Judge says city can no longer delay moving forward with mandated reforms
A federal judge has denied the City of New Orleans' request to delay implementation of a consent decree involving the city's police department.
Channel 4 reports U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan ruled Friday that the city can no longer delay moving forward with the mandated reforms. In her ruling, she wrote, the city failed to show how implementing the decree now would cause ``irreparable harm.''
Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration had tried to delay the decree, while the judge simultaneously weighs the city's request to toss the whole decree.
The agreement requires the police department to overhaul its policies for use of force, training, interrogations, searches and arrests, recruitment and supervision. Landrieu estimates it will cost roughly $11 million annually for the next four or five years to implement the reforms.
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