Now you see him, now you don't.

Two somewhat contradictory items just appeared at Lucianne's place. The first says that New Orlean's police Superintendent Eddie Compass has determined that 249 NOPD officers went AWOL in front of Katrina. Now, remember that at a news conference Sept. 5, Deputy Police Superintendent Warren Riley had said between 400 and 500 officers were missing.

Lt. David Benelli, president of the Police Association of New Orleans, the union for rank-and-file officers, said true deserters should be fired.

"For those who left because of cowardice, they don't need to be here," Benelli told the paper. "If you're a deserter and you deserted your post for no other reason than you were scared, then you left the department and I don't see any need for you to come back."

But Benelli said he believes only a small fraction of the officers will wind up being deserters.

"We know there were people who flat-out deserted," he said. "But we also know there were officers who had to make critical decisions about what to do with their families.

Police Superintendent Compass;

"We have a penalty schedule for each violation, and when that process takes place, individuals will have the right to appeal the decisions made by the bureau chiefs," Compass said adding that "the final decision and recommendation will be by me as superintendent of police."

Well, no it won't because he abruptly resigned today.

"Every man in a leadership position must know when it's time to hand over the reins," Mr. Compass told reporters.

He made the announcement with hero Mayor Culpa, er, Ray Nagin at his side. Compass refused to answer any questions and asked that reporters respect his privacy and "just respect my right to be by myself."Mayor Culpa, er, Nagin, said, "It's a sad day in the city of New Orleans when a hero makes a decision like this." If Ray Nagin says so then it must be true.

TAGS: Hurricane Katrina, Ray Nagin, New Orleans Police, Eddie Compass