Former Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick has been selected as the final candidate to take over leadership of the New Orleans Police Department. 

In a statement posted to her city’s website Monday, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said she picked Kirkpatrick after a nationwide search. 

“I am grateful that Anne Kirkpatrick has accepted the opportunity to lead the New Orleans Police Department and continue improving our city’s public safety through a collaborative, holistic approach,” Cantrell said. 

The New Orleans City Council still must approve Kirkpatrick’s hiring, according to Cantrell’s statement. 

Kirkpatrick was fired by the Oakland police commission and then-Mayor Libby Schaaf in 2020 after almost three years on the job.  

She subsequently won a federal whistleblower lawsuit in which she alleged her firing was in retaliation for reporting several instances of police commissioner misconduct, including alleged attempts to use their offices for personal gain, seeking special treatment from the police department and inappropriately meddling in the department’s operations, among other things.

The city eventually agreed to settle the case for $1.5 million. 

Before coming to Oakland, Kirkpatrick held senior leadership positions in police department’s in Chicago and Spokane, Washington.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.