New Orlean's Police Superintendent has his say

He took control of a decimated police department shortly after Hurricane Katrina. Since then, NEW ORLEANS POLICE SUPERINTENDENT WARREN J. RILEY not only led his officers through the storm, but he has also regained control of the city and has made positive plans for the future. Although he says he has gotten very little sleep since Katrina, and had taken very few days off, he sat down with EBONY magazine for an exclusive interview, where he talked about everything from the need for National Guard troops to the unfairness of the national media.

How has the New Orleans Police Department been affected by Hurricane Katrina?

Internally, with the aftermath of Katrina, we've had to deal with some of the most unique circumstances in the history of law enforcement. Our numbers right now are down. We've had issues to deal with like abandonment, where we fired some 84 police officers who were not here for the storm. We had two police officers who committed suicide. We have 300 police officers still living in hotel rooms. Over 800 of our officers lost their homes, completely wiped out by the storm. Not only their homes but all of their possessions. And some of those officers have not come back to the city. The state of the police department is relatively good, considering what we've been through. I'm the superintendent of police, and I'm in a trailer. Our headquarters received 11 feet of water ... No power for months. Three district stations flooded. We lost 298 cars, and have replaced about 90 percent of those ... What people around the country can't imagine is that this city was almost completely wiped out by the storm, and the devastation is far more than anyone can imagine. More than 80 percent of the city was covered by water. And it was here for 21 days. We were reduced to a third-world country for a significant period of time ... It was the closest thing to war that I've experienced.

You've worked side-by-side with members of the police department for some time. How did you feel about those officers who jumped ship before, during and after the storm?

Disappointed. Because, although some of them felt like they had a really good reason, our procedures allow for our officers to get their families out of town in certain situations. If you look at our citizens who stayed behind, and we never would have imagined that 50,000 people would stay behind, whether they were middle-class, poor, rich, all they had was the police and fire department. That's why we were supposed to be here; that's why we're here. So 84 who were fired, desired to be fired, regardless of the circumstance. When things get tough, that's when people need us the most. And that's when we need to be here the most. It's not only disappointing to the citizens, but disappointing to the fellow officers.

When you look back on the whole Hurricane Katrina tragedy, what frustrates you the most?

There have been times that I have been frustrated from what I call irresponsible reporting. I have said things that have been reported incorrectly. This city is known as an African-American city, and I feel like we have been beat up on. Our mayor has been strong, he has done a great job. There has been progress, but it hasn't been recognized. Every little thing that's wrong is pointed out over and over and over. I assure you that if this was the Hamptons or Kennebunkport, Maine, you'd hear about all the progress and the resources and the positive things. But we keep getting beat up on. This is a city that has been through [one of] the worst catastrophes in American history. We should have received a lot more support. We should be pulled up, not pulled down. And we are being pulled down.

COPYRIGHT 2006 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning