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Reports of rapes and murders were exaggerated { September 27 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/27/national/nationalspecial/27cnd-storm.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/27/national/nationalspecial/27cnd-storm.html
September 27, 2005
Police Chief Abruptly Resigns in New Orleans
By MARIA NEWMAN
The police superintendent of New Orleans, Edwin P. Compass III, abruptly resigned today, four weeks after Hurricane Katrina put the city under water and into chaos, with people who had stayed behind left for days to fend for themselves amid reports of looting and lawlessness.
"I served this department for 26 years and have taken it through some of the toughest times of its history," Mr. Compass said today at a news conference. "Every man in a leadership position must know when it's time to hand over the reins. I'll be going on in another direction that God has for me."
Neither Mr. Compass nor Mayor C. Ray Nagin would say why the police commissioner was stepping down.
"It's a sad day in the city of New Orleans when a hero makes a decision like this," said Mr. Nagin, who appointed the chief in 2002, shortly after Mr. Nagin took office. "He leaves the department in pretty good shape and with a significant amount of leadership."
Mr. Nagin named Mr. Compass's deputy, Warren Riley, acting superintendent. The mayor also said he would form a panel to look into how the city had handled the crisis after the storm.
"We need to do an analysis about what happened before and after the storm," he said. "The people deserve to know."
While the federal government has been widely criticized for not responding quickly enough to the overwhelming disaster that left this city and the surrounding region in tatters, there has also been growing criticism of how local officials and the police dealt with a city that appeared to unravel in many quarters after the storm breached levees holding back Lake Ponchartrain.
Mr. Riley, the new superintendent, said today that about 250 police officers, or about 15 percent of the force, would be investigated for leaving their posts without permission after the storm devastated the city.
During the first few days, as local officials grappled with the overwhelming disaster, Mr. Nagin and Mr. Compass were outspoken about how desperate the situation in their city was, though some of those statements are now coming under scrutiny, with some critics saying they exaggerated the situation.
An editorial in The Times Picayune today faulted the two New Orleans officials for their leadership during those first few days, and for their public statements about the direness of the situation.
"It's understandable that in the tense and fractured days after Katrina, frightened people reported rumor as fact, and soldiers, police and even elected officials believed what they heard and passed it on." the editorial said. "In the hell that descended after Katrina, almost anything, no matter how horrific, seemed possible.
"But now that we know better, it's essential that people like Mayor Nagin and Superintendent Compass set the record straight, just as forcefully. That might mean saying, 'I spoke too soon" or even, 'I exaggerated,' " the editorial said.
The newspaper said that during an interview by Oprah Winfrey, Mr. Compass said "that babies were being raped."
"Thank God it didn't happen," the editorial said.
Last Thursday, as he waited for Mayor Nagin to begin a press conference, Superintendent Compass held court with reporters, and he was asked about reports of rapes and murders at the city's Convention Center and the Superdome, where people had fled to escape the flooding.
He said those reports had been overstated.
"We have no official reports to document any murder," Superintendent Compass said. "Not one official report of rape or sexual assault."
Yet on Sept. 1, he told reporters that at the convention center: "We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten. Tourists are walking in that direction, and they are getting preyed upon."
The president of the city's police union, Lt. David Benelli, said today that he was stunned by word of Superintendent Compass's departure, saying that he had been an inspiring figure during the days after the storm.
"During the height of the storm, and through the dark times, we had very little communications and very little support from the federal government," he said. "The men and women of this department had the wherewithal and the spirit to keep this city together. That's due to the spirit of Eddie Compass. This has been unbelievably trying times for every individual police officer."
But Lieutenant Benelli said he trusted Mr. Compass's decision to leave now, at a time when he believes the city is on the road to recovery, and not sooner.
"I do know this - he would not leave the department in bad hands," he said.
The resignation will not distract the rank-and-file police officers from their mission of helping to restore the city, Lieutenant Benelli said.
"If we can withstand the wrath of Katrina, we can withstand a new police chief," he said.
Today marked the second day of the official reopening of New Orleans, which was pushed back last week when Hurricane Rita barreled down on the Gulf Coast.
President Bush made his seventh trip to the Gulf Coast, where he spent his day meeting with emergency officials and flying over devastated areas in Texas and Louisiana.
Mr. Bush, criticized for not responding quickly enough to Hurricane Katrina earlier this month, said very little publicly, making only brief remarks to reporters.
"This area's hurting," he said at a damaged air terminal in Lake Charles, La.
Mr. Bush met first this morning with officials in Beaumont, and then he got an aerial tour of the Texas-Louisiana border area where Hurricane Rita blew ashore last Saturday. He then met with Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana and Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré, who is leading military efforts in the recovery.
In Texas, the president also talked briefly about the need to restore power and fuel supplies to devastated areas.
"We fully understand that it's hard to maintain order if you don't have fuel for your cars and first responders," he said as he stood next to Texas Gov. Rick Perry in Beaumont.
On Monday, Mr. Bush asked Americans to help by using driving less and using other energy conservation measures.
Jim Dwyer and William Yardley contributed reporting for this article.
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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