NO Police LT. tries to justify his desertion during Katrina disaster (CNN transcripts)

CNN Transcrtipts ^ | 9/19/05

[Dane]

PAULA ZAHN: Well, because of all the chaos after Katrina, many New Orleans police officers, as I have just said, simply vanished. And their fellow officers called them all that and more. Well, tonight, for the first time, in an exclusive report, you're about to hear from one of those who left, a high-ranking officer, and hear why he made that choice.

Here's Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing, man? Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

(CROSSTALK)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the days of lawlessness, looting and flooding, something happened few people in New Orleans imagines was possible. Hundreds of police officers, like Lieutenant Henry Waller, abandoned their fellow officers and thousands of evacuees when they were needed most.

LT. HENRY WALLER, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT: I defend it by saying that I left them in a bad situation, but I have would have been leaving my wife in a worse situation.

Snip

H. WALLER: The one time that I know that I did the right thing and made the right decision, it's going to vilify me, that's difficult to deal with.

Snip.

H. WALLER: We listened to the radio. And we're hearing the things, the water is still rising. The water is still rising. The water is still rising. The looting is this. The looting is that.

Snip

H. WALLER: I got with another lieutenant in the First District, who essentially told me, look, you're a supervisor. You can't scare these guys. If they know you're scared, they're going to be scared. And I said, flat out, I said, you know what? I am scared. Everybody here is scared. And the bottom line is, I'm not going to tell these guys everything is going to be OK when it's not going to be OK.

[votelife]

Go here, this is a Katrina video tearjerker, very well done!

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/bommer/Praise%20you%20in%20this%20storm.wmv

[Milligan]

What is the standard of living in New Orleans?

Still...they had a job to do and they deserted their post. All they had to do is evacuate their families ahead of time.

People not thinking ahead here! If they didn't book out of town the looters wouldn't be backing up the aid coming into New Orleans.

That's what happen!

[SauronOfMordor]

One point is, when the city pays cops a poverty wage, don't be surprised when thugs get recruited and stiff like this happens. You get what you pay for. NOPD was vastly underpaid and acted like it.

I think they're better paid than the average Marine, yet you don't hear much about Marines cutting and running

[ReignOfError]

His wife was in Baton Rouge, safe. She was afraid for her husband's safety, and her father was and is still missing. She says blame her.

She wasn't sworn to protect and serve. He was. Blame him.

I'm somewhat sympathetic to the "family comes first" position, but there were thousands of families counting on this cop to bring their loved ones back to them. Lt. Waller may one day be in a similar position, counting on a fellow officer, or a soldier or firefighter to protect his family, and I wonder if he'd be so sympathetic if they bailed in the face of danger.

[radiohead]

The Deserters should be terminated.

I'm fine with that. Whether you're a cop working w/one of these cowards as a partner or a citizen looking for help, you could never trust these people again.

[teenyelliott]

Rex, thanks for being polite, even though we disagreed.

To everyone else, I never said that this world does not need heroes. And good cops, firefighters, and soldiers are absolutely that. Real life heroes.

But not everyone is made of hero material. And I don't think that makes a person terrible. Some people are just people, and that is what makes heroes stand apart from the rest of us.

But I also think that good dads are heroes, and good husbands are heroes, too. Maybe not to everyone else, but to their families they are.

Maybe this guy should never have been a cop in the first place. I don't know, and it's not for me to say. Maybe he should not get his job back.

He will always feel guilty about it. But he did what he thought was right, and that was staying with his family. And I will not fault him for that.

[teenyelliott]

Where would our country be, if everyone had your same sense of duty.

We'd be screwed, because I am a chicken. I am no hero.

Not only that, but I am a mother of three young children, and I would never risk leaving them.

That is why I worship our soldiers, as well as police officers and fire fighters. They are made of stronger stuff than I am, and for that I am grateful.

[FFIGHTER]

I understand.

[FFIGHTER]

Median Income is $27,133 per household with a cost of living index of 94.9.

