In March 2011 the Department of Justice released its
report on the New Orleans Police Department and concluded the NOPD was engaging in unconstitutional practices.
The practices involved use of force, stops, searches and arrests and discriminatory policing. The DOJ found the practices to result from deep and long standing problems in the policies and structure of the NOPD. The public heard a lot about the "Paid Details" that officers used to supplement their income althoughthis was just one of eleven system deficiencies the feds highlighted.
A few guys were fired and a federal
consent decree containing 491 provisions was agreed to. Compliance will be monitored by a team from Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton, a Washington D.C. law firm. Sheppard Mullin monitored The Washington D.C. police consent decree and was the preference of the DOJ to monitor NOPD. A brief legal battle over selection of the monitor was settled by Federal District Judge Susie Morgan in July 2013. The four year deal is worth $7.9-8.9 to Sheppard Mullin to be paid by the city of New Orleans.
Hey it is less than a garbage contract and far less than a Saints quarterback and way way less than a new sewerage system.