INDIANAPOLIS -- The city of Indianapolis faces a lawsuit filed by the NAACP and 32 police officers and firefighters over claims of discrimination within the departments.

The suit comes about six months after Mayor Greg Ballard's administration brought an end to federal court oversight of hiring and promotion, saying that it was no longer needed, 6News' Derrik Thomas reported.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed objections to the end of the consent decree, originally intended to increase the number of racial and ethnic minorities and women in both departments.

"We just want an equal chance, that's all," said Indianapolis fire Lt. Dei Passon. "Right now, I don't feel the city is capable of creating an equal playing ground for us. We really want the consent decree to stay in place."

The city wants to replace the old decree with a revised version it says would eliminate quotas in hiring and promotion. But NAACP attorney Nathaniel Lee said the new decree would not uphold the original mission of the first.

"The quota is that if you know someone, and he's a friend of yours and he becomes a buddy of yours, we promote him and hire him. Regardless of whether you look at quotas from a race standpoint, you have quotas from friendship," he said.

The lawsuit asks the court to direct the city to keep the original decree in place and to promote people who deserve to be promoted, including racial and ethnic minorities.

Race has been a divisive issue within the police and fire departments, with more than 60 lawsuits filed concerning unfair hiring and promotion practices -- 35 have been filed by white workers, while 31 have been filed by African-American employees.

"The Caucasians are alleging that African-Americans are given too much help in the promotion process and the new lawsuit alleges that African-Americans aren't given enough help," said the city's Chief Litigation Counsel, Jonathan Mayes.

A hearing on the latest lawsuit has been scheduled for Feb. 11. The NAACP has asked for a continuance to give new Attorney General Greg Zoeller an opportunity to review the case.