A Force in Turmoil
In the wake of post-hurricane crime and assorted lawlessness across New Orleans, that city's police department has endured its share of bashing in the media.
But some of the criticism might be a bit short-sighted, especially considering the toll that Katrina has taken on the police force.
New Orleans police officials say that as many as 100 officers might have been unable to report to duty because they were trapped in their homes. Others resigned from the force as they struggled to deal with the devastation, having lost loved ones and homes in the deadly hurricane. Some reports indicate that upwards of 200 officers have turned in their badges over the past week, although Police Chief W.J. Riley hasn't released figures.
And now there are reports of suicides. Two New Orleans cops, including spokesman Sgt. Paul Accardo, have taken their own lives. Both officers used their own guns.
An AP report examines what the N.O.P.D. has been enduring.
"On top of the burdens of law enforcement, officers have had to forage for food and water and even for places to relieve themselves.
" 'Our officers have been urinating and defecating in the basement of Harrah's Casino,' Police Superintendent Eddie Compass said last week. 'They have been going in stores to feed themselves.'
"They also have had to deal with personal losses.
" 'What's affected most of our officers is they don't know where their wives or kids are. They don't have homes. ... They don't have anything,' Riley said."
Certainly, a number of officers simply abandoned their responsibilities. It's no secret that the New Orleans Police Department for years has been mired in corruption. But it is becoming evident that there is more to the story.
posted by Chase McInerney @ 3:00 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
It won't be surprising to see some Bush
supporters try to spin it and somehow
blame things on the New Orleans police
force, which I'm pretty sure that people
won't fall for.
But, you never know.
Thats the problem.. too many of you want to tuck everyone away neatly in one of two categories.. bush supporters and bush haters. I am neither... I just want someone to figure out why the hell there was such a slow response at all levels.. federal, state and city. Leave partisanship out of it. A Republican president, a Democrat governor, a Democrat mayor, a Republican US Senator and a Democrat US Senator all have lotsa splainin' to do. FEMA needs to wiped clean and rebuilt as a cabinet level agency again. NO government agency or official at any level is holier than thou in this whole episode.
I have to agree with the second commenter. This is a bipartisan failure.
It's on every leader's hands, and has nothing to do with party affiliation.
Turns out the FEMA head had been fired from his previous job as legal counsel for a horse breeding association. Who decided it was a good idea to promote him after Allbaugh left?
And it becomes more clear every day that Mayor Nagin and his team (willfully?) ignored all of the lessons that should have been learned from Hurricane Ivan about his city's woefully inadequate evacuation and disaster response plan.
Then you have this Governor Blanco character, let's not even go there.
And Sen. Landrieu works up a froth over anyone criticizing the NOPD. WTF? They SHOULD be criticized. Even if they're dealing with the tragedy on a personal level as Chase observes, they also signed on to protect and serve. And too many of them did neither in this case.
Hate to use a pun that's been overused already, but this may have been a perfect storm of incompetence at the local, state and federal levels.
Those who are trying to make this all about Bush are doing a real disservice to the nation.
Chase, what I found so interesting in that article you linked to on NO police corruption was this little tidbit:
"...in an extraordinary admission last week the FBI said any improvement in the city’s grim statistics could have been due to people taking the law into their own hands. James Bernazzani, an FBI special agent, told reporters: 'There is a community perception that the state judicial system has failed. And when that perception, true or not, becomes ingrained, then a second judicial system kicks in: street revenge.'"
So let me get this straight: even before the hurricane struck, this city was collapsing into a "Beyond Thunderdome" hellhole?
Why haven't we heard much about that factor from the MSM? Every time I turn on the news, they make it sound like the slowness of federal response was somehow responsible for the breakdown in law and order.
Yet how can that be true if the breakdown had already happened years before the storm surge struck and the levee broke?
That same article also contains the following revealing statement about what passed for law and order in New Orleans before Katrina:
"Even the crime bosses appear reluctant to live in New Orleans itself: they reside in Houston."
That almost makes it sound like another postapocalyptic film - "Escape from New York."
The person responsible for hiring Mike Brown to replace Allbaugh.. was ... ALBAUGH! They were college roomates and he recommended him to the Prez
Nothing to see here, folks.
Pay no attention to those officers abandoning their posts to take vacations in Vegas.
Move along.
It's all about Bush.
Post a Comment
<< Home