New Orleans police fire 50+ for desertion
45 officers, 6 civilians fired for abandoning posts before or after Katrina
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News tonite via MSNBC, originally sourced to AP, that the New Orleans police department has fired more than 50 individuals for desertion either just before, or after Hurricane Katrina struck the area.
I'll get to the original materials shortly, but I'm really left to ask many questions on the issues that these actions bring up.
We place a very high burden on our emergency responders. At one point in time Hurricane Katrina was anticipated to be a very powerful category 4 or even possibly a category 5 Hurricane. Though slow in ordering evacuations the town of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana ordered mandatory evacuations over fears of loss of lives in the area. And yet the people of New Orleans apparently expected, or at least the police department of New Orleans, expected their employees -- emergency responders that they are -- to be on the ready, to remain in the area, to be there to protect property, maintain order and control, and be ready to help in rescue efforts that would be needed if the devestation that was anticipated actually took place.
One has to wonder, if things hadn't gone so horribly wrong after Katrina - if the levees held, the flood waters never came, and near miss that was seen early on was just that, would the efforts to tar and feather these emergency responders exist today? What I mean is, if the worst that happened was a bit of looting or destruction happened while the people had fled, would society (meaning the police department, the citizens, the elected politicians, etc.) be looking for a pound of flesh from these police personnel?
Is it completely unexcusable that some of these personnel were more concerned over their own personal safety, or possibly the safety of their own families, and they may have fled and sought safe shelter elsewhere? Would we be reading articles talking about the stupidity of people that stayed behind in the face of imminent danger, or would there really be someone (perhaps like myself in a minor way here) pointing out that our emergency responders are called to perform the impossible, many times in the face of great potential personal danger.
We ask so much of those that serve for us. We ask it of our military personnel, we ask it of rescue workers, of law enforcement and others, and yet we excuse ourselves and our friends for running in the face of danger. Not only do we excuse it, we encourage it. We instead decry the stupidity of ignoring such danger.
When we make mistakes, we laugh them off. Lose a bunch of money in business, no problem, you'll make it up later. Watch your business fall apart around you (akin to George Costanza's boss Kruger on Seinfeld) and no one really cares, save for perhaps the people directly impacted by the loss of their jobs.
On the other hand, if someone else's life is potentially destroyed or lost because an emergency responder fails to come through, we are ready to charge crimes of negligence, abandonment, desertion and more.
When do we stand up and recognize that what we ask of these people is perfection, and that we can't have it. No one in this world is perfect, never has been, and never will be. Argue that point with me if you dare, I have a few come backs there too.
Anyway, on to the original article. Headline is linked. Please see original article for complete story rather than just the snippet.
New Orleans police fire 51 for desertion
45 officers, 6 civilians fired for abandoning posts before or after Katrina
NEW ORLEANS - Fifty-one members of the New Orleans Police Department — 45 officers and six civilian employees — were fired Friday for abandoning their posts before or after Hurricane Katrina.
“They were terminated due to them abandoning the department prior to the storm,” acting superintendent Warren Riley said. “They either left before the hurricane or 10 to 12 days after the storm, and we have never heard from them.”
Police were unable to account for 240 officers on the 1,450-member force following Katrina. The force has been investigating them to see if they left their posts during the storm.
The mass firing was the first action taken against the missing officers. Fifteen other officers resigned when placed under investigation for abandonment.
... more at linked article
I'll get to the original materials shortly, but I'm really left to ask many questions on the issues that these actions bring up.
We place a very high burden on our emergency responders. At one point in time Hurricane Katrina was anticipated to be a very powerful category 4 or even possibly a category 5 Hurricane. Though slow in ordering evacuations the town of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana ordered mandatory evacuations over fears of loss of lives in the area. And yet the people of New Orleans apparently expected, or at least the police department of New Orleans, expected their employees -- emergency responders that they are -- to be on the ready, to remain in the area, to be there to protect property, maintain order and control, and be ready to help in rescue efforts that would be needed if the devestation that was anticipated actually took place.
One has to wonder, if things hadn't gone so horribly wrong after Katrina - if the levees held, the flood waters never came, and near miss that was seen early on was just that, would the efforts to tar and feather these emergency responders exist today? What I mean is, if the worst that happened was a bit of looting or destruction happened while the people had fled, would society (meaning the police department, the citizens, the elected politicians, etc.) be looking for a pound of flesh from these police personnel?
Is it completely unexcusable that some of these personnel were more concerned over their own personal safety, or possibly the safety of their own families, and they may have fled and sought safe shelter elsewhere? Would we be reading articles talking about the stupidity of people that stayed behind in the face of imminent danger, or would there really be someone (perhaps like myself in a minor way here) pointing out that our emergency responders are called to perform the impossible, many times in the face of great potential personal danger.
We ask so much of those that serve for us. We ask it of our military personnel, we ask it of rescue workers, of law enforcement and others, and yet we excuse ourselves and our friends for running in the face of danger. Not only do we excuse it, we encourage it. We instead decry the stupidity of ignoring such danger.
When we make mistakes, we laugh them off. Lose a bunch of money in business, no problem, you'll make it up later. Watch your business fall apart around you (akin to George Costanza's boss Kruger on Seinfeld) and no one really cares, save for perhaps the people directly impacted by the loss of their jobs.
On the other hand, if someone else's life is potentially destroyed or lost because an emergency responder fails to come through, we are ready to charge crimes of negligence, abandonment, desertion and more.
When do we stand up and recognize that what we ask of these people is perfection, and that we can't have it. No one in this world is perfect, never has been, and never will be. Argue that point with me if you dare, I have a few come backs there too.
Anyway, on to the original article. Headline is linked. Please see original article for complete story rather than just the snippet.
New Orleans police fire 51 for desertion
45 officers, 6 civilians fired for abandoning posts before or after Katrina
NEW ORLEANS - Fifty-one members of the New Orleans Police Department — 45 officers and six civilian employees — were fired Friday for abandoning their posts before or after Hurricane Katrina.
“They were terminated due to them abandoning the department prior to the storm,” acting superintendent Warren Riley said. “They either left before the hurricane or 10 to 12 days after the storm, and we have never heard from them.”
Police were unable to account for 240 officers on the 1,450-member force following Katrina. The force has been investigating them to see if they left their posts during the storm.
The mass firing was the first action taken against the missing officers. Fifteen other officers resigned when placed under investigation for abandonment.
... more at linked article