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Suicides, resignations hit New Orleans police department
There may be no better way to explain the desperation on the city's ravaged streets than this: In the past few days, two police officers took their own lives and dozens have turned in their badges.
New Orleans Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley on Sunday identified two officers who committed suicide as Sgt. Paul Accardo, the department's spokesman, and Patrolman Lawrence Celestine. He called both "outstanding cops" and friends.
"Both of them," he said, shaking his head slowly. "Used their own guns."
Several dozen of the city's 1,600 police officers have failed to report for duty, and some have turned in their badges.
Published reports put the number as high as 200, but Riley declined to comment on those figures, saying more than 100 officers may have been trapped in their own homes or unable to reach command centers.
"We just don't know," he said, standing outside a downtown command center set up in the driveway of Harrah's casino.
But a moment later, Riley motioned back in the direction where several dozen heavily armed officers milled around, eating and smoking. He said he didn't care -- not at the moment.
"We still have at least a thousand policemen out here trying to rescue people and take back the city. I don't know what's in their minds. I don't know what gives the others out here their adrenaline, what gives them their push."
On top of the burdens of law enforcement, officers have had to forage for food and water and even for places to relieve themselves.
"Our officers have been urinating and defecating in the basement of Harrah's Casino," Police Superintendent Eddie Compass said last week. "They have been going in stores to feed themselves."
They also have had to deal with personal losses.
"What's affected most of our officers is they don't know where their wives or kids are. They don't have homes. ... They don't have anything," Riley said.
That sentiment was echoed by Capt. Kevin Anderson, commander of the 8th District, which includes the fabled French Quarter.
"It hurts to the heart, but I don't have the luxury of dwelling on who's not here. "We'll welcome them back with open arms maybe someday. But that day ain't today."
Exhaustion was evident in the officers' faces and even their dress. Many were wearing T-shirts and blue jeans brought in by fellow officers.
"We're having to find clothes for some," Riley said. "The only reason I'm dressed in a uniform is that I didn't lose my house."
Some police who remained on the job expressed outrage that some of their fellow officers abandoned the city when it most needed law and order.
"This is our area," said one officer, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified because he feared retribution from commanders. "I was raised in this town. I'm not giving this city up. Police are turning in their badges and running away."
Officers also have struggled with the emotional impact of the devastation.
"The most stressing part is seeing the citizens we serve every day being treated like refugees," Riley said. "There were cops walking through the crowd at the convention center and people were coming up to beg for food. Not being able to help is a difficult thing. People were calling our names because we know them and to not be able to help, man, that's stressful."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/04/katrina.police.ap/index.html
"Both of them," he said, shaking his head slowly. "Used their own guns."
Several dozen of the city's 1,600 police officers have failed to report for duty, and some have turned in their badges.
Published reports put the number as high as 200, but Riley declined to comment on those figures, saying more than 100 officers may have been trapped in their own homes or unable to reach command centers.
"We just don't know," he said, standing outside a downtown command center set up in the driveway of Harrah's casino.
But a moment later, Riley motioned back in the direction where several dozen heavily armed officers milled around, eating and smoking. He said he didn't care -- not at the moment.
"We still have at least a thousand policemen out here trying to rescue people and take back the city. I don't know what's in their minds. I don't know what gives the others out here their adrenaline, what gives them their push."
On top of the burdens of law enforcement, officers have had to forage for food and water and even for places to relieve themselves.
"Our officers have been urinating and defecating in the basement of Harrah's Casino," Police Superintendent Eddie Compass said last week. "They have been going in stores to feed themselves."
They also have had to deal with personal losses.
"What's affected most of our officers is they don't know where their wives or kids are. They don't have homes. ... They don't have anything," Riley said.
That sentiment was echoed by Capt. Kevin Anderson, commander of the 8th District, which includes the fabled French Quarter.
"It hurts to the heart, but I don't have the luxury of dwelling on who's not here. "We'll welcome them back with open arms maybe someday. But that day ain't today."
Exhaustion was evident in the officers' faces and even their dress. Many were wearing T-shirts and blue jeans brought in by fellow officers.
"We're having to find clothes for some," Riley said. "The only reason I'm dressed in a uniform is that I didn't lose my house."
Some police who remained on the job expressed outrage that some of their fellow officers abandoned the city when it most needed law and order.
"This is our area," said one officer, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified because he feared retribution from commanders. "I was raised in this town. I'm not giving this city up. Police are turning in their badges and running away."
Officers also have struggled with the emotional impact of the devastation.
"The most stressing part is seeing the citizens we serve every day being treated like refugees," Riley said. "There were cops walking through the crowd at the convention center and people were coming up to beg for food. Not being able to help is a difficult thing. People were calling our names because we know them and to not be able to help, man, that's stressful."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/04/katrina.police.ap/index.html
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The last week has been a series of nonstop rescue missions, shootouts in the night and forays into foul-smelling shelters in response to gunshots and reports of rape for Sergeant Sandoz and the others on the New Orleans police force. And like most everyone else in New Orleans, police officers have been traumatized by the loss of homes and family members.
Morale on the police force is in tatters. About 500 officers - a third of the force and far more than previously estimated - have dropped out of the daily lineup. Some of them may still be in houses cut off by the storm or may have simply gone off to help their families and will eventually return. But most of the missing officers have either told their superiors that they were quitting or simply walked off the job. Two officers have shot themselves to death.
Sergeant Sandoz and his urban commandos, one of the city's toughest, most elite units, have absorbed much of the violence in stride. Unlike some other officers who have succumbed to the pressure, the sergeant said he was not going anywhere except into the streets to do his job.
"You just suck it up and drive on," he said. "I'll be here as long as they need me. I'm not running away from anything."
Still, he reserved judgment, as did many others, of the officers who have abandoned the force or collapsed.
Sergeant Sandoz and his commandos have been tested by the long hours and the nagging inconveniences, like shortages of gasoline for their cars and other supplies. They expressed concerns, like many others, about the security of their jobs in a city that is taking steps to shut down for repairs. They wonder whether they will be paid for the overtime that they are logging under near-battlefield conditions.
...
He wrote a note telling anyone who found him to contact a fellow officer. He was precise, and thoughtful, to the end. Then he stuck a gun into his mouth and killed himself.
Accardo, 36, was one of two city police officers who committed suicide last week as New Orleans descended into death and destruction after Hurricane Katrina swept through. He was found in an unmarked patrol car Saturday in a downtown parking lot.
His funeral is planned for Wednesday.
Back when life was normal and structured, Accardo served as one of the police department's chief spokesmen. He reported murders, hostage situations and rapes in measured words, his bespectacled face benign and familiar on the nightly news.
"Paul was a stellar guy. A perfectionist. Everything had to be just right," recalled Sgt. Joe Narcisse, who went to police academy with Accardo and worked with him in the public affairs office.
Uniform crisply pressed, office in order, everything just right on his desk. That was Accardo.
"I'm the jokester in the office. I'd move stuff on his desk and he didn't like that," said Capt. Marlon Defillo, Accardo's boss. "He was ready to call the crime lab to find out who messed with his desk."
Maybe, Defillo reckoned, he killed himself because he lost hope that order would ever be restored in the city.
Read More
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/06/police.suicide.ap/index.html
Pat