Newly minted New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is asking the Justice Department to step in and help reform the troubled police department that has been plagued by scandal, including the cover up of police shootings right after Katrina in 2005.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Landrieu on Wednesday asked Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. to to do an assessment of the police department and the criminal justice system.
“It is clear that nothing short of a complete transformation is necessary and essential to ensure safety for the citizens of New Orleans,” Landrieu wrote in a letter to Holder that was published in the Times-Picayune.
The paper reported that the Justice Department has eight open civil rights investigations into the conduct of New Orlean police officers.
The Justice Department issued a statement Wednesday saying it will ” consider these requests to determine what action, if any, is appropriate,” said DOJ spokesman Alejandro Miyar, according to the paper.
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