NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s administration released the candidate assessment scores for three finalists in the search for a new New Orleans Police Department superintendent on Monday, July 31.
Interim Superintendent Michelle Woodfork is among the finalists, but her assessment scores are the lowest of the three. The evaluations are in a report released by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which led the search.
The IACP provided the city with a cover letter outlining the search process and the evaluations for each candidate.
The three finalists, in order of highest evaluation, are:
- Thedrick Andres, Sr., who’s a former chief of police in Henderson, Nevada
- Anne Kirkpatrick, former chief of police in Oakland, California
- Superintendent Michelle Woodfork, 32-year veteran of the NOPD
Six candidates participated in the assessment in New Orleans from July 20 to 21. The Cantrell administration said two applicants withdrew from the process before the finalists were chosen.
What is not clear yet, is how much of those scores are based on the assessment made by the IACP, or the assessment made by city and community leaders.
New Orleans City Councilman J.P. Morrell, who’s been critical of the process from the beginning, told WGNO Monday that “the scores are interesting but [were] provided without context or the benefit of [council] participation in the search.”
Morrell went on to say that “the lack of transparency in this process, as well as limited stakeholder participation, limits its usefulness.”
“The Governmental Affairs Committee looks forward to receiving the mayor’s selection to begin public confirmation hearings,” said Morrell.
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