The former head of New York City's massive police patrol division is set to join Mayor LaToya Cantrell's administration, in a move aimed at shoring up an embattled, shrinking police force.
Fausto Pichardo, who rose to become the second-highest ranking officer in the New York Police Department before he resigned abruptly in 2020, will act as a "consulting Chief of Operations," Superintendent Shaun Ferguson told officers in an email Wednesday.
Ferguson wrote that Pichardo is one of two former top NYPD officials who have recently conducted a "rapid 10-day assessment" of the beleaguered New Orleans force.
Ferguson told staff that Pichardo, 45, will stay on for "as long as six months" to roll out their recommendations and train a permanent replacement.
The unusual arrangement is Cantrell's latest response to soaring crime, lengthening emergency response times and public rancor aimed at City Hall, with a nascent mayoral recall campaign now underway.
It comes after recent surveys have shown that public confidence in both the NOPD and Cantrell have plummeted, and as business and community leaders grow increasingly vocal about the need for Cantrell to address rising violent crime rates.
In July, the Nola Coalition, a collection of dozens of businesses, nonprofits and advocacy groups, said they were banding together to try and help improve police retention and take other steps to combat violent crime.
Pichardo is being paid by the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, according to City Hall spokesperson Gregory Joseph.
Multiple sources say the administration also has been in discussions with John Linder, a nationally known policing consultant who previously worked with NOPD during a time of high crime rates.
In the 1990s, Linder and a former top-ranking NYPD officer, Jack Maple, helped bring the data-driven Comstat program from the Big Apple to the Big Easy. The NOPD's use of what was then cutting-edge software coincided with a decline in crime rates under former NOPD Superintendent Richard Pennington.
The extent of Pichardo's influence over the department while Ferguson remains as its chief is unclear. In his email to staff, Ferguson asked officers to "cooperate with Chief Pichardo as my representative."
Ferguson wrote that the two former New York police officials were tasked with reviewing operations to improve officer safety amid the department's manpower woes, improved crime-fighting and better responses to crimes in progress.
"Let me clarify what will happen during this period of time and what will not," Ferguson wrote. "First, my team will remain my team. There may be different roles and responsibilities for some but the mission and vision are the same."
In a prepared statement, Cantrell said the move to bring in Pichardo followed her meetings last month with the NOPD rank-and-file and stressed the importance of protecting police officers.
"Based on those roll call conversations, I immediately set in motion a course of action for the New Orleans Police Department that will lead to the implementation of policy and procedure changes designed to make our officers safer on the job," Cantrell said. "We are grateful that Fausto Pichardo has answered our call to serve the city of New Orleans."
Pichardo's hire comes as the department reels from a swift exodus of officers who have left complaining of unfair discipline and promotions, run-down gear, lax leadership, oppressive call backlogs and little sign of help on the way.
Among his tasks, Pichardo "will begin working with us today to ascertain exactly where our full-duty cops are and how they might soon be reorganized," Ferguson wrote.
According to media reports, Pichardo started as a police cadet in New York in 1997 and served as an officer in Midtown Manhattan before he rose to command a few of the city's most crime-ridden precincts. In 2019 he was elevated to chief of patrol, overseeing 77 city precincts.
Pichardo was a 24-year veteran overseeing some 17,000 patrol officers, and was the first Dominican American in the post, when he resigned. News accounts describe a rift with former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Staff writer Matt Sledge contributed to this report.
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