Aug. 29 Hearing Set On NOPD Reform Agreement

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge has set an Aug. 29 hearing on an agreement the city of New Orleans reached with the Justice Department to overhaul the city's troubled police department.

U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan's order Tuesday also sets deadlines for those interested in the case to intervene and for the public to file comments on the proposed agreement.

The 124-page agreement is the product of more than a year of negotiations between the city and federal authorities. It spells out a series of strict requirements for overhauling the police department's policies and procedures for use of force, training, interrogations, searches and arrests, recruitment and supervision. It follows decades of periodic scandals that led to a 2011 Justice Department study that was highly critical of the department.