Christmas 2005 to October 2010

CIB Homeland Security

Trailers, Tabletop Drills, and Tactical Toys

After Katrina, the department was scattered like poker chips in a wind tunnel. Headquarters was still shut down, and officers were working out of trailers posted up all over the city. Some were along Lafitte Street near the old brake tag station. Others were set up in City Park, right on the tennis courts across from the children’s playground—a real tactical location, perfect for tennis and terror mitigation. That’s where Captain Mark Willow found me and asked the question that would send me into yet another unexpected chapter: “You want to come over to Homeland Security?” I said yes. Why not? The world had just ended; might as well try something new.

Our job? Manage hazardous materials protective gear, coordinate efforts between first responders, state and federal partners, and figure out how to keep the city from collapsing again. We dove into grant writing, focusing on buffer zone protection and critical infrastructure, which sounds incredibly boring but meant we got to order boats, heavy rescue vehicles, and even a BearCat SWAT truck.

Let me repeat that: They gave us a tank. For buffer zones. I had no idea what I was doing at first, but like everything else in my career, it turned into a crash course I didn’t know I needed.

From Trailers to Top Secret

Captain Willow eventually retired and was replaced by Captain Bobby Norton, who I’d worked with back in the 3rd District. Then Captain Mike Glasser took over. The leadership shifted, but the work stayed fascinating.

Suddenly, I was attending federal briefings, rubbing elbows with the FBI, applying for and getting secret clearance, and going to meetings and tabletop exercises with people who used phrases like “interagency synergy” without flinching.

I became part of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in City Hall, where I built relationships that still matter to me today. That’s where I met Cedric Palmissano, who later became a chief in NOEMS, and a long list of NOFD heavy-hitters who were just humble firefighters back then. The connections I made during this time were incredible—and somehow, they stuck.

I’m still in touch with a lot of them. Homeland Security may have been born out of disaster, but it gave me a real sense of purpose and a network of people who knew how to get things done.  

CIB: Cool Units and a Strange Twist

Somewhere along the line, Captain Jimmy Scott was made Deputy Chief of CIB—the Criminal Investigation Bureau, which no longer exists, but back then, it was the cool kids’ table of NOPD. It covered Homeland Security, Intelligence, the Bomb Squad, the Dive Team, and everything else that came with flashing lights and fancy gear.

Jimmy was, and is, a solid guy. Smart, calm, and good to his people.  I was glad to be working under him.

Of course, like many good things in my career, that relationship came back around years later… and caused me a bit of a problem. But that’s a story for another chapter.