Road to Reform | A glimpse into Louisville's future under federal oversight
New Orleans is paying upwards of $7 million a year to fund its consent decree. Louisville is looking to foot a similar bill. But, has it been worth it?
Every step activist W.C. Johnson takes in the city he's called home for nearly 40 years is with purpose.
Through the triumphs and tragedies of those decades, the culture of New Orleans, Louisiana, stands firm in areas like the Tremé neighborhood -- one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city.
It's blanketed in artwork and centered around a popular center for Black youth.
"The community leadership actually emanates from this spot here," Johnson says as he points at the Tremé Center.
It's in that center where Johnson and the rest of the Community United for Change (CUC) held town hall meetings, inviting the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to hear their cries for intervention into police misconduct.
The People's Consent Decree 'Advice to Louisville'
In late 2010, CUC drafted its own blueprint to end police brutality in the city. They called it "The People’s Consent Decree."
Later, the document would be signed ceremonially, setting the stage for the official contract the city now lives under.
"[It was] to change the attitudes and behaviors of the New Orleans Police Department," Johnson said.
It's the kind of agreement Louisville city leaders have accepted in principle, with months of negotiations to come soon to work out the fine print.
“It was an accomplishment that the people here in New Orleans were able to realize," he said.
Johnson said he hopes, and trusts, Louisville's residents will be able to "realize their dreams too. [And] that they'll be able to have a safer community because [they] have the police being watched, being monitored."
The two cities share a lot in common including high crime, distrust of their police departments, and catastrophic events that pulled back the curtains to systemic issues marginalized communities say they already knew existed.
Another similarity: a consent decree. New Orleans has been under one for more than 10 years. The Louisville mayor's office says it's awaiting its first draft from the DOJ.
Has the consent decree worked? Some improvements
The goal of the consent decree is to transform a city's police department into a more equitable, honorable agency, and to rid itself of bad actors.
That's all under the oversight of the DOJ, with frequent checkups to ensure benchmarks are being met.
New Orleans' consent decree required its police department (NOPD) to overhaul its policies and procedures and bolster supervision.
"For too long the department was indifferent. These things were not secret. The problem was you could not get accountability," said well-known civil rights attorney Mary Howell, who's been working police brutality cases for decades.
In the last 10-plus years, Howell said she's seen improvements.
“They're way down on officer-involved shootings. They’re way down on problematic high-speed chases," Howell said, speaking about NOPD.
NOPD has also adopted peer-intervention programs, training officers to act the moment they see fellow cops stepping out of line and guaranteeing no retaliation, a step Howell calls "essential."
“Officers have embraced it. [There has been a] big drop in complaints from citizens," she said.
'Diminished return' Failed initiatives
Louisville is desperately trying to reduce violent crime that continues to skyrocket in the city, while also enhancing trust within the community.
The big question: Is this multi-million-dollar annual bill to be footed by the city worth it? Will we see legitimate change?
Long-time investigative journalist Mike Perlstein, currently with sister station WWL-TV in New Orleans, says the consent decree has "absolutely been a good thing overall" for the department and city.
"The police department I was covering in the 90s is not the same police department [we see now] -- not the same people," Perlstein said. "And they would not think, for example, to see abuse by a fellow officer and not report it," he said. "Now, it's part of the ethos of the department, which is a great thing."
But Perlstein also notes New Orleans has likely reached a point of diminishing returns after more than a decade under the federal watch, with it now taking a toll on an already understaffed department as violent crime continues to rise.
The New Orleans consent decree has spanned across multiple police chiefs, including interim superintendent Michelle Woodfork, who's been at the helm since December 2022.
She said the NOPD had to ''change the culture here.''
“[There] was a need for close and effective supervision," Woodfork said. "[There] was a need for better technology [and] to hold people accountable."
And has it shaped a more constitutional police force? Many would say, yes.
But reducing crime -- the number one goal written in New Orleans' consent decree from 2013 -- has been a failed initiative, as the city's homicides per capita lead the nation.
WHAS 11 reporter Isaiah Kim-Martinez asked Woodfork if the consent decree has affected her officers' morale, she believes it has.
A police department hundreds of officers short now insists the very agreement designed to make the city safer has actually shackled their ability to do just that.
The "Road to Reform: Lessons for Louisville" Special Report continues online and on-air tomorrow, June 14 at 6 p.m.
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