It was all smiles Thursday in Metairie, as Causeway leaders announced Nick Congemi as their new police chief.

Congemi said the Causeway Police Department does a magnificent job keeping the bridge safe, but he knows his police department is wounded.

“I think that we have to be really sensitive to the morale of the men and women of the police department because every time something happens you tend to lump the whole organization into it, and that's really not the situation here,” he said.

Of course, the something that happened is a high profile traffic stop, when Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price drove through a barricade. The mayor admitted to drinking, but officers did not give him a field sobriety test.

The officers involved were fired, and Chief Felix Loicano resigned.

Congemi says he will emphasize to his officers. “Look, don't worry about the politics, just do your job.  And it's as simple as that.  The only time you get in trouble is when you try to do something a little unusual.”

Causeway General Manager Robert Lambert says in the time between when Felix Loicano resigned and now, every causeway officer has been briefed about no one getting special treatment on the Causeway Bridge.  He referred to it as rule 422, a reference that April 22 traffic stop of Mayor Price.

“If the same thing that happened on April 22 happens, and a motorist says they've been drinking and they've been in an accident, they will get the field sobriety test or they will be terminated,” Lambert said.

Lambert says officers will not be allowed to call anyone else to ask a question.

A five-member panel unanimously picked Congemi from a group of 18 applicants.  Congemi will make $90,000 per year and hopes to start in a week.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Norman says both he and St. Tammany Sheriff Jack Strain are very comfortable with the choice.

Congemi brings 36 years of law enforcement experience to the Causeway, including 16 years as the Kenner Police Chief.

He says the Causeway Police Department may need some tweaking and a morale boost, but not an overhaul to put the Price incident behind them.