I think 200, out of 1500, which is not 1/3 but closer to 1/7. Not good, but I think without doubt they were a low paid force for a major city.
NEW ORLEANS, LA, United States (UPI) -- The stresses and horrors of Hurricane Katrina has led more than 200 New Orleans police officers to quit, and two to commit suicide.
Edwin Compass, the superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, told the New York Times most of his officers were staying at their posts, but said morale was 'not very good.'
He said some officers told their superiors they were leaving, others worked for a while and then stopped showing up, while others never made it in after Monday`s storm.
Ever since, many of the force`s 1,500 members have had to work around the clock, trying to cope with flooding, a crush of refugees, looters, snipers and corpses littering the streets.
'If I put you out on the street and made you get into gun battles all day with no place to urinate and no place to defecate, I don`t think you would be too happy either,' Compass said.
Fire department officials said they weren`t aware of any firefighters who had quit.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International |
