Emerging from a two-year retirement, former Kenner Police Chief Nick Congemi was named the new Lake Pontchartrain Causeway police chief Thursday, vowing to boost moral in a department recently mired by scandal.

“I’m deeply humbled they have accepted me,” Congemi said flanked by news cameras and print journalists at a press conference. “My heart is truly in this job.”

Congemi replaces former Police Chief Felix Loicano who resigned last month alongside three other officers who either resigned or were fired in the aftermath of a controversial police stop involving Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price. Price admitted to drinking a few beers during the April 22 stop but was never tested and later let go.

Nick Congemi answers questions after being chosen as the new Causeway Chief of Police. (Staff Photo by Matthew Penix)

Congemi’s biggest challenge, he said, is to ensure the department’s “moral is lifted. They’ve been through a lot lately.”

“We have to be sensitive to the moral of the police department,” he said. “Anytime something like this happens you tend to lump the entire force” into a corrupt organization.

Congemi, a 32-year law enforcement veteran, who served as Kenner Police Chief from 1990 to 2006, was chosen for the bridge’s top law enforcement post out of 18 applicants.

“We picked the right man for the right job at the right time,” Richard Lambert, Causeway general manager, said.

An advisory panel, headed by St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand, Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission Chairman Kyle France, Vice Chairman Frank Levy and Lambert, “whittled” the candidates down to three this week before choosing Congemi.

“We obvious feel we picked the most outstanding of those applicants,” France said.

The search for a new Causeway police chief began July 1 when Loicano stepped down from his 8-year post after a special investigation report found his “judgment will always be questioned” following the Price stop late April 22.

Price, who had admitted to drinking “a few beers,” ran into a traffic barricade despite warnings to stop, snapped it and continued to drive south three miles with his headlights off. Sgt. Chris Dupont and Officer Chad Dorsett, who stopped Price, called Loicano during the traffic stop, but failed to issue Price a field sobriety test or immediately issue a ticket.

One of the officers involved resigned. The other and his immediate supervisor were fired. The fallout led to a flood of replacement applicants, including former 10-year New Orleans police officer Irv Magri Jr., who once hosted a 1960-era radio show devoted to law enforcement topics, and seven Northshore candidates. Congemi, however, a former two-term president of the Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police, was chosen unanimously.

“I can’t wait to get back to work,” he said Thursday.

Congemi, who retired two years ago as Kenner Police Chief to spend more time with his wife of 36 years and grandchildren, said the lure of law enforcement clawed him back to work. But now instead of working 24- to 36-hour shifts like in Kenner, he’s ready for “12 hour days again.”

Congemi will likely start the job within a week, he said, once final paperwork is signed.

Until then, Congemi said will continue reviewing the department’s internal procedures, a process that so far doesn’t need “any major overhaul.” However, Congemi, a self-described proponent of clear and precise rules said the department’s handbook will likely be rewritten to be more clear-cut.

Already, Causeway officials have added rule “4-22,” in memory of April 22, the day Price was stopped, Lambert said.

That rule states anyone who admits to drinking or is an accident will be immediately tested for alcohol. In addition, officers who make a stop “are not to call anyone” during the process, like they did during the Price stop, Lambert said.

The bottom line, Congemi said he told his officers, is “don’t worry about the politics, just do your job.”