WBRZ - Baton Rouge

NEW ORLEANS - A court-backed plan to excise corruption, discrimination and a frequent use of deadly force from the long-troubled New Orleans Police Department will last at least four years and likely cost the financially strapped city $11 million annually.

Attorney General Eric Holder says the agreement is the most wide-ranging in the Justice Department's history. He says it also resolves allegations that New Orleans police officers have engaged in a pattern of discriminatory and unconstitutional activity.

It comes in the form of a court-approved consent decree. The Justice Department negotiated the decree with the city after releasing a scathing report taking the department to task on multiple fronts in March 2011.

The agreement includes extensive requirements for improved training, better supervision and new technology.