The city’s Ethics Review Board last month launched a nationwide search for an independent police monitor, potentially ushering in a leadership change for the civilian watchdog just as the New Orleans Police Department emerges from federal oversight.
The four-year term of the current monitor, Stella Cziment, expires in April, and she has not said whether she will seek re-appointment. Under the city’s Home Rule Charter, the board may reappoint the monitor at its discretion or launch a national search.
“(Cziment) said she may reapply, but she is not certain,” said Dane Ciolino, the board’s general counsel and executive administrator. “So the board doesn’t have a choice other than to do a national search. We hope she will reapply. But we have to do a search.”…