NORFOLK, Va. — The U.S. Department of Justice has released the city of Norfolk from a decree it had been under for 47 years related to hiring of minorities in public safety departments.

In 1978, the Justice Department sued Norfolk, saying that the police and fire departments were discriminating against Black people and women in the recruitment and hiring process, according to court documents.

When the original lawsuit was filed in 1978, Norfolk employed 627 police officers. Of those, 37 (5.9%) were Black and 22 (3.5%) were women, the documents stated.

That same year, the city had 432 firefighters, of whom 18 (4.2%) were Black, according to the court documents. There were no female firefighters at the time.

“Local communities must be able to choose firefighters and police officers based

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