Retired New Orleans Police Department Deputy Chief Anthony Cannatella dies
December 31, 2010Times Picayune
Submitted by N.O.V.A.


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Anthony Cannatella, a retired New Orleans deputy police chief who led the department's 6th District in the
days after Hurricane Katrina before rising to the department's third-highest position, died Friday after a
battle with esophageal cancer. He was 64.

Mr. Cannatella spent 41 years with the department before retiring in May 2008 as the head of the Operations
Bureau, which oversees patrol officers and other specialized units.

Police work was his life, and he was a cop's cop, according to those who knew him.

"Although he made deputy chief, he didn't spend most of his career up there. He spent a lot of years on the
street," said Capt. Michael Glasser, president of the Police Association of New Orleans, who was a friend of
Mr. Cannatella's for three decades. "That really tempered the way he did business, because he always
considered himself a cop like everyone else and didn't allow his rank to get in the way of being a true
policeman."

Mr. Cannatella, known for his booming voice, hot temper and an attitude that could run the gamut from gruff
to gregarious, applied to join the NOPD a month before he graduated from Warren Easton High School.

He joined a department that also employed his dad, Joe Cannatella, an officer of 45 years, and his brother,
Ron Cannatella, a sergeant who died from cancer in 1998.

He personally appeared at countless crime scenes as a high-ranking chief, even in the middle of the night.
The NOPD recognized his dedication with its Medal of Merit, the department's second highest honor, three
Medals of Commendation and several letters of commendation.

"As much as he hated for that Blackberry to go off, he was out the door," whenever he heard about a serious
crime, said Andy Cannatella, Mr. Cannatella's son.

But Mr. Cannatella remained dedicated to his family, said his son, who described him as "a great provider"
who made a priority out of planning annual family vacations.

He also sought to honor the department where he spent his entire career.

In early 2008, he spearheaded the renovation of Sirgo Plaza outside the NOPD's headquarters in the 700 block
of South Broad Street. The plaza memorializes Louis J. Sirgo, the deputy superintendent gunned down during
the Howard Johnson sniper incident in 1973, and other cops who have been lost in the line of duty.
Cannatella was one of the officers who responded to the sniper incident.

"It was scary. ... When I pass that hotel, I still get a chill," Mr. Cannatella said in a 2003 interview.
"The shocking part of it was that it had never happened before. We didn't think it could happen. It was an
eye opener. It sure took away our youth and innocence."

That incident was one of two extraordinary professional experiences that affected his career. Hurricane
Katrina was the other.

When the storm hit, Mr. Cannatella was leading the 6th District, which covers Central City, the Irish
Channel and the Upper and Lower Garden Districts. "Tony pretty much held the Uptown area together," Glasser
said

Survivors include his wife, Diane Perez-Cannatella; two sons, Andy and Anthony "Tony" Cannatella Jr.; two
siblings, Joseph Cannatella Jr. and Althea Lacour; and two grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete.