POLITICS -- July 25, 2012 at 4:17 PM EDT

New Regulations Hit New Orleans Police Department

By: Beth Garbitelli

New Orleans Police at a jazz funeral to honor Hurricane Katrina victims in August 2010. Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu released a consent decree Tuesday that sets forth strict new regulations of police conduct.

Gwen Ifill spoke with U.S. Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights division and Ronal Serpas, Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, about the ramifications of the new rules on the city on Wednesday's NewsHour. Check out the conversation below.


The consent decree contains over 490 stipulations for the new plan to reform New Orleans Police Department. Review the extensive document here to get a sense of some of the changes being rolled out.


Yesterday's decree is a direct result of a 2011 investigative report filed by the Department of Justice. Mayor Landrieu called for the report in a letter he sent to Attorney General Holder in 2010. Here are the findings of that investigation.

Beginning October 24, 2012, PBS NewsHour will allow open commenting for all registered users. We hope that the elimination of our moderation process will enable a more organic discussion amongst you, our audience. However, if a commenter violates our terms of use or abuses the commenting forum, their comment will be removed. We reserve the right to remove posts that do not follow these basic guidelines: comments must be relevant to the topic of the post; may not include profanity, personal attacks or hate speech; may not promote a business or raise money; may not be spam. Anything you post should be your own work. The PBS NewsHour reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its website or in any medium now known or unknown the comments or emails that we receive. By submitting comments, you agree to the PBS Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which include more details.

The Rundown offers the NewsHour’s unique perspective on the important events of the day with insights from the journalists you trust. » More

Watch Full Programs
PBS NewsHour Support From: