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 by an Islamic State-inspired attacker who drove a truck down Bourbon Street and killed 14 people in the French Quarter on New Year's Day. Bratton specializes in risk assessment and response with the New York-based firm Teneo, the Associated Press reports. Bratton’s contract is being paid for by the nonprofit New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, Kirkpatrick said.
With the City Council prepared to begin its own investigation into the incident, Kirkpatrick assumed a defensive stance into the circumstances of that day. “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. 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 citizens' advocacy group.
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