NEW ORLEANS — She emerged as one of three finalists in a national search to be the new permanent superintendent of the New Orleans Police.
Then Mayor LaToya Cantrell surprised many by picking her as her top choice over interim chief Michelle Woodfork.
Now veteran police leader Anne Kirkpatrick has one final hurdle: city council confirmation.
“The council's role in this, and confirmation process is, we are a thumbs up or thumbs down,” said Council President J.P. Morrell as he added the city’s first-ever confirmation hearing to the Oct. 11 agenda.
The council on Thursday set aside an entire day for Kirkpatrick’s hearing, the first to go through that approval process since it was overwhelmingly adopted by voters in the fall for all top mayoral appointees.
Morrell said that the morning session of that hearing will be devoted to hearing from Kirkpatrick and allowing council members to ask her questions. He said the afternoon will be devoted to community members who wish to be heard.
If confirmed by a council majority, Kirkpatrick will make history in other ways. She would become the first female to become NOPD superintendent, coming after Woodfork opened the door as the first female interim chief.
Woodfork, who was one of the three finalists for the job along with Kirkpatrick and Thedrick Andres Sr., was appointed in December to succeed ex-chief Shaun Ferguson when he abruptly retired.
And on Saturday when she takes over from Woodfork as interim chief until the confirmation hearing, it will be the first time in recent history that an interim chief has handed the baton to another interim chief.
Neither the police department nor City Hall announced any swearing-in ceremony for Kirkpatrick or “final walk” for Woodfork, who previously announced she would remain with the NOPD.
Insiders say that a quiet entrance and 19 days as interim chief could be the perfect on-ramp for Kirkpatrick ahead of her confirmation hearing.
Donovan Livaccari of the Fraternal Order of Police believes that a get-acquainted period should work in Kirkpatrick's favor.
“I think that it does help her have an opportunity to build some kind of track record,” said Donovan Livaccari, attorney and spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police.
Kirkpatrick, a 35-year police veteran with 20 years in leadership position, last served as police chief in Oakland, Calif. Like Oakland, the NOPD has been laboring under a sweeping federal consent decree to foster Constitutional policing and usher in sound training and leadership.
Kirkpatrick has not announced any set agenda after she takes over on Saturday. But Livaccari, as well as several council members, say she already reached out to set up one-on-one meetings ahead of her confirmation day.
Livaccari said that in setting up a meeting with the Fraternal Order of Police and its board members, Kirkpatrick reached out and called him as she was preparing to board a flight back to New Orleans. He took that as sign of leadership and initiative.
“I think that Chief Kirkpatrick’s experience is going to speak to whatever concerns the council may have about her as an executive in the police department,” Livaccari said. “I think this period may make this process run a bit smoother than it would have otherwise.”