NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is expected to name Anne Kirkpatrick as her selection for the city’s next police superintendent, sources revealed to WWL-TV. The police chief retread still needs to be approved by the city council.
Kirkpatrick has had several stops along her path. She began her law enforcement career at the Memphis Police Department before moving to the Redmond Police Department in the State of Washington. She later served as Chief of Police for several years each in Ellensburg, Federal Way, and finally Spokane. She was also second in command of the King County Sheriff’s Office, along with positions as a criminal justice professor in college and a leadership instructor with the FBI.
The mobile police leader was then hired by the Chicago Police Department in 2014 to be Chief of the department’s Bureau of Professional Standards, and was later one of three finalist for the superintendent’s position, which eventually went to Eddie Johnson.
Kirkpatrick then became Chief of Police with the Oakland Police Department in 2017 before running into conflicts with the city’s police commission. Former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and the police commission unanimously voted to fire her in 2020, Law Officer reported.
New Orlean’s apparent choice of Kirkpatrick would seem to be a bit of a surprise as interim superintendent Michelle Woodfork, an in house veteran with NOPD, has run the police agency for more than six months. She previously told WWL-TV that she believed she was a “shoo-in” for the position.
