THATJEFFGUY
09-06-2005, 02:48 PM
I thought this was pretty interesting...
September 4, 2005
Law Officers, Overwhelmed, Are Quitting the Force
By JOSEPH B. TREASTER
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 on Saturday.
Some officers 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."
"If I put you out on the street and made you get into gun battles all day
with no place to urinate and no place to defecate, I don't think you would
be too happy either," Mr. Compass said in an interview. "Our vehicles can't
get any gas. The water in the street is contaminated. My officers are
walking around in wet shoes."
Fire Department officials said they did not know of any firefighters who had
quit. But they, too, were sympathetic to struggling emergency workers.
W. J. Riley, the assistant superintendent of police, said there were about
1,200 officers on duty on Saturday. He said the department was not sure how many officers had decided to abandon their posts and how many simply could not get to work.
Mr. Riley said some of the officers who left the force "couldn't handle the
pressure" and were "certainly not the people we need in this department."
He said, "The others are not here because they lost a spouse, or their
family or their home was destroyed."
Police officials did not identify the officers who took their lives, one on
Saturday and the other the day before. But they said one had been a patrol
officer, who a senior officer said "was absolutely outstanding." The other
was an aide to Mr. Compass. The superintendent said his aide had lost his
home in the hurricane and had been unable to find his family.
Because of the hurricane, many police officers and firefighters have been
isolated and unable to report for duty. Others evacuated their families and
have been unable to get back to New Orleans.
Still, some officers simply appear to have given up.
A Baton Rouge police officer said he had a friend on the New Orleans force
who told him he threw his badge out a car window in disgust just after
fleeing the city into neighboring Jefferson Parish as the hurricane
approached. The Baton Rouge officer would not give his name, citing a
department policy banning comments to the news media.
The officer said he had also heard of an incident in which two men in a New
Orleans police cruiser were stopped in Baton Rouge on suspicion of driving a
stolen squad car. The men were, in fact, New Orleans officers who had
ditched their uniforms and were trying to reach a town in north Louisiana,
the officer said.
"They were doing everything to get out of New Orleans," he said. "They
didn't have the resources to do the job, or a plan, so they left."
The result is an even heavier burden on those who are patrolling the street,
rescuing flood victims and trying to fight fires with no running water, no
electricity, no reliable telephones.
Police and fire officials have been begging federal authorities for
assistance and criticizing a lack of federal response for several days.
"We need help," said Charles Parent, the superintendent of the Fire
Department. Mr. Parent again appealed in an interview on Saturday for
replacement fire trucks and radio equipment from federal authorities. And
Mr. Compass again appealed for more federal help.
"When I have officers committing suicide," Mr. Compass said, "I think we've
reached a point when I don't know what more it's going to take to get the
attention of those in control of the response."
The National Guard has come under criticism for not moving more quickly into
New Orleans. Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, the head of the National Guard Bureau,
told reporters on Saturday that the Guard had not moved in sooner because it had not anticipated the collapse of civilian law enforcement.
Some patrol officers said morale had been low on the force even before the
hurricane. One patrolman said the complaints included understaffing and a
lack of equipment.
"We have to use our own shotguns," said the patrolman, who did not want to
be identified by name. "This isn't theirs; this is my personal gun."
Another patrol officer said that many of the officers who had quit were
younger, inexperienced officers who were overwhelmed by the task.
Some officers have expressed anger at colleagues who have stopped working. "For all you cowards that are supposed to wear the badge," one officer said on Fox News, "are you truly - can you truly wear the badge, like our motto said?"
The Police and Fire Departments are being forced to triage the calls they
get for help.
The firefighters are simply not responding to some fires. In some cases,
they cannot get through the flooding. But in others, they decide not to send
trucks because they are needed for more serious fires.
"We can't fight every fire the way we did in the past and try to put it
out," Superintendent Parent told a group of firefighters on Saturday morning
at a promotion ceremony in the Algiers section of New Orleans, a dry area.
Even facing much more work than could possibly be handled, he said, it was
important for him to take time out for two promotion ceremonies.
"The men need reinforcement," said Mr. Parent, who put on his last clean
uniform shirt for the ceremonies elevating 22 officers to the rank of
captain. "They need to see their leader and understand that the department
is still here and not going to pot."
