New Orleans Chief of Police Says He’s Turning In Badge

After 26 years on the police force -- capped by four weeks in which he was the public face of local law enforcement’s erratic response to Hurricane Katrina -- Eddie Compass resigned Tuesday as New Orleans’ police superintendent.

“I served this department for 26 years and have taken it through some of the toughest times of its history,” Compass, 47, said at a news conference. “Every man in a leadership position must know when it’s time to hand over the reins. I’ll be going on in another direction that God has for me.”

Neither he nor Mayor C. Ray Nagin, who appointed him superintendent in 2002, elaborated on the reason for his sudden departure.

Compass, flanked by Nagin and several deputies, seemed to be fighting back tears when he made his announcement: “Since I was a little boy, my whole life, I wanted to be the superintendent of police,” he said.

Two weeks ago, he had said he wanted to be superintendent as long as he could and as long as Mayor Nagin would have him.

Nagin on Tuesday denied having forced the chief to resign. The New Orleans Times-Picayune quoted Nagin Tuesday as having written in an e-mail exchange with the newspaper: “The chief asks everyone to respect his privacy. He requested the press conference be held the way it was handled. He is a good man. Don’t mess with him!”

A stocky, gregarious karate devotee who has been seen repeatedly on television bearhugging his officers and wading through the water that engulfed the city, Compass seemed under strain in recent days.

While some of his officers performed heroically, even as they lost their own homes to Katrina, others apparently walked off the job.

About 300 members of Compass’ force did not report for duty during the flooding, chaos and looting in the city. Officials said Tuesday that each absence was being reviewed to determine whether the officer in question had a valid reason for staying away.

Compass also faced criticism for overstating the severity of conditions at the Louisiana Superdome, where many New Orleans residents had taken shelter in the days after the storm hit. During one interview with Oprah Winfrey, according to the Times-Picayune, Compass said that “babies were being raped.”

Reports of rapes and killings at the Superdome now appear to be unfounded.

The department Compass took over three years ago was a troubled one: It has been the subject of scandals involving corruption and civil rights violations, and has faced criticism in a city dogged by one of the highest murder rates in the country. From 1994 to 1999, more than 200 police officers were fired or convicted of crimes, including two murders.

But Compass was steadfast in his defense of the department’s conduct in the face of Katrina’s devastation.

“No police department has ever been through what we’ve been through and survived,” he said recently. “The New Orleans Police Department is the best police department in the world.”

The officers, Compass said, had performed admirably under near-impossible conditions, in which their patrol cars and precinct headquarters were cut off by floodwaters and their radio communications were knocked out of commission.

“We didn’t have any resources -- food, water, clothes, vehicles, medical supplies -- we didn’t have any backup,” he said.

“Some of my guys even ran out of ammunition,” Compass said, explaining that many of the officers successfully carried out rescue missions by resorting to tactics like hot-wiring private boats.

Compass’ departure from the 1,700-officer force will occur within the next month or so, he said.

Nagin said Tuesday that Warren Riley, assistant superintendent, would serve as acting chief.

“Today is a sad day for the city of New Orleans, when a hero makes a decision such as this,” Nagin said in a statement. “Chief Compass is loved by many and we will miss him.

“He helped guide the city through one of the toughest times we’ve ever had. However, we have to respect someone who makes the decision to retire on top.”

Capt. Marlon Defillo, a department spokesman, said Compass was retiring in order to “spend more time with his family.”

When asked if the timing had anything to do with New Orleans’ response to Katrina or Compass’ comments about crime inside the Superdome, Defillo said, “No.”

Two weeks ago, amid all the chaos, Compass had told reporters: “I’m the ultimate warrior. I’m going to be the last person to leave the battlefield.”

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Times staff writer Susannah Rosenblatt in Baton Rouge, La., contributed to this report.