by Bob Walsh
Yes, it's true. The Oakland, CA PD has its sixth police chief in about 35 minutes. (OK, that is a slight exaggeration but only a slight one.) This one is a superannuated white woman from Memphis.
Anne Kirkpatrick, 57, comes to Oakland by way of Chicago, and several PDs and one S O in Washington State as well as her home town of Memphis. Her most recent gig was head of Professional Standards (the Rat Squad) in Chicago. In fact she began interviewing for the gig in Oakland about 15 minutes after she got the job in Chicago. (OK, another slight exaggeration, but only very slight.)
Notably absent from the swearing in was the Oakland Fire Department Chief, Teresa Reed. She has been on leave for about a month, came in on Monday and then disappeared on leave again. There is supposed to be a story there, but I have no idea what it might be.
It is hard to say how long Kirkpatrick will be there. The new civilian police commission, which was started up by voter initiative in November, has the power to fire the Chief of Police.
Chief Kirkpatrick has said that she has a strong take on "broken windows" policing, without making an overly negative impact on disadvantaged communities. Maybe it's just me, but that sounds a lot like promising to take care of the rich neighborhoods and let everybody else fend for themselves.
The last two chiefs lasted less than a week for the both of them together so we will see how she does.
EDITOR'S NOTE: She looks like a traveling chief (similar to a traveling nurse). Wonder what her next destination will be and when.
1 comment:
Traveling Nurses take offense to the editors note. A Chief of Police today is a politician. A traveling Nurse isn't.
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