Law & Disorder: NOPD and Katrina
Watch the PBS Frontline documentary Law & Disorder https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/law-disorder/, and read this Atlantic article https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/katrina-blew-the-lid-off-the-nopd/402814/ discussing how the New Orleans Police Department was filled with corruption and had to evolve into a reformed police department following a DOJ investigation. More detailed information regarding the consent decree has been published HERE https://www.nola.gov/nopd/nopd-consent-decree/. [If you want to read the documentary transcript, click HERE https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/law-disorder/etc/script.html .]
While you are watching the documentary and reading the article, think about the following questions:
• How do you feel about the issues presented?
• What do you agree or disagree with?
• Can you identify with the situation?
• Are you for or against the issue(s) presented?
• Do you have something to add about the reality of the issue(s)?
• How do you evaluate the situation/outcome in general?
Discuss the following questions and items in your reaction and analysis to the documentary and article in your essay. Include material (with in-text citations and references) from the textbook, the Atlantic article provided above, outside scholarly sources, and specific examples from the documentary in your analysis.
You may also incorporate your responses to the above questions in your discussion.
1) What were the underlying issues presented?
2) What was revealed about consent decrees, accountability, transparency, and oversight for police departments?
3) From a criminal justice perspective, what surprised you most?
4) What could we realistically do/have done (if anything) for victims and families?
5) What has happened to the officers since? In the end, was justice served? If so, how and if not, why?
6) How can other police departments in need of reform adopt tactics used to reform NOPD, especially in the wake of hurricanes such as Harvey, Irma, Florence, and Michael?
7) What role can recruitment, selection, training, and education of police officers play in preventing these situations?
8) What does recent scholarly research suggest regarding the issues in the documentary, Atlantic article, and items addressed below?
Sample Solution
The PBS Frontline documentary Law & Disorder, along with the associated articles from The Atlantic and Nola.gov, reveals a multitude of issues surrounding the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) prior to its 2017 consent decree reform. It is clear that the NOPD was rife with corruption and mismanagement, an issue which had been largely ignored for decades until it became too difficult to ignore after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.
The underlying issues presented are deep-seated problems of racism, nepotism and impunity within the NOPD. It was revealed that there were widespread civil rights violations perpetrated by officers who felt they could get away with anything due to a lack of oversight or accountability. This led to numerous cases of police brutality as well as a pattern of unconstitutional searches, racial profiling and wrongful arrests which created extreme mistrust between law enforcement and members of the community they were there to serve (PBS 2021).
When considering solutions both criminal justice authorities as well as citizens agreed that some form of external oversight needed be implemented in order ensure accountability within department while restoring public trust in police force. As such, federal government put forth “an order requiring court-supervised monitoring” which came known consent decrees (The Atlantic 2015). These decrees set forth strict rules on how police departments must operate revising everything from use force policies training requirements regarding bias all way up leadership level where transparency appointing chief paramount importance (Nola Gov 2020).
What surprised me most about this case study from criminal justice perspective is extent which culture changes need occur before any tangible progress can made when trying combat systemic issues like those seen here at NOPD . Without meaningful reforms top down policing practices rarely see substantial shifts since old habits die hard even when laws designed protect vulnerable populations enforced more strictly.
