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New Orleans police fire 51 for desertion
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-10-29 10:23
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.
Another 15 officers resigned when placed under investigation for abandonment.
"This isn't representative of our department," Riley said. "We had a lot of
heroes that stepped up after the storm."
Another 45 officers resigned from the force after the Aug. 29 storm. The
resignations were for personal reasons ranging from relocation to new
employment, Riley said.
The fired officers do not have the right to appeal, Riley said.
"The regulation says that if you leave the job for a period of 14 days
without communication you can be terminated," Riley said. "I don't think they
have the right to a civil service appeal."
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