A brand new year has arrived, and the head of the New Orleans Police Department has her a of New Year's Resolutions for her agency.
"We're going to take absolutely one of the best police departments in this country, and we're even going to make them better," NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said.
Kirkpatrick says getting violent criminals off the street is at the top of her to-do list in 2024.
"One of the main goals is obviously a reduction of violent crime in the city with a particular focus on gun violence," Kirkpatrick said. "That will be the number-one goal for our officers. We want to obviously reduce property crimes. No one wants to be a victim in this city."
To accomplish all of this, the NOPD needs more officers. Kirkpatrick says recruiting and retaining officers is also high on her priority list, but she says the city won't hire just anyone to meet that goal.
"This is an agency that won't compromise," Kirkpatrick said. "We will hire only the best of the best, and if you think you fall in that category, give us a shout."
That includes hiring officers from New Orleans and beyond.
"We'll take lateral officers from around the country. If you're already a police officer and you want to come to an exciting city and a city that will support you . . . And always homegrown, our own people who grew up here and want to begin a career in policing, we want to talk with you."
Kirkpatrick said some of the lateral transfers that have come to the department aren't really new to the NOPD.
"Officers who left NOPD to go to other agencies are coming home, and they're coming back," Kirkpatrick said.
A third priority for Kirkpatrick is getting the NOPD out of its federal consent decree.
"We have a goal to go into self-sustainment associated with federal oversight, and we're very close, and we're excited into moving into that arena of being a self-sustained, known constitutionally and ethical police department, which we already are known for," Kirkpatrick said. "We're just going to prove to the court that we can self-sustain."
Kirkpatrick summed up her goals in one statement.
"I want this city to be known nationally and internationally as one of the safest cities in this country and in this world, and that is a goal for us," Kirkpatrick said.
