Photo Courtesy Of NOPD
New Orleans’ first Black police chief, Warren Woodfork, Sr., passed away on Wednesday, Mar. 9. He was 85.
The New Orleans Police Department posted the somber announcement via Twitter.
“#NOPDNews would like to extend sincere condolences and prayers to the family of former Superintendent Warren Woodfork who passed today,” they wrote. “Woodfork was the first African-American Superintendent of NOPD and served in that position from 1985-1991. RIP,” they wrote.
He was appointed by the city’s first Black mayor and civil rights advocate, Ernest Nathan “Dutch” Morial. In 2001, a decade after he left his post, Woodfork also appeared
in Time magazine for a story about the increase in Black police chiefs around the U.S.The late officer told the publication that he never desired to be a policeman as a child. He was reportedly born in 1936 and grew up in a New Orleans housing project.
“As a kid, I never had a desire to be a policeman,” he said.
However, he took a recruitment test at a police headquarters in his city, on a whim, in 1964, as he accompanied his friend who did the same. He was working as a postal clerk and had previously served in the U.S. Air Force.
Surprisingly, Woodfork ended up getting the job as a police officer and “fell in love with it.”
Woodfork began as a patrol officer and became the first commander of the Felony Action Squad in 1972. The group was defined as a team of plainclothes cops selected by the superintendent to focus on street crimes. They were even involved in intense shootouts.
“We solved a lot of the violent crime problems we find ourselves with again today,” he said in 2009, in response to the squad’s naysayers. He described New Orleans and its civic leaders who disagreed with his team’s tactics as “bleeding hearts.”
On Mar. 11, New Orleans Mayor, LaToya Cantrell, announced that the former NOPD chief would lie in state at the historic Gallier Hall next week.
“I send my heartfelt prayers and condolences to the family of former NOPD Chief Warren Woodfork, Sr., on his passing,” she wrote. “Chief Woodfork will lie in state at Gallier Hall next week.”
Cantrell also highlighted his lengthy career at NOPD, saying he worked very hard to protect their city for many years.
“Chief Woodfork was the first African American police superintendent in New Orleans history and worked tirelessly over his 28-year law enforcement career to protect our city and her people,” she said.