It does seem odd to have the New Orleans Chief of Police leave at this point when the city is still in crisis and trying to protect people and property as people return to the city. The Times Picayune revisits some of the Chief's actions that have raised a few eyebrows.

But several sources said the sudden retirement came after a private meeting between Compass, 47, and the mayor not long before the announcement.

The announcement came two days after several comments Compass had made repeatedly about the alleged violence that had engulfed emergency shelters at the Superdome and Ernest N.Morial Convention Center were countered by others to be hyperbolic and based on faulty intelligence.

Compass had come under fire for a variety of other reasons after Katrina. At first, he seemed invisible, holed up in the Hyatt Hotel with Nagin and other city leaders. As anarchy threatened to overwhelm the city, cops on the street said they "had no chief."

Widespread looting, some of it conducted by police officers, branded New Orleans worldwide as lawless, and almost 249 officers left their posts without permission.

After that first week, however, Compass became a seemingly omnipresent fixture in media accounts, and was feted by broadcast news stars. After the crisis was in full swing, Compass was a virtual quote machine, offering a down-home mix of empathy and bravado.

"I'm still standing. I'm the ultimate warrior," Compass was quoted two weeks after the storm. "I'm going to be the last person to leave the battlefield."

While his tearful interviews made him a compelling local face of the horrors of the storm, his decision to leave the city and flip the coin at a New Orleans Saints game in Giants Stadium on Monday Night Football on Sept. 19 was criticized by some of his rank and file.

Then, on Friday, Nagin's press office issued an unusually tart news release that rescinded statements Compass had made to media outlets about taking guns from residents coming back to New Orleans, comments that prompted a lawsuit from the National Rifle Association. What's more, Nagin's staff made clear, Compass' statements "were made without the knowledge or the approval of the mayor."

Well, the ultimate warrior has now left the battlefield. I'm sure that will inspire the police on the street who are still on the job and trying to do their best to preserve order.