NEW ORLEANS — Lawyers and onlookers were stunned when videos were played in federal court here Tuesday that appeared to show inmates in the Orleans Parish Prison using drugs, drinking beer and showing off a loaded pistol. The videos, which lawyers for the sheriff’s department said were filmed four years ago and had recently been found in a safe, were shown as part of a hearing to determine whether a federal consent decree is warranted to reform the city jail.

One video apparently shows inmates, in everyday dress, hanging out on Bourbon Street one night, even talking to several police officers. “Y’all know I’m supposed to be in jail right now,” a man says to the camera.

In another, inmates in a cell exchange money over dice games as they appear to inject heroin and snort other drugs. One inmate ejects rounds from a handgun before the camera, and then shows that there are more bullets in the magazine.