TheShepherd said:Jeez, it's pretty serious when the police are looting, killing themselves over stress and just plain leaving the force.
Police Shoulder The Stress
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 6, 2005
New Orleans Police Strained
"There's no police department in the history of the world that have gone through what we're going through."
New Orleans Police Chief Edwinn Compass
(CBS) There are few people more angry â “ or more disappointed over the lack of help from the outside â “ than those who had to shoulder the burden alone.
Help finally arrived, but CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan reports that no one has been under greater stress in New Orleans than the police and firefighters.
"There's no police department in the history of the world that have gone through what we're going through," said New Orleans Police Chief Edwinn Compass. "But guess what? We're still standing and we'll still be here."
But barely. As many as 200 New Orleans police officers have walked off the job â “ mostly the younger ones, we're told.
But there are hundreds more who are missing â “ either stranded or dead â “ and others who have respectfully turned in their badges to deal with personal issues. At least 80 percent of the force lost their homes â “ or worse.
"There are a lot of officers that don't know where their kids are, they don't know where their wives are, their spouses are," said W.J. Riley, asst. superintendent of police.
"I have men who lost their families who are putting criminals in jail," Compass said. "We get in shootouts every night, they're shooting at our cars. They tried to take me hostage!"
The stress is taking its toll. Two of Compass' officers have already committed suicide â “ a breaking blow â “ that brought the chief to his knees.
"Any time you lose a guy who wears a blue shirt, it's hard, especially to that," said New Orleans Police Captain Tim Bayard.
It's hardly better for the city's firefighters.
"My house was two blocks from the break," said one.
Still, they're struggling to keep the city from burning to the ground without any water, electricity, or reliable communication.
"I'm just kinda numb," said Officer Sgt. Chuck Little who took just an hour off duty to check on his home, which was devastated by Katrina. "How do you fix something like that? I ask you?"
Little didn't even have time to answer his own question. Five minute later he was back on the job.
bossi said:Please exercise caution, and compassion, when speaking about the police officers who committed suicide - I read that they'd lost their entire families, or in other words - everything on Earth that they loved ...
Also, the media may have jumped to conclusions and misled or misportrayed reports of resignations - another explanation is that these officers did the "honourable thing" and resigned when faced with a conflict between duty to their family or the job. A difficult decision, especially if you were a young officer with a young family ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/06/eveningnews/main821585.shtml
FastEddy said:As LEO's we take a oath to Protect and Serve and Defend the Citizens of our Country and Comunity.
As for the Honorable Resignations, what a crock of B..L Sh..T, by that token I guess you think its alright for the U.S. soldiers coming to Canada to avoid Active Service (for what ever reasons).
bossi said:Glad to see we can count on your compassion ...
And, please turn yourself in for using crack - nothing I said could even be remotely linked to your wild leap of logic (for what ever reasons ... [sic]) - what're you going to call me next, a Nazi?
Grow up (or is that something they didn't teach you at the Wal-Mart of cop-ology?
2332Piper said:Someone's never been to Toronto (no offence to anyone in Toronto of course).
Don't start that game, we have our fair share of troublemakers (like people stealing generators and food during the ice storm in '98).
bossi said:The Toronto thing was after a particular sports event, when criminal elements took advantage of the throng to mask their activities - not the same as post-disaster looting ...
As for Op RECUPERATION (the Ice Storm): Where and with what unit were you deployed?
2 CMBG? 31, 32 or 33 CBG? Oh, wait - I forgot - you're just a cadet ...
There were very few instances of generator theft, and the OPP or the local community dealt with them.
Theft of food? Please explain.
One of the major food chains was giving away free groceries, both as a charitable act and in order to avoid having perishables rot on their shelves ... thus I'm intrigued to hear about theft of free food ...
In other words, looting is more than extremely rare in Canadian society - it verges on being non-existent, even under the most dire circumstances. This is a fact documented in civilian Emergency Management literature and training.
redleafjumper said:... Like you, I expect that anyone who posts a particular claim should be able to support that claim with verifiable evidence, ... Perhaps 2332Piper should provide more information to back up his comment ...
bossi said:As for Op RECUPERATION (the Ice Storm): Where and with what unit were you deployed?
2 CMBG? 31, 32 or 33 CBG? Oh, wait - I forgot - you're just a cadet ...