Frankly, given the performance of the governor and mayor, who continued to actively interfere with efforts to mitigate the disaster long after the feds and Red Cross tried to step in to help, I think police officers who deserted should be pretty low on the list of people to criticize. I mean, what the heck are troops really expected to do, when their commanding officers retreat to safe ground and simply refuse to address the ongoing battle?
I agree, it's all about leadership. Still LT. Waller's, of what I would call, cowardice, shows that the LA leadership was more than lacking.