AP has rundown of NOPD condition, situation
Tags: nopdThe AP summary/conglomeration of other articles printed here as "New Orleans Police Struggle With Upheaval" contains mostly non-news personal interest story stuff. It also has this:
When Katrina passed, the department found itself without communications, with officers cut off from each other and headquarters. Lawlessness spread through the city. Rescue workers reported being shot at. Police Superintendent Eddie Compass publicly repeated allegations - later debunked - that people were being beaten and babies raped at the convention center.
I don't know if I'd call those assertions "debunked". Some have certainly tried their best to do so. Yet, all those personal accounts are still out there. I guess some people would like them to have been debunked, and that's all that matters.
At least two officers took their own lives in Katrina's aftermath. Compass resigned last month. At the same time, the 1,450-member department said it was investigating nearly 250 officers accused of leaving their posts and 12 suspected of looting or condoning looting. Authorities are also looking into allegations officers took nearly 200 cars from a Cadillac dealership during the storm.
On Saturday night, Robert Davis was bloodied by officers using their fists, and another officer attacked an Associated Press Television News producer who helped capture the incident on tape.
