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NOLA PD Public Information Officer One of Suicides

By Last Night in Little Rock, Section Huricanes Katrina and Rita
Posted on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 05:14:45 AM EST
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by Last Night in Little Rock

The NY Times yesterday had a poignant story of the suicide of NOLA PD PIO Sgt. Paul Accardo. The fact there were two suicides was previously reported here.

Accardo was a lovable perfectionist who was a fixture on the nightly TV news, making sense of the senseless crimes he reported on for the Department.

Colleagues believe he was overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness, unable to do anything to help anybody. Whatever he did do would not be enough by his own standards. The Times article is like a punch in the gut:

Back when life was normal and structured, Accardo served as one of the police department's chief spokesmen. He reported murders, hostage situations and rapes in measured words, his bespectacled face benign and familiar on the nightly news.

. . .

"Paul was a stellar guy. A perfectionist. Everything had to be just right," recalled Sgt. Joe Narcisse, who went to police academy with Accardo and worked with him in the public affairs office.

Uniform crisply pressed, office in order, everything just right on his desk. That was Accardo.

. . .

A public information officer, the captain said, turns the senseless -- murder, rape, mayhem -- into something orderly for the public. ''It's like dominoes scattered across a table and putting them in order.''

But in New Orleans for the past week, the chaos seemed endless.

Like the rest of the department, Accardo worked long, difficult days -- sometimes 20 hours. He waded through the mass of flesh and stench in the Louisiana Superdome. He saw the dead in the streets.

Defillo remembered how bad Accardo felt when he was unable to help women stranded on the interstate and pleading for water and food. One woman said her baby had not had water in three days.

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    • NOLA PD Public Information Officer One of Suicides | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Re: NOLA PD Public Information Officer One of Suic (none / 0) (#1)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:23 PM EST
    "People are afraid we'll be like the people on TV, they think everyone from New Orleans is a criminal. We're human beings." Jenkings said.
    "I just hope people don't label us before they get to know us," he said.
    And that is why the terminology and the images are so important and people like Jesse Jackson complain about them.

    Re: NOLA PD Public Information Officer One of Suic (none / 0) (#2)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:23 PM EST
    sorry TL...my above comment should go here. Morning caffeine ain't kicked in yet.

    Re: NOLA PD Public Information Officer One of Suic (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:23 PM EST
    I'm not a Christian. But Katrina has highlighted the differences between two kinds of Christian in the US: The kind who took to heart the Sermon on the Mount: Elizabeth Marquardt on Family Scholars Blog: I want everyone to picture for a long, uncomfortable moment what it’s like to be an infant dying of dehydration, all the stages of suffering that child goes through, and what it’s like to be its mother, dehydrated yourself, doing whatever you can to comfort your baby, and utterly dependent on your government to help you — and it doesn’t. and the kind that didn't: Barbara Bush on the American Public Media programme "Marketplace." "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

    Re: NOLA PD Public Information Officer One of Suic (none / 0) (#4)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:23 PM EST
    But Katrina has highlighted the differences between two kinds of Christian in the US:
    You hold the title George.... But that don't mean sh*t, unless you are capable of being a president, instead of just holding a title. Are we asking too much of Barabara's son? Take ownership. Take responsibility. Be accountable. Be respectful - you get what you give. You want to be respected as a leader, George? It't simple: Start acting like one, or resign.

    Re: NOLA PD Public Information Officer One of Suic (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:24 PM EST
    It is very unfortunate that at a time like the ones facing the citizens of New Orleans they don't have this officer to fend off crap like the rumors floating around about all the raping and killing in the Superdome.

    Re: NOLA PD Public Information Officer One of Suic (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:25 PM EST
    That's really a sad story... yet another loss.

    NOLA PD Public Information Officer One of Suicides | 6 comments (6 topical)