A federal judge says he needs more time to decide whether the Los Angeles Police Department should remain under U.S. Justice Department oversight.

U.S. District Judge Gary Feess filed an order Monday extending the consent decree to July 15. He said he needed more time to review voluminous filings in the case.

A consent decree is a binding settlement overseen by a monitor and federal judge. It was formally implemented in June 2001, after the government threatened to sue the city over what it called a decades-old pattern of police abuse.

Feess was originally due to rule on the decree two weeks ago but sought assurances from the LAPD that other reforms would be made, such as installing surveillance cameras in patrol cars.