Nagin forced Compass out

[secretforecaster]

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/ ... tml#083577


This is getting ugly. I think the details of corruption will be revealed before it's all over.

Nagin forced Compass out
Chief fired after heated confrontation

'He had tears in his eyes. He didn't want to go.'


By Trymaine D. Lee
And Walt Philbin
Staff writers


After announcing his retirement Tuesday, New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass told several high-ranking officers that he had been forced out by Mayor Ray Nagin, the officers said Wednesday.


They said Compass told them the decision came on the heels of a heated confrontation with the mayor. The officers spoke only on condition that they not be named.

Reached Wednesday by e-mail, Nagin said that those accounts were "inaccurate."

Compass could not be reached for comment.

At a hastily called news conference Tuesday with Nagin in attendance, Compass announced that he was retiring. When asked by a reporter whether Compass was being forced out, Nagin said no.

But after the announcement, Compass returned to a cruise ship where he and other displaced officers had been living, where they say he told them he had been forced to resign.

"He was going around telling officers, including myself, it wasn't his doing, that he would've never quit," said a high-ranking officer who asked not to be named. "He had tears in his eyes. He didn't want to go."

Another officer said Compass told him, "You work at the pleasure of the mayor. This was not my decision."

Nagin later named Assistant Superintendent Warren Riley as acting superintendent.

Officers said Compass told them that he and Nagin had an angry confrontation Tuesday morning, hours before Compass announced his retirement, which he said would begin after a transition period of up to 45 days.

Compass has come under increasing fire because of the Police Department's response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in which some officers were seen looting a store and 249 officers left their posts.

At the news conference, the two men were amicable, with Nagin calling Compass' retirement, after 26 years on the force, good for his family and bad for the city.

Nagin wished Compass well, calling him a hero and saying that he hoped Compass would at least send him a Christmas card during the holidays.

Compass seemed to fight back tears. Handlers shuffled Nagin off in one direction, Compass in another.

Even before Katrina, both Nagin and Compass had come under pressure, dealing with controversies over alleged underreporting of crime statistics in the 1st District, the enforcement of the residency rule for officers, and Compass' hiring of members of the Nation of Islam to do sensitivity training for the Police Department. The city also had seen a substantial rise in the murder rate in 2005.


Reporters Martha Carr and David Meeks contributed to this report.

[Lindaloo]

The Mayor needs to go down too. He is just as corrupt as the rest of them.

[Derek Ortt]

the mayor should be hung for stupidity, the worst crime of them all. Would be fitting for the most incompetent official in the history of the USA

[HurryKane]

Nagin's a moron, and thinks he can aw shucks or trash talk his way out of being held responsible. Bzzzt, thank you for playing.

[dhweather]

I think the Governor should have a large serving of "blame", there's plenty
to go around. FEMA gets a large slice of it too.

Nagin had to wait for a legal "OK" to order a mandatory evacuation of
New Orleans. With landfall 24 hours out, too little, too late.

[stormie_skies]

I'm not sure if I am missing something in the article or in general, but I have a question: why is it necessarily a bad thing if Nagin pressured the police chief to resign? IF the mayor was of the opinion (one that is apparently shared by many others) that the police force did not do its job adequately, or that there was corruption in the department, wouldn't it be his responsibility to make sure that the department's leadership is replaced? How is that any different from DHS calling Mike Brown back to Washington (and likely placing some pressure on him to resign)?

I'm not saying necessarily that there wasn't corruption involved, and I am sure there will be plenty of dirty laundry to sort through, but how does this action specifically show corruption?

Really. I don't get it.

[artist]

Dhweather - according to the state's plan site - he didn't have to wait for anything legal - it was all there including the declaration - appears it was just a stall factor.

[gabrielle01]

"The Mayor needs to go down too. He is just as corrupt as the rest of them."

"The mayor should be hung for stupidity, the worst crime of them all. Would be fitting for the most incompetent official in the history of the USA"

"Nagin's a moron, and thinks he can aw shucks or trash talk his way out of being held responsible. Bzzzt, thank you for playing."

Are political statements like that allowed on this board? I have few choice words for Nagin, Blanco, Bush and Michael Brown due to ineffective Hurricane Katrina response but will NOT post them on this hurricane aftermath board out of respect for everybody.

I learned my lesson after being suspended from STORM2K for making similiar comments three weeks ago on this forum. Moderators: Please lock this topic before it gets out of control. Storm2K users and moderators: Please think and use restraint before you post those statements. There are political forums elsewhere.

[CajunMama]

*sigh* Keep the personal political stuff out of here...stick to the facts and all should be fine.

[chrisnnavarre]

the mayor should be hung for stupidity, the worst crime of them all. Would be fitting for the most incompetent official in the history of the USA

I'll keep my comments to myself.... But this should not be a political forum....

