New Orleans’ 65-Year-Old DEI Police Chief Faces Backlash Amid Reports of Teaching FBI Course on ‘Bias and Diversity’

Screenshot: 4WWL

In the aftermath of a shocking terrorist attack in New Orleans, Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, a prominent advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, finds herself under scrutiny—not only for the city’s lackluster response to the attack but also for her controversial involvement in teaching FBI courses on “bias and diversity.”

The early morning attack, allegedly perpetrated by Shamsud Din Jabbar on January 1, exposed glaring miscommunication between the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) and federal agencies. Kirkpatrick initially described the incident as a “potential terror attack.”

However, another DEI, Special FBI Agent Alethea Duncan, who wore a nose ring, directly contradicted this at the same press conference, stating, “This is not a terrorist event. What it is right now is there were improvised explosive devices that were found, and we are working on confirming if this is a viable device or not.”

The mixed messaging left the public questioning: Which is it?

Mixed messages was it a terrorist attack or not pic.twitter.com/rs7QZbHJ90

— Karli Bonne’ (@KarluskaP) January 1, 2025

Anne Kirkpatrick’s leadership style is now under the spotlight. According to The Tennessee Star, Kirkpatrick serves as a National Instructor for the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Association’s Leadership Training Program, where she teaches topics such as “bias and diversity” and “emotional intelligence.”

Critics argue that this emphasis on DEI and related “woke” initiatives detracts from the hard-nosed law enforcement strategies needed to address violent crime and terror threats effectively.

Anne Kirkpatrick, New Orleans elderly, female police chief ran over 2 people in her car in August.

Before being hired in New Orleans, she was the head of police in Oakland, California… where she was fired.

She later sued Oakland and got a $1.5 million settlement. pic.twitter.com/2NfEdSUIwX

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) January 1, 2025

The Tennessee Star:

Kirkpatrick, who leads the NOPD as it responds to the early in the morning terrorist attack allegedly committed by Shamsud Din Jabbar on January 1, was described as an instructor for the FBI program by the National Press Foundation (NFP) in 2024. She was a panelist for the foundation in January 2024, when the group said Kirkpatrick recommended police increase their engagement with journalists.

The website explains, “In addition to executive leadership experience, Kirkpatrick is a National Instructor for the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Association’s Leadership Training Program, where she instructs on topics including, but not limited to, Bias and Diversity, Emotional Intelligence and Leading Generations.”

Prior to the selection of Kirkpatrick to lead NOPD in September 2023, the Memphis, Tennessee native was chief of the Oakland Police Department (OPD) in California between 2017 and 2020.

Kirkpatrick was ultimately fired in 2020 by the city’s mayor and the Oakland Police Commission, a citizen-led group that maintained extensive authority over the California city’s police force. The commission could have fired Kirkpatrick without the mayor’s involvement, if it had accused Kirkpatrick of wrongdoing while on the job, but instead fired Kirkpatrick claiming public trust in her leadership was “irrevocably lost.”

Two months later, Kirkpatrick sued Oakland in May 2020, when The San Francisco Chronicle reported she claimed members of the Police Commission “frequently abuse OPD staff and interfere in day-to-day operations.”

Kirkpatrick was also tasked with fulfilling the terms of the federal government’s consent decree with OPD, but called for the federal monitor in Oakland to be fired after she was terminated from the position.

She later said ending the federal consent decree imposed over NOPD would be one of her top priorities after she was confirmed.

The post New Orleans’ 65-Year-Old DEI Police Chief Faces Backlash Amid Reports of Teaching FBI Course on ‘Bias and Diversity’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.