September 4, 2005
Law Officers, Overwhelmed, Are Quitting the Force
By JOSEPH B. TREASTER
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 on Saturday.
Some officers 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."
"If I put you out on the street and made you get into gun battles all day
with no place to urinate and no place to defecate, I don't think you would
be too happy either," Mr. Compass said in an interview. "Our vehicles can't
get any gas. The water in the street is contaminated. My officers are
walking around in wet shoes."
Fire Department officials said they did not know of any firefighters who had
quit. But they, too, were sympathetic to struggling emergency workers.
W. J. Riley, the assistant superintendent of police, said there were about
1,200 officers on duty on Saturday. He said the department was not sure how many officers had decided to abandon their posts and how many simply could not get to work.
Mr. Riley said some of the officers who left the force "couldn't handle the
pressure" and were "certainly not the people we need in this department."
He said, "The others are not here because they lost a spouse, or their
family or their home was destroyed."
Police officials did not identify the officers who took their lives, one on
Saturday and the other the day before. But they said one had been a patrol
officer, who a senior officer said "was absolutely outstanding." The other
was an aide to Mr. Compass. The superintendent said his aide had lost his
home in the hurricane and had been unable to find his family.
Because of the hurricane, many police officers and firefighters have been
isolated and unable to report for duty. Others evacuated their families and
have been unable to get back to New Orleans.
Still, some officers simply appear to have given up.
A Baton Rouge police officer said he had a friend on the New Orleans force
who told him he threw his badge out a car window in disgust just after
fleeing the city into neighboring Jefferson Parish as the hurricane
approached. The Baton Rouge officer would not give his name, citing a
department policy banning comments to the news media.
The officer said he had also heard of an incident in which two men in a New
Orleans police cruiser were stopped in Baton Rouge on suspicion of driving a
stolen squad car. The men were, in fact, New Orleans officers who had
ditched their uniforms and were trying to reach a town in north Louisiana,
the officer said.
"They were doing everything to get out of New Orleans," he said. "They
didn't have the resources to do the job, or a plan, so they left."
The result is an even heavier burden on those who are patrolling the street,
rescuing flood victims and trying to fight fires with no running water, no
electricity, no reliable telephones.
Police and fire officials have been begging federal authorities for
assistance and criticizing a lack of federal response for several days.
"We need help," said Charles Parent, the superintendent of the Fire
Department. Mr. Parent again appealed in an interview on Saturday for
replacement fire trucks and radio equipment from federal authorities. And
Mr. Compass again appealed for more federal help.
"When I have officers committing suicide," Mr. Compass said, "I think we've
reached a point when I don't know what more it's going to take to get the
attention of those in control of the response."
The National Guard has come under criticism for not moving more quickly into
New Orleans. Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, the head of the National Guard Bureau,
told reporters on Saturday that the Guard had not moved in sooner because it had not anticipated the collapse of civilian law enforcement.
Some patrol officers said morale had been low on the force even before the
hurricane. One patrolman said the complaints included understaffing and a
lack of equipment.
"We have to use our own shotguns," said the patrolman, who did not want to
be identified by name. "This isn't theirs; this is my personal gun."
Another patrol officer said that many of the officers who had quit were
younger, inexperienced officers who were overwhelmed by the task.
Some officers have expressed anger at colleagues who have stopped working. "For all you cowards that are supposed to wear the badge," one officer said on Fox News, "are you truly - can you truly wear the badge, like our motto said?"
The Police and Fire Departments are being forced to triage the calls they
get for help.
The firefighters are simply not responding to some fires. In some cases,
they cannot get through the flooding. But in others, they decide not to send
trucks because they are needed for more serious fires.
"We can't fight every fire the way we did in the past and try to put it
out," Superintendent Parent told a group of firefighters on Saturday morning
at a promotion ceremony in the Algiers section of New Orleans, a dry area.
Even facing much more work than could possibly be handled, he said, it was
important for him to take time out for two promotion ceremonies.
"The men need reinforcement," said Mr. Parent, who put on his last clean
uniform shirt for the ceremonies elevating 22 officers to the rank of
captain. "They need to see their leader and understand that the department
is still here and not going to pot."