NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced Tuesday that Michelle Woodfork, a 32-year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department, will serve as the department's interim superintendent while a consultant conducts a search for a permanent replacement.
Cantrell said that the city will bring in a consultant to conduct a search, which she said will also include candidates from inside the department, like Woodfork, who she believes are qualified to become the next superintendent.
“It’s a search with a real focus on leadership that we have within. I believe one hundred percent that starts with Michelle Woodfork but also other men and women within our department that deserve fair considerations,” Cantrell said.
The mayor stopped short at calling the process a "national search," instead saying anyone can apply. She made it clear that Woodfork would also be in the running for the permanent post.
Mayor Cantrell says she's done a lot of listening to members of the New Orleans Police Department and that weight heavily on her interim appointment and search process. She didn't put a time frame on selecting a permanent chief, but said it won't be a long and drawn-out process.
Outgoing Superintendent Shaun Ferguson is stepping down from the role later this week. Woodfork will take over as interim chief on December 22.
"I am honored and humbled to serve as interim superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department," Woodfork said. "And I understand that with this appointment comes great responsibility and accountability."
Woodfork joined the department in 1991 as a patrol officer in the city's seventh district. In her 32-year career, she has worked in five of the city's police districts. She is the niece of a former NOPD Superintendent, Warren Woodfork, and her father was a former NOPD officer.
“I’m proud of what my family has done and proud of my uncle and I think this is a historic thing, but the most important thing is the people of the city of New Orleans,” Woodfork said.
Woodfork is a graduate of St. Mary's Academy and Southern University at New Orleans where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in criminal justice. She says she grew up in New Orleans East and still lives in that community with her son.
Ferguson has said his successor should come within the ranks of current members of the department — putting him at odds with City Council members who called for a nationwide search. Some on the City Council want a wide-ranging search for a new chief as New Orleans deals with dwindling police manpower and an alarming increase in violent crime that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The men and women of the police department, they need your support. We need your support. It is important that their safety and their wellness is supported by us and also by the community,” Woodfork said.
Cantrell could technically appoint Ferguson's successor by the end of the year so she can avoid having to secure City Council approval that would be required under a new voter-approved requirement that takes effect Jan. 1. City Council president Helena Moreno said Cantrell shouldn't make the appointment without council backing. On Tuesday, Cantrell said that there would be no appointment before the end of the year, a decision that Councilman Eugene Green said was a move in the right direction.
“Everybody has to work together. We need to focus, especially in 2023, on all the agencies of criminal justice working together to reduce crime in our city,” Green said.
Ferguson announced his retirement after four years as chief punctuated by a disastrous building collapse near the French Quarter, two hurricanes, a pandemic, dwindling police manpower and a violent crime surge that put residents and politicians on edge.
“I will still be your neighbor and I will always be a part of this city that I love so much,” Ferguson said in his statement announcing his retirement.
Ferguson succeeded Michael Harrison, who left New Orleans to head the Baltimore police department in January 2019.
Challenges Facing New Superintendent
As it did under Harrison, the New Orleans department under Ferguson continued to win praise for progress in implementing reforms outlined in a court-approved agreement with the U.S. Justice Department nearly a decade ago.
But manpower has dwindled to well under 1,000 officers, down from 1,300 a few years ago. Increases in violent crime, including homicides and carjackings, have contributed to a fall in Cantrell's political popularity — she's facing a recall effort just over a year after an easy re-election victory.
Ferguson and Cantrell have noted nationwide crime increases and police morale problems that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. They also have blamed problems at the department in part on costly monitoring and other requirements imposed on the department under the consent decree.
The city has moved to end the federal oversight which arose after scandals involving deadly police violence following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but the judge in the case has given no indication she will do so.
Meanwhile, the department's critics, including union officials, say a lack of confidence in department leadership and an allegedly overzealous internal affairs investigation unit have contributed to low morale.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.