By Rob Masson | WVUE | April 27, 2023
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Thursday (April 27), a federal consent decree monitor told a federal judge that NOPD manpower issues might be causing the department to regress. The NOPD did not attend a consent decree hearing for the first time, causing the federal judge to express disappointment.
Attorneys for the city argued that the consent decree had become a moving target, costing the city $16 million over 10 years. They said the NOPD had implemented new hiring standards, procedures, and training under the consent decree and said it should be lifted.
But despite the city’s contention, consent decree monitors expressed concerns about continuing attrition issues and a lack of a plan to address them.
“Essentially, the city is further away from substantial compliance today than it was at this point last year,” said Rafael Goyeneche with the Metropolitan Crime Commission.
The consent decree monitor says the sexual assault clearance rate has plummeted from a dismal 11% to just 3% in four years. The monitor also says police response times were regressing, now taking 5 1/2 hours on average. The monitor said that when it came to police investigations, they had concerns about appropriate credibility checks.
“The reason is directly related to the manpower crisis as the number of officers goes down. It means fewer officers are doing more and more work,” said Goyeneche.
Though this was not a hearing on whether the consent decree should be lifted, Judge Morgan repeatedly said she was concerned about slippage in some areas of improvement if the consent decree constraints were removed.
“Even if the city achieves this goal of declaring that we’re in substantial compliance, it doesn’t mean the consent decree is over,” said Goyeneche.
Rafael Goyeneche says the consent decree isn’t going away anytime soon. He says if and when the federal judge declares the city in substantial, it starts a two-year wind-down, which means the department must maintain the improvements and document ongoing compliance.
“All the rules were agreed to going in, and the fact that 10 years later, this mayor decides enough is enough. It’s not going to be persuasive with a court to say it over with,” said Goyeneche.
Judge Susie Morgan told attorneys for the city to inform their client of her disappointment that interim superintendent Michelle Woodfork did not attend. She said it’s the first time in 10 years that the NOPD did not send a representative and that the apparent lack of interest, is a concern.
Speaking on behalf of the city, attorney Charles Zimmer said he was there as a representative of the NOPD. He insisted that the department has complied with the consent decree since they have adopted and implemented new policies and training standards for officers. However, the consent decree monitor says there is still a long way to go.