Topline: New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick has faced calls for her resignation after a terrorist attack on New Year’s Day left 14 dead.
Regardless of her job status going forward, Kirkpatrick has already made a small fortune for herself. She collected almost $3 million from taxpayers between 2016 and 2023, including salary and legal settlements, according to a review from OpenTheBooks.com.
Key facts: Some critics believe the terror attack, committed with a truck, could have been prevented had New Orleans police installed anti-vehicle barriers around the French quarter.
When questioned by reporters, Kirkpatrick said the police had owned barriers since 2017. She just “didn’t know” they existed.
Kirkpatrick’s $337,943 salary was the second-highest in New Orleans in 2023 and almost double Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s earnings of $188,370.
She was also the chief of police in Oakland, California for just over three years, where she earned over $1 million in total salary.
She was fired in February 2020 but sued for wrongful termination, netting $1.5 million after a federal jury ruled in her favor.
Kirkpatrick also held jobs in Chicago — where she earned $98,309 for roughly six months of work — the FBI and five cities in Washington.
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Background: New Orleans’ city council held a hearing on Jan. 8 to investigate if additional safety measures could have prevented the attack, but Kirkpatrick refused to answer questions. She also said she would not resign.
At the meeting, Kirkpatrick announced she is conducting her own investigation with the help of former New York Police Commissioner William Bratton, whose consultant contract is being paid by the nonprofit New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation. The nonprofit received $662,677 from the city in 2023, according to its tax forms.
Another investigation — the third one — was launched by a group of law firms representing almost two dozen people injured by the attack, according to ABC News. One of the firms, Romanucci & Blandin, represented George Floyd’s family in a successful lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis.
Summary: If Kirkpatrick can’t even keep track of her department’s inventory of safety equipment, she might face difficulty counting all the money she’s received from taxpayers in the last few years.
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