The US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana ruled on Tuesday that the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) can end its longstanding federal oversight, thus approving the sustainment plan. The decision comes in response to a request from the city and the Justice Department to reduce monitoring.

Judge Susie Morgan in her ruling ordered the commencement of the two-year sustainment period, stressing that the sustainment plan will guarantee that the NOPD and the city of New Orleans will strengthen the improvements they already made and advised they work towards achieving all work set by the Consent Decree.

The monitoring began in 2013, as an effort to reform the NOPD. The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated the order “is a critical milestone in reforming the long-troubled NOPD and is an important step in dealing with the public safety crisis in New Orleans and in restoring community confidence in the New Orleans criminal justice system.”

The reform was initiated following testimonies reaffirming that NOPD had engaged in unconstitutional conduct and that a public safety crisis needed to be addressed through the reform required by the decree.

In September 2024, the DOJ released a statement announcing significant milestones in the reform effort. NOPD has seen a decline in total use of force and a 47 percent decline in the use of serious force. Additionally, there have been improvements in stop, search, and arrest practices, response times, and language access. Further, NOPD developed a crisis intervention team to help respond to incidents involving people in crisis. Due to the significant progress achieved, the DOJ and the City of New Orleans moved for the City to enter a two-year sustainment period.

The two-year sustainment period is designed to ensure that reforms will continue even after the consent decree’s eventual termination. During this time, NOPD and the City have an opportunity to demonstrate that they have the systems in place to monitor their own compliance with the decree and take meaningful corrective actions when necessary. The agreement also requires the City and NOPD to complete important obligations under the consent decree to continue the reform process.

After four months, a federal judge approved the motion, ushering the City and the NOPD into a new period of further reform but with a step towards freedom from federal oversight.