New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson will retire in a matter of days, and it sets up a situation that will reveal not only the next chief of police in New Orleans but will also expose a clearer picture of the relationship between mayor LaToya Cantrell and members of the New Orleans City Council. Some councilmembers have stated their position that the search for the next police chief should be extended nationwide. Political chatter has centered around the mayor’s desire to promote an internal candidate, more specifically, an African American female member of the rank. This where the timing of Chief Ferguson’s retirement is crucial. Through voter approved changes to the city charter, the council will have the ability to confirm or deny the mayor’s appointees. That power doesn’t take effect until the new year. Superintendent Ferguson’s last day is December 22. Mayor Cantrell could appoint a new police chief before the new year, if she chooses. During Monday’s edition of the Newell Normand Show, Newell said Cantrell’s approach to the police chief search will be a gut check moment for all parties involved.
“If she names a candidate prior to January 1, circumvents the public’s desire as they expressed as a result of the vote on the charter change, if all seven members of this council don’t sign this recall petition, shame on all of y’all,” Newell said.
According to Newell, the NOPD has suffered from what he called failures and frailties for far too long. He pointed to the poor condition of vehicles and equipment, inefficient management of the crime lab and handling of evidence as a few examples. The NOPD’s recent use of outside consultants reaffirms those failures and frailties. To address those deficiencies, Newell urged the city’s leadership to stop viewing the NOPD as just a law enforcement agency and begin running it as a “$200 million+ business enterprise.” That approach, Newell says, requires a dynamic leader that can tackle the many facets of a troubled agency such as the NOPD. It also requires Cantrell to open up her tunnel vision.
“Now this mayor seems to believe as we go check in the box that we have the first female, African American law enforcement leader of this organization as the most important characteristic moving forward. I don’t happen to believe that. I think there are a lot of other qualifications and characteristics of the superintendent of the NOPD that we ought to be considering. Now, she’s the mayor, I’m not. But the fact of the matter is we should all be pointing this out to her. The council as well,” said Newell on Monday.
