NEW ORLEANS — Wednesday, Interim NOPD Chief Anne Kirkpatrick spent hours answering questions from city council members as she hopes to secure the permanent position. She laid out her plan for the city and the department.
"I do believe in procedural justice, that people should have a voice, that decisions are made with equity, that just because you can use power doesn’t mean you should use power," Kirkpatrick said about her leadership skills.
Kirkpatrick, who's been serving as Interim Chief for a little over two weeks, addressed what she calls critical issues such as recruitment and retention. She says she wants to change the qualities they look for and include emotional intelligence. She also says recruitment strategies should be expanded.
"I think we need to expand where we recruit, some of the best people who went into law enforcement never thought of going into law enforcement," Kirkpatrick said.
During the hours-long hearing, city council members asked thorough questions and gave her suggestions.
"There are three HBCUs in this city Xavier, Dillard, SUNO, and five in the state. I think that would be a great start, I'd go directly to those universities and colleges," Councilmember Freddie King said.
Another big topic was the consent decree, as city leaders want to get out of it after over a decade.
"My area is to stay focused on getting us through the consent but even more important the end game of the consent is transformation," Kirkpatrick said.
But what took up much of the time Wednesday was whether or not Kirkpatrick was the right fit. Many council members expressed their support for former Interim Chief Michelle Woodfork.
"I think it’s appropriate that again I’m speaking for myself, that Michelle Woodfork is retained as a three-star with the NOPD," Councilmember King said.
Council member Oliver Thomas blatantly said he wished Woodfork was sitting in front of them for the hearing instead of Kirkpatrick.
But other councilmembers reminded everyone in attendance, that their job was not to select who was being confirmed, as that was Mayor Latoya Cantrell's job, but instead, their job was to confirm or deny who was placed in front of them. Still, many residents say the process has not been transparent.
"It’s just not personal but we happen to live in a community where transparency and inclusivity has evaded us," one resident said.
"I’ve heard people say just because we don’t confirm Kirkpatrick does not mean Woodfork does get the position but what people are saying is they are still opposed to Kirkpatrick getting the position," another resident said.
Now the council will take everyone's comments and Kirkpatrick's presentation into consideration and vote on whether or not to confirm her on Thursday Oct. 19.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.