Former Boston Police Commissioner William Bratton, who also later led the police in both New York City and Los Angeles, has been tapped to consult on policing and security in New Orleans following a terrorist attack that killed more than a dozen people in the French Quarter on the first day of the year.

“Today, I am honored to announce that Commissioner Bill Bratton has joined the New Orleans Police Department as a security consultant,” New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said at a press conference held Thursday afternoon. “Commissioner Bratton is a renowned security expert.

“Globally, he has advised governments and organizations on counter-terrorism, urban safety and major event security, making him truly one of the world’s leading authorities on public safety,” she added.

Bratton himself emphasized at the same press conference that he and his team are there to “collaborate” with local leaders on plans for preventing future instances of terrorism, which is “constantly evolving and changing, morphing in new directions.”

He said the collaboration will involve “The three Ps: Partnership; Problem-solving, those partners working together; and … prevention.”

“We’ve just come out of a 2 ½-hour initial briefing on Mardi Gras, Super Bowl, what’s being done,” he said. “Some members of my team will be in here beginning next week to start adding our influence, our thoughts, our ideas, to the many ideas that have already been generated.”

Mayor LaToya Cantrell said that in addition to Bratton, experts from federal agencies will also be in town to advise the city on public safety, especially as the city is set to host major events including the annual Mardi Gras celebration on March 4 and Super Bowl 59 at the city’s Caesars Superdome.

Superintendent Kirkpatrick first announced that she hired Bratton during a rather tense joint meeting of the Criminal Justice and Public Works committees of the New Orleans City Council Wednesday in which security lapses and security infrastructure were hotly debated.

“This is indeed a time of high emotions. It is also a time of clear-minded and steady leadership,” Kirkpatrick said in her opening statement in which she said she was not there to answer in-depth questions and would not be resigning from her role.

“I will not resign,” she said. “I believe that I can be that person to lead us forward and ask the right questions.”

During New Year celebrations along New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, U.S. Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, of Texas, drove a pickup flying an ISIS flag and killed a reported 14 people, according to the Associated Press, and injuring at least 30 before dying in a shootout with local police.

Kirkpatrick said that she and her entire department were grieving for those killed in the tragedy, as well as praying for the swift recovery of the two officers who were wounded while engaging Jabbar that day. During her grief, she said, a name came into her mind as the person who could help: William Bratton, who she called at the meeting “one of the top experts in this country on terrorism.”

She said that his consultation will be in addition to the city’s own public security plans for major events, in which she already has full confidence.

“We were able to show within 24 hours of this (terrorism) event that we could provide a very safe Sugar Bowl for visitors and our own city residents and we know that we are able to duplicate that,” she told the council members Wednesday. “The Super Bowl committee has confidence that our safety plans are solid.”

New Orleans police and federal agents investigate a deadly New Year’s Day truck attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Chris Granger/The New Orleans Advocate via AP, File)