cantrell said city employees cannot speak at public meetings about the reform effort without her permission.
U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan’s order, dated Monday, sets April 12 as the date for a courtroom hearing on a 2012 reform agreement with the U.S. Justice Department. The pact, known as a consent decree, detailed numerous reforms for the long-troubled department. The order said officials should be prepared to discuss issues including the city’s Alternative Police Response program, a plan to improve police emergency response by using non-officers to handle some types of nonemergency matters.
The head of a company contracted to respond to traffic accidents also was summoned.
Morgan canceled a public meeting last week on the consent decree that was to be held at Loyola University New Orleans, after Cantrell issued a statement saying that preparations for such meetings “represent a drain on the time, resources, and ability of the NOPD to perform their job duties.”
Cantrell’s administration asked the court last August to terminate the consent decree, insisting that the city is largely in compliance. The agreement, outlining a host of policy, practice, training and recruitment requirements, was reached after a Justice Department investigation following deadly shootings of civilians amid the chaos following levee failures and catastrophic flooding during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Morgan has praised the city’s progress but has shown no sign that she’s ready to end oversight. Her latest order was issued the same day that interim police Superintendent Michelle Woodfork held a news conference on crime in the city. Woodfork said overall violent crime is down 20% in 2023 compared to the same period last year. She also said the city has attained compliance with 87% of the detailed requirements in the consent decree.