By JONAH LOSSIAH
One Feather Staff
Blindsided is one of the only ways to describe Carla Neadeau as she was stepping into her new role.
CIPD Interim Police Chief Carla Neadeau (JONAH LOSSIAH/One Feather photo)
The now interim Police Chief of the Cherokee Indian Police Department was most concerned about the ongoing audit for the Tribal Jail that she was working through. Her focus quickly had to shift when Police Chief Josh Taylor told her he would be stepping down and that she was his top choice to step into the role.
“I didn’t know if I wanted to do it or not. I kept telling him that I didn’t know. That I was very hesitant about doing it,” said Neadeau.
“Because I’ve seen Police Chiefs come and go when new people are elected in. I’m the type of person that doesn’t want to play politics. If I’m going to get a job, I want to apply for it and get it. That’s how it’s going to work anyway, right now, because I’m just interim. I will have to apply for it if I decide to apply for it.”
After taking everything into consideration, Neadeau knew that the department her needed to take on the opportunity with confidence.
“My main purpose for taking this position is because I care about the people and the officers here. I talked to Josh about it. I told him I would do it because I want someone in here that’s going to take care of our people.”
Taylor said that offering the role to Neadeau simply made the most sense.
“Carla had the most years of experience as a captain, but I’ve known Carla since 2008. She has been a great person to me. A great friend. She cares about the community. I know that she is always looking to progress. I know that in the past she has been aggravated because the PD wasn’t growing at a positive rate, even though she was trying.”
Taylor said that Neadeau helped him significantly during his time with the Tribe, both before and during his run as Police Chief. He said that they have different management styles, but that he has full confidence in her ability to step into the role and lead the department.
“I learned from Chief Carla Neadeau and also Captain Carrie Wade that you can be a strong manager and leader, and you don’t have to be overly vocal. I’m a very vocal leader. I like to talk, I like to push. But they have a management style that has proven to me that you can be a very effective leader and not have to be overly vocal about it. They set the pace and the standard by their actions.”
Principal Chief Richard G. Sneed said that he was happy to work with the recommendation provided by Taylor.
“She brings a wealth of experience, she’s very strong on policy. Very well respected by the officers. Knows the department inside and out, has been there for a very long time. I think she has the temperament. When the Vice Chief and I met with her, she said ‘my last thing, what are your expectations?’ I said that we want to see what has been happening in the enhanced presence and patrols, keep the foot on the gas. That’s what our expectation is, but more importantly, it’s what the expectation of our citizens is.”
Chief Sneed said that they made a quick decision because they trust Neadeau and Taylor’s judgement. He said that this an interim role, but he’s hopeful that it’ll be a position that she can thrive in and hold moving forward.
“Obviously, we want to promote from within. I tell people all the time, police departments are paramilitary organizations. Whether people realize it or not, they are. To me, the only time that you bring in somebody from the outside is if you have a department that’s in crisis. You have to essentially bring a fixer in to set things right. We’re not at that point. In fact, under Chief Taylor’s leadership, the structure has been strengthened and corrected. I believe Captain Nadeau is the right person to continue to move the ball forward.”
Neadeau shared this sentiment with the Principal Chief, stating that she is thankful for the work Taylor put in over the last 11 months.
“I think he left it in a really good place. The morale has gone up within the department. He made a lot of changes. He made uniform changes. Overall the whole department was really happy with him. There’s going to be a few that don’t agree with changes that he was making, but he was making them for the better of the community and the department.”
One of the major changes that Taylor implemented was garnering the ability to discipline and terminate ‘at-will’. This power transitions to Neadeau.
“I know a lot of our people here were afraid of who was going to get the position whenever he announced that he was leaving because of the at-will. I had a lot of them come to me asking me who was going to be in charge. “
She said that she is just focused on the quality of work. Neadeau said that she does not want to take the position for granted.
“I will go by policy. I’m not going to pull someone in here and say, ‘oh, you’re fired because I don’t like you’. I’m not that type of person. I always want to work with people first. We still are going to follow the procedures that Josh said he was going to do in Council and see how they work out.”
It has been a whirlwind for Neadeau the last few weeks, but she is locked-in and ready to continue the work she has been energized by the last year. She said that she already has several major pieces she’s trying to take care on.
“Getting a team back out there that’s going to work on the drug problem. That’s going to be their main focus. Doing license checks, getting out there and getting the drugs off the street. I’ve been working with the captains and working on building a team that’s going to be part of investigations, but they’re going to work with this team so that they’re tied hand-in-hand. These investigators can work on the bigger cases.”
Neadeau is also still the main person in charge of running the jail. She said that she is currently working many late hours to ensure that the jail is taken care, as that was one of her main hesitations when looking at the Police Chief position.
Across the board, Neadeau said that she is confident in the leaders that are in the department right now. She wants to continue to listen to and empower her staff.
“More training for our guys. There are some that need more training. Right now, we are fully staffed on patrol. We do have some probation positions open that haven’t been advertised because we’re tweaking the job descriptions right now. But there are a few of those that will be advertised soon.”
Something as simple as having a full patrol unit is something that brings a smile to Neadeau’s face.
“It’s been a long time since they’ve been fully staffed. It’s been a few years. Probably more than a few years.”
Neadeau said that it’s an honor to be entrusted in the role and that she wants to work tirelessly for her people. She said that the safety and growth of her Cherokee people is her paramount focus.
“The Cherokee Indian Police Department is often called to respond to the worst event in someone’s life. Like a car wreck, robbery, or assault. The community having trust that its police are working hard to make them safe is incredibly important to its overall well-being. Reducing trauma to our children by combating crimes like drug trafficking and interpersonal violence is how we make things better for the youth in the next seven generations.”
