NEW ORLEANS – Mayor Mitch Landrieu has officially asked the federal government to come in and totally reform the New Orleans Police Department.
Saying the department has endured "systemic failure," Landrieu has written Attorney General Eric Holder asking for NOPD assistance department wide.
According to Landrieu, the Department of Justice would come in and assess the practices of the department, and then formulate a plan of action. A federal judge would sign off on that plan, and then a federal monitor would make sure the plan is executed.
The mayor said he is looking for more than a plan. He wants resources.
“If the issue is technology expert in the country, if it was training from the academy on top, they would bring individuals in there to do that. If it had to do with pattern and practice, just actually community policing, they would bring in experts to do that. And we would begin to re-grow the department organically from the bottom up,” Landrieu said.
Landrieu said the two finalists on his short list to become police chief are Nashville's chief Ronal Serpas and East Palto Alto chief Ronald Davis, with the announcement coming very soon.
