A judge passed over New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s recommendation and chose the Sheppard Mullin law firm, former deputy monitor of Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, to monitor New Orleans’ compliance with court-mandated police reforms, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.
U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan selected a team headed by law firmmanaging partner Jonathan Aronie. The New Orleans force has a history of civil rights abuses such as excessive use of force and alleged racial profiling. Morgan noted that the firm recommended by Landrieu, Hillard Heintze, had monitoring experience, but the group’s leader, retired Chicago Police Superintendent Terry Hillard, did not.