The police chief of New Orleans has strongly defended his officers following claims that they deserted in droves and left the city to rapists and looters in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Supt Eddie Compass said his officers held their ground without food, water and even ammunition. "In the annals of history, no police department in the history of the world was asked to do what we (were) asked," he said.
Two police officers killed themselves, and another was shot in the head. Supt Compass said 150 had to be rescued from eight feet of water and others had picked up infections from walking through chemicals and pollutants in flooded areas of the city.
He also denied claims that scores of police officers had deserted. Some officers had abandoned their jobs, he said, but he did not know how many and said the department was doing a roll call.
At a news conference earlier in New Orleans, Deputy Police Supt Warren Riley said between 400 and 500 officers on the 1,600-member police force were unaccounted for.
Some lost their homes and some are looking for their families. "Some simply left because they said they could not deal with the catastrophe," he said.
Supt Compass, visiting the emergency operations centre in Baton Rouge on his first trip outside New Orleans since the storm hit, said New Orleans had police officers "who made the ultimate sacrifice for this city.
He said the looting and criminal activity involved a small group of people preying on the weak after being thrust into evacuation areas with regular citizens.
PA