New Orleans hires former New York police czar amid probe into security after attack

NEW ORLEANS– New Orleans Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said she had hired the former New York police commissioner William J. Bratton as an adviser during a tense city council meeting Wednesday as officials and residents searched for answers safety is lost after a terrorist attack killing 14 people in the French Quarter.

Kirkpatrick also told council members she will not resign.

“I will not resign,” Kirkpatrick said. “I believe I can be that person to lead us forward.”

Kirkpatrick took a defensive stance as the city council prepared to launch its own investigation into the barrier systems in and around Bourbon Street, where a New Year’s Day Islamic State group-inspired attacker drove his F-150 truck around a police car blocking the street and sped down the city’s most famous thoroughfare.

Bollards, protective columns designed to block vehicular traffic, had been removed from the Bourbon Street entrance as the city was working to replace them. However, the replacement barriers that are being installed are not designed to stop a fast-moving truck, according to a Nola.com report.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell has acknowledged that she could not confirm whether the new bollard system is sufficient to stop a similar vehicular attack. And on Monday, Attorney General Liz Murrill ordered a review of security measures put in place for the New Year’s celebrations and the Sugar Bowl.

A group of law firms announced Wednesday that they have secured nearly two dozen attack victims as clients and are conducting their own investigation, saying “officials were tragically oblivious and failed to protect the public.” One of the companies, Romanucci & Blandin, helped George Floyd’s family $27 million settlement against the city of Minneapolis after he was killed by a police officer.

Kirkpatrick has been praised for helping to lead the city troubled police department on the verge of the end of more than a decade federal supervision that was ordered after a history of mistreatment of African Americans and corruption. She took over the department at the end of 2023.

She told the council she had no clarity on the inventory and condition of the security systems around Bourbon Street. She had said on the day of the attack that the city had not installed wedge barriers because they “had interference issues” and that the attacker had “defeated” the city’s security plans.

She also told NBC last week she didn’t know the city had portable Archer barriers that could have been placed on sidewalks.

Bratton specializes in risk assessment and response at the New York-based company Teneo. Bratton’s contract is being paid for by the nonprofit New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, Kirkpatrick said.

Bratton and the foundation did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

“There will be a time and a place for reflective evaluation of our actions – that is not today,” Kirkpatrick said, noting she was focused on the well-being of her officers after many responded to the traumatic incident.

Several council members expressed concerns about whether Bratton would work closely with the City Council and complained that they had not been involved in his hiring. Councilman JP Morrell urged police to involve the public in evaluating security measures with Bratton.

“Right now, people are scared,” Morrell said.

Council President Helena Moreno noted that representatives from the city’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness were absent from the meeting and “may have the answers we were looking for.”

Collin Arnold, director of the department, told The Associated Press that he was not invited to participate but would have if asked. The council member who chaired the meeting, Oliver Thomas, told the AP that his staff had contacted Arnold.

Arnold said his department helped install the retractable bollards the city purchased in 2017, though he said it became clear they were “not made for Bourbon Street.”

“The bollards became clogged with debris almost every night, and then they could no longer be opened or closed. It became a real problem,” Arnold said.

He said his department was not involved in the selection or installation of the new bollards.

Councilman Joe Giarrusso warned that the finger-pointing would continue “until we get a better understanding of what governance looks like and who is responsible” for safety measures on Bourbon Street.

The public at the meeting expressed their frustrations with city officials for their failure to stop the attack. Some said this was the result of the city’s longstanding inability to consolidate its power. ailing infrastructure.

“The response (to the attack) was very well executed, but the preparation was absolutely an atrocity,” said Nellie Catzen, who heads a street improvement advocacy group.

Earl Hagans, a city resident, criticized officials for the lack of answers.

“Who should we trust?” he said. “Who should know these things?”

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on social platform X: @jack_brook96.