NEW ORLEANS — Anne Kirkpatrick has been serving as the interim NOPD Chief for a little over two weeks. But, before she gets the official title, she must go before the New Orleans City Council in the first ever confirmation hearing.
Councilmembers say because it's the first time they get the ultimate decision on Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s choice for a top-ranking position, it's unclear exactly how it'll go or the difference it'll make in the long run, but one thing for sure is they council and Kirkpatrick are preparing.
"I'm doing my due diligence," Councilmember Oliver Thomas said. "Hopefully there will be several questions about her executive experience, some of the encounters, clear up some of the stuff on her resumes some of the questions community may have."
"I got the nod from the mayor, but I still need to earn that and go for that with the confirmation of the council," Kirkpatrick told WWL-TV last week.
During Wednesday's confirmation hearing, Kirkpatrick will lay out her crime fighting plan and answer questions from the council. Then, the public will have a chance to comment.
Kirkpatrick has previously given WWL-TV insights into her crime fighting plan. In her first ever sit down tv interview, she told WWL-TV she plans on utilizing some of the strategies she used while she led the Oakland Police Department.
"Aggravated assaults, assaults that lead up to homicide, that's a loss of life and that will always be my number one," she said.
More recently, she told WWL-TV she plans on ending the consent decree.
"I've already met with the federal monitor, I've already met with the federal judge," she said. "We are close, there's an exit ramp, but we have to get to the finish line."
Whatever her plans include, PANO attorney Eric Hessler says she'll need more officers to do it.
"What it's going to take is manpower, for any crime fighting plan to be effective it's going to take manpower and therefore we have to go back to recruitment, retention," Hessler said.
The council will vote Oct. 19 on whether to confirm Kirkpatrick.
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