New Orleans... Who Is the Police Chief and Why it Matters....

We've already seen the cringe worthy first news brief on the fateful day after of the New Orleans terror attack. It was at best amateurish, neither instilling confidence in the authorities, to outright wrong, with a local FBI agent declaring that the incident was not a terrorist attack, yet it was so obvious to all other professional observers on the ground at the time that it indeed was one. Makes you scratch our heads to say, who are these "leaders" who of all things - didn't quiet do a sufficient job to secure the basics around Bourbon Street?

Let's start with the Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department who so famously said, to the extent, the terrorists simply defeated our strategy.

Her name is Anne Kirkpatrick. She easy enough has an education sufficient to run an organization that includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from King College in 1982, and a Master of Science degree in Counseling from the Memphis State University in 1984 and a Juris Doctorate, Law at Seattle University School of Law in 1989 according to her Wikipedia profile.

What is interesting is that she was the former chief of police of Oakland, California. The lovely city that has been beleaguered with left and progressive political leadership. Oakland's crime has been so bad, that recently major businesses such as Kaiser advised their staff not to go out to lunch and risk becoming a victim of crime. Other businesses that include IN and OUT, Black Bear Diner, Subway, Denny's, and a few others opted to actually close their businesses due to the security issues that included on-site muggings, multiple car break-ins, numerous robberies and other crimes.

With that, Kirkpatrick who was appointed by the former Mayor, Libby Schaaf (another liberal on crime advocate) in 2017. In 2020, the Oakland Police Commission unanimously voted to fire Kirkpatrick, with Schaaf joining the vote as the trust in Kirkpatrick was "irrevocably broken". She later filed a lawsuit and won a reward of $1.5 million from the City of Oakland.

Kirkpatrick in 2023 was hired as the interim superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department. In 2024 Kirkpatrick struck two pedestrians with a vehicle while on duty.

Hmm, is this person really the ideal person who knows the complexities of dealing with terror threats and how to truly manage a large urban police force that hosts events that include Mardi Gras, the Super Bowl, and a few others? We hope that she does not get a pass in regards to her leadership (or lack thereof) in the management of the physical security of the New Year's attack.