Even a cop joins in the looting

NOLA.com ^ | 08/30/2005 | Mike Perlstein and Brian Thevenot

[Truthsayer20]

Law enforcement efforts to contain the emergency left by Katrina slipped into chaos in parts of New Orleans Tuesday with some police officers and firefighters joining looters in picking stores clean.

At the Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas Street, an initial effort to hand out provisions to stranded citizens quickly disintegrated into mass looting. Authorities at the scene said bedlam erupted after the giveaway was announced over the radio.

[Black Tooth]

Indeed, but it's no different in any other urban area.

Really, I'd like to see a link that shows where firefighters and law enforcement were looting during a disaster.

[marajade]

You haven't heard about how corrupt the NO police dept is? Do a google search and you would be absolutely amazed.

[FreedomHasACost]

FGS shoot the looters and I mean all of them!
What a clear line now between the good cops and the bad ones. There are the hero's who are taking risks to try to save stranded folks and then these ____ looting.

[marajade]

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=DVXA,DVXA:2005-18,DVXA:en&q=corrupt+new+orleans+police+department

[brazzaville]

Good afternoon.
"....when a culture loses its foundation, which in our case was Christianity."

I have always thought the foundation of our culture was the concept of self determination and responsibility for one's actions.

Michael Frazier

[sit-rep]

I would to be a honest LEO there right now.

Try it again... not catchin' your drift.

[Recovering Hermit]

The poor people are so hungry, thirsty and scared. That's why they're using their two arms to carry off television sets, as opposed to food and water. LOL.

Thirsty! Who's thirsty?

[Republicus2001]

as soon as I heard mandatory evac except for certain people (government workers and television carnies) I knew the Big Easy would be picked clean...the New Orleans PD is NOT like the Vegas Metro...pretty much as corrupt as any big US city...

[sharktrager]

If that amazes you, you might want to read up on the history of the NOPD. At one time they had the most effective hitmen in the city.

[Republicus2001]

It must be almost like those old sci-fi end of the world movies. I guess man does revert to mob mentality when they think no one can see them.

any know the title of that old Ray Milland movie about a family on vacation when US was nucleur attacked?

[El Gato]

Great, cops now joining the fun.

Maybe, and maybe not. The authorities can commandeer private property in such situations. It's quite possible that is what they were doing, but it was misinterpreted by others, both looters and other observers.

When I was a kid, something similar happened. We observed police loading bunches of stuffed animals, carnival game prized, into the trunk of their vehicle. We assumed that they had gotten them as a sort of low level bribe, when in reality they were merely collecting them from the carnival operators who were donating them to local orphanages and such. One must be careful not to jump to conclusions without the big picture of what is going on.

[Petronski]

“The police got all the best stuff. They’re crookeder than us,” one man said.

If this is real, I'm deeply ashamed.

[Petronski]

That's insulting to animals everywhere.

Sophie would never loot anything . . . . well, maybe a Snausage, if it was going to waste anyway.

[DJ MacWoW]

It's called Panic in Year Zero but also known as End of the World.

[Republicus2001]

That's it! Thanks (off the Blockbuster I go...)

[El Gato]

What are the gun laws like in NO/LA?

Too much to post, but look here at the NRA-ILA page for LA

Bottom line, not much different than those of Texas. However what really counts is their laws on the use of deadly, or potentially deadly force. While I wouldn't expect them to be quite as permissive as those of Texas, I also wouldn't expect them to be all that much less so.

[DJ MacWoW]

That's it! Thanks (off the Blockbuster I go...)

Happy hunting! :)

[El Gato]

Isnt the mayor of NO a dem? And, I guess....this will be Bush's fault, right?

Yes he is, but I've been impressed with his demeanor. It's 'Rat governor that I'd be worried about.

[El Gato]

That rule breaks down when those with the guns are joining in the looting..

I don't believe it was the *police* shooting the looters that the previous poster was alluding to.

[humblegunner]

Come dark in New Orleans, chaos will reign.