Posted on 09/03/2005 9:26:08 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 3 - Reeling from the chaos of this overwhelmed city, at least 200 New Orleans police officers have walked away from their jobs and two have committed suicide, police officials said Saturday.
Some officers officially told their superiors they were leaving, police officials said. Others worked for a while and then stopped showing up. Still others, for reasons not always clear, never made it in after the storm.
The absences come during a period of extraordinary stress for the New Orleans Police Department. For nearly a week, many of its 1,500 members have had to work around the clock, trying to cope with flooding, an overwhelming crush of refugees, looters and occasional snipers.
P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of police, said most of his officers were staying at their posts. But in an unusual note of sympathy for a top police official, he said it was understandable that many were frustrated. He said morale was "not very good" after nearly a week of deprivation and danger.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Thank God these losers weren't in NY during 9/11.
The cops who ditched their uniforms and kept their police cars should be put in jail.
I feel sorry for them. They had to do everything. There was no leadership, and no one was doing anything. The people were looking to them and them alone until Bush took over. Now that the Feds are in control, these guys can just flip NO the bird for the way they were used.
I guess the Governor and the mayor felt the hurricane was just a little "nuisance" or just something that should be considered a "law enforcement problem."
I'll bet they're glad Bush took over that mess. If he hadn't, people would still be dying down there, and the governor would be still be screaming " It was Gore who really won the 2000 election!"
This chaos was a result of the passive attitude that both the governor and mayor took immediately after the hurricane passed. How can you expect your cops to enforce any law and order when you have the state's own Attorney General practically justifying the looting that occured?
And Blanco is more responsible, as she put politics above protect and serve. She just wouldn't let her law enforcement officials (including the Guard) be aggressive for fear they might kill these same "poor, black people" whose actions they were excusing for days. She could forget about the black vote. Now, she can forget about any vote.
NO PD was known across the country among other PD;s that it was one of the worst and most corrupt police depts. BTW, the regulations were the police officer HAD to live within the city limits.
Ah, Hellll....just redesign all of the rebuilt NO as a Naval Base!
nothing like commitment, and selfless, civic minded public service.
Now the carriage is stuck and it won't return, plus that tape got ink all ove my fingers.
ping
It will be interesting to see what the MSM picks up and how they report this (if they ever do)
regards - red
NO KIDDING, for some of these officers taken their lives is horrible. Some of these guys put up with a lot of crap during Mardi Gras. But it must have been some overwhelming consequences to take a bullet to your head. Weak mind? I don't know. Lost home, lost family, etc, most likely. Maybe pinned down by gangs (white I bet)and decided to kill him/herself instead of letting them win.
In the last 15 years, the City of New Orleans Police Department has dropped the standard of acceptance into the academy. The PD has been under state and federal investigation for multiple violations including the killing of witnesses for drug dealers, bribes, etc. Some officers are doing time for these crimes.
I am sadden by what has happened to a City I grew up in. I can just thank the political leaders that have been around for the last 24 years who have not done a GDthing to improve the situation there.
Now we take the refugee's here in Texas, Florida, and Arkansas. We will see what happens.
Of course it's Bush's fault, though.
Nothing else like those 086 model notebooks
Believe me they are still lurking. Dillusions die hard
There is no doubt that via the corruption factor...NO is number one. One might suggest Chicago or New York...but NO has corruption across the entire spectrum. If you want to change a property zone...you have to bag at least one city council guy. If you need special security because you've been robbed three times in one year...then either you hire a private guard or deal with the corrupt police department. The city survives of three basic things...permanent around the year tourism, oil money, and corruption.
But here is an interesting scenario. This city will be closed down for at least 60 days before anyone is allowed to step back in. It will be six months before the infrastructure is 100 percent and sanitary there. Jobs and normalization...won't even begin to occur till May of 2006....and even this it will be 18 percent unemployment in the city for several years before tourism reaches its former state. Those corrupt city officials and department officials...aren't going to find ready cash flowing. Fed money is going to flow via Fed methods...to prevent corruption. Alot of the down&out folks aren't going to come back to NO...they will stay in Houston or Dallas...resettling permanently there. So maybe the corruption situation will evolve and dry up over the next two years. It is possible.
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