| directfiesta |
09-04-2005 05:35 PM |
Desperation: 2 NO police officers take their own lives
Shit .... Maybe a good photo-op for Dubya!
Quote:
Suicides, resignations hit New Orleans' thin blue line
NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? 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 lives with their own weapons and dozens have turned in their badges.
New Orleans' thin blue line has ruptured.
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.
Asked how they died, Riley put a finger to his temple, then paused.
"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.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...s_x.htm?csp=34
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Please remind me of which right wing GFY'er tought that sending the police force out of town and replacing them with National guards was an idiotic plan from the mayor ...
I just can't remember the nick of that genious ... :1orglaugh :1orglaugh |
