The former second-highest ranking member of the New York Police Department will help the Cantrell administration find ways to bolster the NOPD.
Fausto Pichardo led the NYPD's patrol division until 2020. The city hired him to be "consulting Chief of Operations," according to a message to officers from NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson.
Pichardo will help with a "rapid 10-day assessment" of NOPD and will make recommendations for changes.
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Chief Ferguson said Pichardo could stay on as long as six months until a permanent replacement is found.
The Cantrell administration has been grappling with New Orleans cops leaving the force in droves. Police manpower has dwindled to fewer than 950 commissioned officers.
"The safety of our police officers and our city remains the focus of my administration," said Cantrell in a news release from the mayor's office. "We are grateful that Fausto Pichardo has answered our call to serve the City of New Orleans. Chief Ferguson and I are in total lockstep on the need to improve officer safety, as well as on the need to deliver results on the priorities of improving crime-reduction capabilities and response times."
Read the superintendent's email to officers below:
Team:
As many of you know, the Mayor and I visited all Districts, SOD, and Bureau roll calls and listened to police officers from all over the city. She and I concluded that a number of actions need to be taken to support the hardworking men and women of NOPD who come to work every day committed to keeping the people of New Orleans safe.
As you probably have heard, the Mayor has taken action to speed the conclusion of the Consent Decree, while recognizing that it has done some good for our department in its earlier years. It was during this period, for example, that we became the department that other police agencies looked to learn on-street interventions that deliver constitutional policing.
We also asked for a rapid 10-day assessment by two NYPD former chiefs to look at our operations for three purposes. I wanted them to help us 1) improve officer safety--making sure there are enough cops on the street to back each other up and keep each other safe in any situation that confronts them; 2) improve our crime-reduction capabilities; and 3) improve response times for serious crimes, especially crimes in progress. All these things are important to the retention and, ultimately, recruiting.
I have asked Fausto Pichardo, a former NYPD Chief of Patrol, to help us for as long as six months implement their recommendations many of which we had already identified. He will be doing this as a consulting Chief of Operations and will train his permanent replacement during this period.
Let me clarify what will happen during this period of time and what will not. First, my team will remain my team. There may be different roles and responsibilities for some but the mission and vision are the same.
Second, even so, we will look at restructuring and redeploying our department to best serve the purposes of officer safety, crime-fighting, and better service to the residents and visitors of our city.
Third, Chief Pichardo will begin working with us today to ascertain exactly where our full-duty cops are and how they might soon be reorganized to achieve the purposes I have set.
Please cooperate with Chief Pichardo as my representative in these matters during the months that he is here.
And, above all, stay safe and keep each other safe on every watch you work.