New Orleans refuses promotion to police heroes
My sister Jule and her ten year old Robby evacuated Sunday. They and her in-laws piled into the Tahoe, leaving Bucktown 3 a.m. Sunday morning. The Contraflow ran smoothly and they were in Baton Rouge in just two or three hours. They went on to Dallas to her brother in law's house. They came here and stayed with us a few days last week. I was hoping they would like this area (near Austin) enough to settle, but they also have some infrastructure in Dallas, including a better housing situation, and the grandparents.
Jule's husband David is a New Orleans police sergeant in the seventh district (Lakefront airport). Twenty-two years on the force. He stayed, of course, along with their two dogs. He initially brought the dogs to the station, but as the storm hit the station flooded and the station evacuated to the sixth floor of a nearby hospital. David brought the pups too. When power was lost there, the police assisted in manually running some pumps that were needed to keep patients alive.
A couple of days later David was able to locate a working phone and notified us he is ok. At that time, the worst of it, they had no communication with the district. Since then they've reorganized and have some order.
Eventually he managed to make his way across the city to their (dry) home in Bucktown, where he deposited the dogs along with food and water. Then, back to the seventh. Don't ask me how you get to Lakefront from Bucktown right now. There's this little thing called the 17th St. Canal in the way.
David. Stolid, good natured, lovable, dutiful. Doing his job during the worst of it, and still. Here's the kicker. Since he lives in Jefferson Parish, where he and my sister were able to afford a house a mile over the parish line 20 years ago, he has been prohibited from being promoted. He'd be a captain by now, but he has to answer to lieutenants. See, several years after David joined the force (his father and grandfather were also on the force), the city decided the way to correct decades of discriminaton in police hiring was to require new hires to reside in Orleans Parish. Since Orleans is largely black, that would correct the imbalance, they thought. They couldn't fire you if you already lived there, but they refuse to promote you. Been that way for 15 years or so.
How do you think New Orleans should say, "Thanks for hanging in with us, David"? And for all the other out-of-parish policemen who stayed during Katrina's aftermath, saving lives and preserving order?
Jule's husband David is a New Orleans police sergeant in the seventh district (Lakefront airport). Twenty-two years on the force. He stayed, of course, along with their two dogs. He initially brought the dogs to the station, but as the storm hit the station flooded and the station evacuated to the sixth floor of a nearby hospital. David brought the pups too. When power was lost there, the police assisted in manually running some pumps that were needed to keep patients alive.
A couple of days later David was able to locate a working phone and notified us he is ok. At that time, the worst of it, they had no communication with the district. Since then they've reorganized and have some order.
Eventually he managed to make his way across the city to their (dry) home in Bucktown, where he deposited the dogs along with food and water. Then, back to the seventh. Don't ask me how you get to Lakefront from Bucktown right now. There's this little thing called the 17th St. Canal in the way.
David. Stolid, good natured, lovable, dutiful. Doing his job during the worst of it, and still. Here's the kicker. Since he lives in Jefferson Parish, where he and my sister were able to afford a house a mile over the parish line 20 years ago, he has been prohibited from being promoted. He'd be a captain by now, but he has to answer to lieutenants. See, several years after David joined the force (his father and grandfather were also on the force), the city decided the way to correct decades of discriminaton in police hiring was to require new hires to reside in Orleans Parish. Since Orleans is largely black, that would correct the imbalance, they thought. They couldn't fire you if you already lived there, but they refuse to promote you. Been that way for 15 years or so.
How do you think New Orleans should say, "Thanks for hanging in with us, David"? And for all the other out-of-parish policemen who stayed during Katrina's aftermath, saving lives and preserving order?
posted by hughw at 3:43 PM
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