Maybe the City Council should have a say over who the police chief appoints too. They’ve already gained control over the mayor’s appointees. And given who Interim Chief Michelle Woodfork has surrounded herself with, there may be some questions in order. Let’s meet some of these people, starting with her 2nd in command.
Captain Hans Ganthier. Never heard of him? Well you should’ve. Ganthier was one of the off-duty officers involved in the Beachcorner incident. Remember, that’s when a gang of white off-duty NOPD officers jumped 4 black off-duty RTA workers after an argument in the bathroom line. They kicked and stomped one of the workers, then planted a gun on him, then tried to cover it up by getting an innocent bystander to help falsify a police report.
Ganthier was listed as one of the officers directly involved in the beating. Now Woodfork has appointed him as her right-hand man. Should there be outrage? Belden “Noonie Man” Batiste thinks so.
“You tell me we gon make this man the 2nd in charge when we got a black mayor who says she’s a black woman, but she hires somebody who beat 2 black people up and possibly called them the n-word? Something is wrong with that system to me.”
Last week, mayor Cantrell, for some reason, voluntarily revealed that she had a say over who Woodfork did and did not appoint.
“Think about it,” Batisite said, “if she’s saying that, then she’s saying the chief don’t got no power. But for the police to do the job they need to do; we need a police chief that the mayor can’t control. That’s the problem with this city.”
Woodfork’s other move was promoting Captain Nicholas Gernon to Deputy Chief of Professional Standards and Accountability. This is an interesting choice, considering that the Independent Police Monitor just investigated Gernon. And they concluded that his standards and accountability weren’t up to par during an investigation he led.
Gernon was tasked with determining whether there was some shadyness in how summons were issued after Batiste and then council member Jay Banks had a dust up. 6 officers, including a captain, 2 lieutenants, and 2 sergeants showed up at Batiste’s house to issue a minor summons. Yet, Banks was allowed to simply pick his up from a police station.
Somehow Gernon failed to conclude that a show of force of that magnitude wasn’t an act of intimidation or that Banks received preferential treatment. The Police Monitor wasn’t shy about calling that out in their report.
The report “asserts that Investigating Officer Capt. Gernon should have conducted a more thorough investigation into the allegations of disparate treatment and whether then-Councilmember Jay Banks’ political status had any influence over the involved officers.”
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And then again it says, “In reviewing this investigation, the OIPM concluded that Investigating Officer Capt. Gernon should have also considered the appearance and the perception that could be created by seeing a group of officers, including a district captain, two lieutenants, and two sergeants, showing up at a house unannounced to serve a summons for a minor offense.”
Ironically, one of the involved officers was Interim Chief Woodfork herself. Gernon cleared her. And now, she’s given him a promotion. Banks, meanwhile, got a position in the mayor’s office. In contrast, Batiste, one of the leaders of the mayoral recall, got harassed.
“Make this make sense to me,” Batiste said. “Woodfork is just promoting all of her friends. And we got good officers stepping down behind these appointments. It’s just another example of the favoritism and nepotism that 86% of officers said they was tired of.”
Some might say there’s nothing to see here. That it’s just an example of Woodfork getting a top position and bringing along the people she trusts most to help her serve. Possibly, but their performance and reputations precede them.
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“I’m asking for justice,” Batiste said. “We need a plan and we need a plan now. People are being robbed, carjacked, bust in the head, and how we supposed to believe in this chief when she promoting people who cover up crimes? If she’s doing that, what else is she about to do?”
Being that the national search for a permanent chief is off to a less than stellar start, it looks like Woodfork will hold the position for a while. So going forward, we are all about to get a front row seat to see exactly what she’s about to do. Hopefully, in a good way, we’ll all be in store for a nice surprise.
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Ganthier is just a status seeker with no real vision or leadership skills. The whole time he was in command at the 8th district, he reduced morale and spent most of his time having busy detectives guarding his parking spot. Gernon should have his job. He’s honest. Gernon is a true crime solver, he really cares about people, and he increases morale, and most importantly, he’s honest.