NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – As a police officer, her life was bound to be a page-turner.
WGNO Good Morning New Orleans features reporter Bill Wood is reading all about it.
Bill Wood wonders, “what makes a good book a good book?”
She says, “if I can see myself as the main character.”
She is in the library at New Orleans Hynes UNO Charter School.
She’s at the head of a third-grade class.
She says, “reading matters because it’s the pathway to any profession, you have to know how to read to navigate through life.”
She is Nahlisha Smith.
A 22-year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department.
As the school resource officer here, the kids call her Officer Nippie.
After a career in law enforcement, Office Nippie is still a cop on the beat.
But now, with a book.
And her very own book club.
It’s Officer Nippie’s Book Club.
Officer Nippie says, “when I walk into a classroom, it’s very rewarding to build those relationships and when they call my name Officer Nippie, it just fills my heart.”
When it comes to police and policing, people will always have their opinions.
In New Orleans, Officer Nippie reads between the lines.
Writing her own chapter.
In the book of life.
Bill Wood says, “your heart is an open book!”
Officer Nippie says, “cover to cover.”