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

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said she had hired former New York Police Commissioner William J. Bratton as a consultant during a tense city council meeting Wednesday as officials and residents sought answers over security lapses after a terror attack that killed 14 people in the French Quarter.

Kirkpatrick also told councilmembers she won’t step down.

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

Kirkpatrick assumed a defensive stance as the city council prepares to launch its own investigation into the street barrier systems within and around Bourbon Street, where on New Year’s Day an Islamic State group-inspired attacker drove his F-150 truck around a police car blockading the street and rampaged down the city’s most famous thoroughfare.

Bollards, protective columns designed to block vehicle traffic, had been removed from the entrance of Bourbon Street because the city was in the process of replacing them. However, the replacement barriers being installed are not designed to stop a fast-moving truck, according to a Nola.com report.

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

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One group of law firms announced Wednesday that they have secured nearly two dozen victims of the attack as clients and are conducting their own investigation, stating that “officials were tragically aware and did not protect the public.” One of the firms, Romanucci & Blandin, helped George Floyd’s family secure a $27 million settlement against the city of Minneapolis after he was killed by a police officer.

Unanswered questions and a new security consultant

Kirkpatrick has been praised for helping lead the city’s troubled police department to the brink of ending more than a decade of federal oversight that was ordered after a history of mistreatment of African Americans and corruption. She took over the department in late 2023.

She told the city council that she lacked clarity about the inventory and condition of security systems around Bourbon Street. She had said the day of the attack that the city did not deploy wedge barriers because they “had malfunction problems” and that the attacker had “defeated” the city’s security plans.

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

Bratton specializes in risk assessment and response with the New York-based firm 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 review of our actions -- that is not today,” Kirkpatrick said, noting she was focused on her officers’ wellbeing after many responded to the traumatic incident.

Several councilmembers expressed concern over whether Bratton would work closely with the city council and complained that they had not been involved in his hiring. Councilmember J.P. Morrell urged the police department to engage the public as it evaluates security measures with Bratton.

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

Finger-pointing among officials

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

Collin Arnold, the department’s director, told The Associated Press he had not been invited to participate but would have done so if asked. The councilmember chairing the meeting, Oliver Thomas, told the AP that his staff had reached out to Arnold.

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

“The bollards would become clogged almost nightly with debris, and then they could either not be opened or not be closed. It became a real problem,” Arnold said.

He said his department was not involved in selecting or installing the new bollards.

Councilmember Joe Giarrusso warned that finger-pointing would persist “until we get a better handle on what governance looks like and who is responsible” for Bourbon Street security measures.

An outraged public

Members of the public expressed their frustrations with city officials at the meeting for failing to stop the attack from happening, with some saying it was the outcome of the city’s longstanding failure to bolster its ailing infrastructure.

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

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

“Who are we to rely on?” he said. “Who is supposed to 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 the social platform X: @jack_brook96.