LA Police freed from consent decree by U.S. judge LOS ANGELES, May 16 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Police Department Thursday operated free of federal oversight for the first time since 2001. U.S. District Judge Gary Feess lifted the oversight Wednesday in a very brief order. "The clerk is directed to close the file," Feess wrote in part. The oversight largely arose out of the Rampart corruption scandal. A binding agreement imposed on the LAPD by the U.S. Department of Justice spelled out major reforms the LAPD had to implement and forced the department to undergo audits reported to Feess. The consent decree originally was scheduled to last five years, but Feess extended it for an additional five. Over the years, department officials argued the department had succeeded in implementing most of the reforms called for in the decree, the Los Angeles Times reported. Feess finally approved a transitional plan that called for the Los Angeles Police Commission, which oversees the LAPD, to assume responsibility for keeping tabs on the department's reforms, the Times said. But even that oversight was ended with Feess' order, the newspaper said.