New Orleans City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Oliver Thomas recently told me it’s his preference, if he wins, to elect the next police commissioner rather than appoint them.
Thursday, I spoke with current police chief, Anne Kirkpatrick, to see what she thought of the proposition.
She didn’t mince words, explaining, “I am not in favor of it. I know that people say, well, if you’re elected by the people, you're more answerable to the people. But in reality, if the people are displeased with their chief of police and it's an elected office, it's gonna take a very long and hard road to get rid of the person. You'd have to do a recall, which is costly and time-consuming.”
“Whereas when you're appointed," she continues, "if the community's unhappy with you, and your boss is unhappy with you, they can just say, 'pack your bags, you're out of here tomorrow.'”
What’s behind New Orleans' high officer vacancy rate?
We also addressed the lack of NOPD officers and applicants, an issue that's plagued the city for years now.
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“Recruitment is a challenge for us in the year that I have been here. … And we need a minimum of 200 to 300 more officers,” Kirkpatrick explains.
However, part of the reason behind this, Kirkpatrick says, is her high standards for selection.
She tells me, “I will not bend to the pressure of a vacancy. … I will not hire a person just because I have a vacant seat. Pressure will never dictate my thinking or my decision-making, but only people who we as a community can trust to carry a gun and make life-and-death decisions and use good judgment will be given an opportunity to be a New Orleans police officer. And not everybody is suitable to be an NOPD officer.”
Kirkpatrick also shared opinions about why police forces country-wide are seeing insufficient recruitment numbers. She states that there was a noticeable difference in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests. But it also served as a wake-up call to stronger hiring practices.
“After George Floyd,” Kirkpatrick explains, “the negative rhetoric about policing and defunding the police took a major toll in the world of law enforcement. I do think we will rebound as long as I and others do not compromise on hiring the people who shouldn't be here. That’s the other impact of the George Floyd effect, or Tyree Nichols: Are we hiring people who should never be police officers under any condition?”
However, even with low numbers, the NOPD has done a remarkable job at bringing down major crime rates and solving them when they do occur.
Kirkpatrick explains, “We are 30% below homicides where we were last year, and that includes the tragedy of January 1. We're still 30% down on top of that…Our solved rates are high, way above the national average. We are in the seventieth percentile, which is a very high number.”
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Status of the Bill Bratton Advised French Quarter Security Report
The NOPD is currently assessing how to better secure the city’s most vulnerable areas to better prevent large, violent crimes, mainly on Bourbon Street and in the French Quarter.
To do this, the NOPD brought on Bill Bratton, former NYPD police chief, to consult and advise on shoring up weaknesses and bolstering the city’s barrier and security systems. We have yet to see a plan on that.
When asked about the timeline, Kirkpatrick explained, “Their report is due to us relatively soon… I should hopefully see a draft within the next few days. After, I’ll be making sure the report addresses the things we asked them to address, as well as a recommendation on barriers and how to hard-target the French Quarter and the parade routes.”
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