The New Orleans City Council today is set to vote up or down on the appointment of Ann Kirkpatrick as the next New Orleans Police Department's superintendent.
Assuming the council gives her the thumbs up, Ann Kirkpatrick will have a number of issues to deal with when she becomes chief.
GNO Inc. President Michael Hecht of the NOLA Coalition says recruiting is probably top among them.
"I think without question her biggest challenge is that she's got a force, which is probably going to break even this year and come out around 900," said Hecht.
He says recruiting, and changing the culture of NOPD so they lose fewer officers, will be her biggest challenges.
"We really have to get that number up towards 1200, so she has to focus on recruiting, improving culture so that we improve retention," Hecht said.
Getting it up to 1,200, even under the best of circumstance, could take another six or seven years.
Hecht says Kirkpatrick will also have to design crimefighting strategies around a reduced force for some time.