[mom4kittys]

I will bet money that these officers will be hired back. It is disgusting.

[teenyelliott]

: )

[DilJective]

One point is, when the city pays cops a poverty wage, don't be surprised when thugs get recruited and stiff like this happens. You get what you pay for. NOPD was vastly underpaid and acted like it. I don't agree with that at all! Those policemen earn a lot more than over half of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Would you expect soldiers to take off when the going gets tough? Pay has nothing to do with loyalty and discipline. The cops who went AWOL should be fired and banned from EVER working in that field again. As a matter of fact, they should NEVER work in any field that requires people to actually be dependable. I'm embarrassed for those cops. That excuse is an insult to those policemen with a sense of DUTY.

[DilJective]

Hundreds of thousands got out- why couldn't the wives leave? As a soldier, I lived overseas for over 13 years and have had to have evacuation plans (non-combatant evacuation plan, as it's called) for my family and ALWAYS expected to stay behind in the face of danger while my family is taken to safety. Police officers know that their jobs require them to be in the line of danger- no surprise there. To use that lame excuse that he should worry about his family first is appalling.

I guess he didn't have any plans to get his family to safety, so as a result, other citizens had to fend for themselves and some even lost their lives to criminals. What a shame.

[DilJective]

But what about the families of those who were killed by criminals after the cops took off?

For those without the will to do the dangerous job, there are other lines of work. I wonder how many people were turned away for those jobs, who would have stayed to do their jobs?

There is no excuse for going AWOL as a police officer. He should never work as a cop again.

[Milligan]

I guess your a fire fighter.

Being unprepared for disaster is scary. I'm thinking getting into contact with Civil Defense in my state to see what I could do at the local level. I could help with supplies or something. We do have tornados and blizzards in Chicago. Just a thought. I'm not depending on the government for my welfare when things break down.

Was our government unprepared? Matt Milton said the National Guard didn't have watercraft to save people...I thought the Coast Guard had that and we're not fighting sea battles. Did all our good equipment go to Iraq?

..."The major thing that happened when Katrina hit was that communications were completely knocked out. Someone made that point to me the other day as if to ask, "So what are you going to do?" My reply - that's what the military is for. The military has mobile communication ability. That's why they are part of the first response in this kind of scenario. So what happened? Everyone's batteries in the portable radios went dead within a few hours because the industrial chargers that are supposed to keep the batteries hot were also guess where? Yep, Iraq."

http://www.bradleyweekly.com/melton.cfm?id=3453

[DilJective]

How about this: Enlisted Soldiers earn $1235.17 per month when they first come in- for a whopping total of $14,822 per year!! Underpaid cops? Really? I don't think so. Check out typical soldier pay rates here: http://www.army.com/money/payrates_enlisted_a05.html I lived in crappy WWII era barracks in Germany with plaster falling off the walls as a Sergeant for four years. The excuse that cops don't earn enough to be counted on is garbage. You should not join any civil service or military organization to get rich. That is the problem- we all think people should be able to make great salaries doing this type of work. It asks people to do some really dangerous things and you really can't put a price on that. You have to want to do it out a sense of duty, not for money. I love wearing the Army uniform and have done it for 21 years. I never expected to get rich, but the experience and pride I have make up for the low wages. These AWOL cops are a disgrace!!

[DilJective]

This guy took a oath to protect and defend the people of NOLA. You are absolutely correct. If you don't intend uphold the oath, don't take it. It's pretty simple. It's too bad these cops didn't take that oath to heart.

[DilJective]

Excellent point and analogy!!! Thanks for the chuckle!

[FFIGHTER]

Agreed. Their wages are around the median income for the city, along with decent benefits so that myth is just that a myth. Duty and honor have no price tag.

[cspackler]

But he did what he thought was right, and that was staying with his family.

From what I gather, his family was out of harm's way. If he wasn't willing to do the job, he shouldn't have taken it in the first place.