Right before the holidays, New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell announced her intentions of hiring the next NOPD police chief. I said in advance of her announcement, and I’ll say it again, that we’ve made a huge mistake in our approach to this.
Why? Because we named an interim leader, Michelle Woodfork, who is also now a candidate for that very position.
That's a mistake.
Woodfork worked within this organization for a number of years and they announced, “We’re going to do a national search for the NOPD chief.”
Ironically, when you name the interim and you allow the interim to be eligible for this position, what goes on internally is an administration that now becomes a cheerleader for this individual.
This as opposed to the stated objective of an unbiased & objective search, and really looking for the best person for this job, no matter what their race, gender, ethnicity or otherwise.
So it seems we’ve embarked upon a trek simply to check boxes. Because now it’s more about the mayor’s legacy and what she thinks she’s able to leverage out of this appointment.
This is not a knock on Michelle Woodfork. This is a knock on the process. We are kidding ourselves. It is a charade. It’s a smokescreen. It’s bogus! And anyone who says otherwise doesn’t really understand how these things work.
It’s strange when you lobby on behalf of this individual, Officer Woodfork, as the interim, despite the fact that you already have a #2 in NOPD. I suspect that if you rise to the ranks of the #2 in the organization, maybe you might be better qualified than Officer Woodfork?
After all, that’s why this individual rose to the ranks of second in command. It’s all about succession planning, right?
Well, within the confines of the NOPD there has been none… zero…succession planning. And this is emblematic of that fact that the “best candidate” in the organization is one who has not been groomed to be the next leader of this organization, if something were to happen to Chief Shawn Ferguson. That’s what succession planning is all about! That’s when you make the business of law-enforcement….the BUSINESS of law-enforcement…not the politics of law-enforcement…more important than anything else. But this is all about the politics. This is all about “woke-ness.” What’s happening now with this interim appointment is all about checking boxes. This is all about misleading the public as to what actually is going to happen.
Now I’ve been a little disappointed in the City Council, because they fought for this national search issue, yet structurally it’s not set up to be meaningful. Because we’ve allowed the interim chief, Office Woodfork, to be eligible for the position. The safest course of action is to have an interim who is NOT eligible for the permanent position.
Do we really believe that in the interim this person is going to go out and take on and involve themselves in a lot of risk? The kind of a “shock and awe” approach about what needs to be done here? Do we really believe that this individual in the interim is going to be a change agent? That they’re going to consume political capital within the organization as a leader? If you do believe that, then you’re not well-informed.
This individual is going to have to work really hard to try and keep the troops at bay…to try to keep them silent…to try to not have a lot of detractors go public. She’ll have to use time and energy to minimize the amount of rhetoric about her failures, or indecisiveness, or lack of leadership or whatever the troops may have experienced. She’ll have to try to contain or control how she’s been portrayed within this organization over the years…or any views about her successes. You could count on interim Chief Woodfork talking about what her successes are…and maybe tout the successes of some of her supporters.
But when you go back to the most recent survey that shows that officers within NOPD site “favoritism” as the largest contributor to the morale woes within the organization ...you then name an interim and allow them to be eligible? Really? Obviously, mayor, you are not listening to the troops. You’re not listening to the public. You’ve once again taken that arrogant, bullying approach and attitude as it relates to one of the most important appointments that you will make. An appointment that could potentially alter the course of the future of NOPD…for certain in the short term.
So I ask…why not take it more seriously? Is this really about you leaving an imprint? Is it about you checking a box, and simply just moving on and saying that you were able to do so? What does that get you? Where does that lead? Where do we go from here? Where does the city go from here?
Leaders create an environment, an atmosphere, a culture of success. And they do so by blazing new paths each and every day. Not by embracing history. Not by embracing the status quo. Not by simply checking boxes. You’re not taking any risk at all. In fact, as a lame duck mayor, there really isn’t a whole lot that anybody can do about it other than…the recall petition.
What a sad commentary that we’re having to take the backseat on having credible leaders in our city, to having to call upon the public to try and get you fired. Opportunity after opportunity after opportunity has presented itself for you to shine, for you to set the course, for you to embark upon a culture and an environment of success. And it’s been anything but that. Shortcuts, interventions to make sure that you get your way…your way or the highway.
So where do we go from here? Where do we end up?
Has anybody heard any chatter about how we’re conducting this national search? How many weeks of a hiatus do we take? Is the holiday season more important than the safety and security of the tax paying citizens of our community, of those invested here? Is time off more important?
No plan. Nothing has come forward. We’ve spent more time on the political side of this appointment than we have on the business side. Because the business side begs for an explanation about how we are going to conduct this national search.
And, do we really believe that potential applicants of any consequence don’t recognize the fact that we’ve moved down this path without a plan? Without an articulation by this mayor, the one who boasts of being a credible leader each and every day…and tries to convince us of same? This “credible leader” embarks on this vital quest for a new NOPD superintendent without a plan, without a clue, without a hint, without articulating to the public at large what her intentions are fully?
It’s easy to say, “Yeah, we’re going to do a national search, and oh by the way, I really believe that the folks within the organization are the best people to lead this organization in the future.” Well, how do you know? What research did you do about this? Why is it that so many of your fellow Democrat leaders and Democrat cities are doing just the opposite? Are they wrong? Did we spend any time talking to them? Did we try to figure out exactly what the best course is or are we just falling back on checking the box?
So, why don’t we try this one on for size, Mayor Cantrell…we checked the box. Accomplished. Now it’s time to move on as a business minded approach to ensure that the entities interests always outweighs the individual’s interests.
And I know that is something that you’ve had a real difficult time coming to grips with. But, maybe the sooner you come to grips with that balance…maybe…and only maybe…you’ll be able to accomplish something NOPD and this community desperately needs in the near term.