“The New Orleans Police Department was deep in the hole. Some of its officers ran into legal trouble in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: Some ultimately pleaded guilty to charges in the shooting of six people, and the Justice Department charged others with covering it up. Hundreds simply deserted the force during the 2005 storm. An officer killed an unarmed man during a raid in 2012. The department was placed under a federal consent decree that year, and public trust in the New Orleans police hit rock bottom. Its commanders were looking for a way out.”