NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— It’s been one week on the job for interim NOPD Superintendent Michelle Woodfork.
Woodfork spoke with WGNO News about her plans for the department.
And while she may be currently serving as interim chief, Woodfork says her concentration is on the job she has been appointed to.
“I’m laser focused on attacking violent crime, recruitment and retention, getting to the self-monitoring phase of the consent decree. All of those things are important. Can I focus on who they might choose down the line? I have to do the job that I was selected to do now so that’s what I’m focused on,” said Woodfork.
As for retention among the ranks, the department has continued to see attrition. Some estimates state we’ve lost over 150 officers this year alone.
Officer morale is cited as a primary reason, and Woodfork vows to change the culture, “We’ve been doing the same thing for a very long time and it hasn’t been working for us, especially in this last year or so it hasn’t been working and I see that we need to change the culture here. We need to put people in places where they’re skill level is at it’s max. And until we do that, and stop with the favoritism and nepotism, ‘I want to put my friend in this spot or this position’, until we stop doing that, we’re going to get the same result.”