[Ixolib]

the mayor should be hung for stupidity, the worst crime of them all. Would be fitting for the most incompetent official in the history of the USA

Wow... Interesting how some are so eager to criticize so absolutely in the face of such an unprecedented event. And not only unprecedented, it's an event that was long in coming - in fact, long before Nagin took office. For crying out loud. The city's below sea level, it houses more than 1.3 million people (in the metro area), and it has plenty of limits in terms of poverty, transportation, and literecy (which, by the way, were also in place LONG before Nagin took office), all of which contributed significantly to Katrina's result in N.O. I'm not sure anyone else could have done any better or any worse. Sure mistakes were made, but calling for a hanging is pretty strong - especially for a natural disaster, the likes of which this country has never seen before.

[dhweather]

Dhweather - according to the state's plan site - he didn't have to wait for anything legal - it was all there including the declaration - appears it was just a stall factor.

I don't know how the declaration works, but the forthcoming investigations will bring light to all of us on that. What a mess.

[Terry]

Well, I heard a totally different story about Compass leaving. Let history sort it all out.

[Lindaloo]

I started it about Nagin, I apologize everybody.

[stormie_skies]

My understanding is that the legal issue Nagin had to face prior to ordering a mandatory evac wasn't about whether or not he had the power to order one - it was a question of local government liability. There was some concern that if a mandatory evac was called and the storm never hit, hotels, restaurants and other tourist-oriented businesses could and would sue the city for forcing them to lose several day's profits. The city was already on pretty shaky financial ground, I think, and the mayor (and possibly the governor) wanted to do a little CYA in case another Ivan scenario developed.

[Ixolib]

My understanding is that the legal issue Nagin had to face prior to ordering a mandatory evac wasn't about whether or not he had the power to order one - it was a question of local government liability. There was some concern that if a mandatory evac was called and the storm never hit, hotels, restaurants and other tourist-oriented businesses could and would sue the city for forcing them to lose several day's profits. The city was already on pretty shaky financial ground, I think, and the mayor (and possibly the governor) wanted to do a little CYA in case another Ivan scenario developed.

I certainly wouldn't want to be in either of their shoes!! A situation like Katrina is most probably the single most challenging and daunting issue they will ever face. And all without precedent!!

[CajunMama]

I couldn't agree with you more ixolib. To have the safety of all those people resting on your shoulders. It would be more than any of us could ever handle.

[Roxy]

The Mayor needs to go down too. He is just as corrupt as the rest of them.

Ooops, nevermind. Sorry.

[emeraldcoaster]

[ I'm not sure anyone else could have done any better or any worse. Sure mistakes were made, but calling for a hanging is pretty strong - especially for a natural disaster, the likes of which this country has never seen before.

It's interesting that Texas had some 107 deaths from Rita and the total in Orleans Parish from Katrina sounds like it's around 750-800. When you consider that Rita didn't strike Houston and that New Orleans is a bowl that fills up with water, the numbers seem pretty amazing in comparison. One thing I don't get the sense of on TV is the understanding that Jefferson Parish and the Westbank of Orleans just dodged the brunt of Katrina. Landfall another 15 miles to the West and there would have been another 550,000 people homeless since they are protected from the Lake by the same levee system. A more western landfall might have also meant damage to the River levees, which were not breeched in this storm.

Watching the Mayor of Galveston, it's obvious that lots of other city officials had not thought of many of the details that hampered evacuations in Orleans until after Katrina.

[Ixolib]

[ I'm not sure anyone else could have done any better or any worse. Sure mistakes were made, but calling for a hanging is pretty strong - especially for a natural disaster, the likes of which this country has never seen before.

It's interesting that Texas had some 107 deaths from Rita and the total in Orleans Parish from Katrina sounds like it's around 750-800. When you consider that Rita didn't strike Houston and that New Orleans is a bowl that fills up with water, the numbers seem pretty amazing in comparison. One thing I don't get the sense of on TV is the understanding that Jefferson Parish and the Westbank of Orleans just dodged the brunt of Katrina. Landfall another 15 miles to the West and there would have been another 550,000 people homeless since they are protected from the Lake by the same levee system. A more western landfall might have also meant damage to the River levees, which were not breeched in this storm.

Watching the Mayor of Galveston, it's obvious that lots of other city officials had not thought of many of the details that hampered evacuations in Orleans until after Katrina.

Good points... In my viewpoint, it makes NO SENSE to house people in an area that is "below sea level". No sense at all. Unless they're gonna build a great wall around the entire area - at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars, I just don't get it. I mean, here I am at 30 feet ABOVE sea level and I'm now considering my future options very carefully. You couldn't pay me to live in an area that's below sea level!! That's a duh factor - especially after what just went down with Katrina.