Sal Lentini, Kenner's long-time police chief, dies at 87
October 29, 2010 Times Picayune
Submitted by N.O.V.A.


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Sal Lentini, Kenner's politically brash and privately generous police chief for 28 years, died overnight at
Canon Hospice in Elmwood. He was 87.

Mr. Lentini was elected marshal, the forerunner to the police chief's post, in 1962. The department had only
nine officers, and Mr. Lentini himself took his turn patrolling the streets. He was re-elected seven
consecutive times, during a period when Kenner's population exploded, and the department grew to more than
100 officers by the time he left office in 1990.

Known for his hard-headed political style, Mr. Lentini was soft-hearted in private, friends said. A well-
known story about him dates from a few days after Hurricane Betsy in 1965, when desperate Kenner residents
waited in a long line to buy ice at the inflated price of $5 a bag. Mr. Lentini pulled up in a police car,
lambasted the street vendors for taking advantage of his constituents and arrested them because they were
operating without a city permit. He and his officers then gave away the ice to the cheering crowd.

"People who needed help, he was the first one who would jump up to help them," said Ed Muniz, who served on
the City Council for a time when Mr. Lentini was police chief. "Nobody would question his integrity. He was
very passionate about what he believed in."

In 1970, Mr. Lentini ran for re-election on a ticket with his friend and political ally Joe Yenni, who
became Kenner mayor that year and, later, Jefferson Parish president.

"They probably paid more electricity bills and water bills and for funerals for people who couldn't afford
to pay," said current Mayor Mike Yenni, Joe Yenni's grandson.

The son of a Sicilian immigrant, Mr. Lentini grew up in south Kenner and graduated from the old Kenner High
School. While serving in the Army's Troop A 3rd Cavalry Reconnaisance Squadron in Europe during World War
II, he was awarded four Bronze Stars.

After 21 years as police chief, Mr. Lentini ran for Jefferson sheriff in 1983, losing to incumbent Harry
Lee. He suffered a heart attack the next year, and as the decade wore on, those who knew him say, his
relationships with friends and allies began to sour. His political career ended in 1990, when his former
chief of detectives, Nick Congemi, defeated him at the polls against a backdrop of rising crime and a
critical report on Police Department management.

Soon Mr. Lentini moved to the site of the old LaBranche Plantation in St. Rose, where he restored antebellum
properties and opened his home for a yearly party for families.

In 2007, Kenner renamed the northern portion of Loyola Drive as Sal Lentini Parkway.

Yenni said Kenner's flags will fly at half-staff in Mr. Lentini's memory.

Funeral arrangements are pending.