Posted on 09/03/2005 4:07:38 PM PDT by HAL9000
NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) - A top New Orleans police officer said that National Guard troops sat around playing cards while people died in the stricken city after Hurricane Katrina.New Orleans deputy police commander W.S. Riley launched a bitter attack on the federal response to the disaster though he praised the way the evacuation was eventually handled.
His remarks fuelled controversy over the government's handling of events during five days when New Orleans succumbed to lawlessness after Katrina swamped the city's flood defenses.
The National Guard commander, Lieutenant General Steven Blum, said the reservist force was slow to move troops into New Orleans because it did not anticipate the collapse of the city's police force.
But Riley said that for the first three days after Monday's storm, which is believed to have killed several thousand people, the police and fire departments and some volunteers had been alone in trying to rescue people.
"We expected a lot more support from the federal government. We expected the government to respond within 24 hours. The first three days we had no assistance," he told AFP in an interview.
Riley went on: "We have been fired on with automatic weapons. We still have some thugs around. My biggest disappointment is with the federal government and the National Guard.
"The guard arrived 48 hours after the hurricane with 40 trucks. They drove their trucks in and went to sleep.
"For 72 hours this police department and the fire department and handful of citizens were alone rescuing people. We have people who died while the National Guard sat and played cards. I understand why we are not winning the war in Iraq if this is what we have."
Riley said there is "a semblance of organisation now."
"The military is here and they have done an excellent job with the evacuation" of the tens of thousands of people stranded in the city.
The National Guard commander said the city police force was left with only a third of its pre-storm strength.
"The real issue, particularly in New Orleans, is that no one anticipated the disintegration or the erosion of the civilian police force in New Orleans," Blum told reporters in Washington.
"Once that assessment was made ... then the requirement became obvious," he said. "And that's when we started flowing military police into the theatre."
On Friday, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin denounced the slow federal response as too little, too late, charging that promised troops had not arrived in time.
"Now get off your asses and let's do something and fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country," the mayor said in remarks aired on CNN.
Blum said that since Thursday some 7,000 National Guard and military police had moved into the city. President George W. Bush on Saturday ordered an additional 7,000 active duty and reserve ground troops.
Blum said any suggestion that the National Guard had not performed well or was late was a "low blow".
The initial priority of the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard forces was disaster relief, not law enforcement, because they expected the police to handle that, he said.
The police commander was unable to give a death toll for New Orleans.
"We have bodies all over the city. A federal mortuary team was supposed to come in within 24 hours. We haven't seen them. It is inhumane. This is just not America."
Riley said he did not even know how many police remained from a normal force of 1,700.
"Many officers lost their homes or their families and there are many we have not heard from. Some officers could not handle the pressure and left. I don't know if we have 800 or thousands today."
They make Marion Berry look good.
Amen! Who would have expected the police and the local government officials to show such little public strength and be reduced to blaming the feds for their total lack of planning, preparation and execution.
I really dislike these pompous asses from New Orleans.
Damn right. Over the past few days dozens of NO cops just haven't reported for work. Over on wgno.com there's a report that at least two have committed suicide.
Thanks for the explanation. Sounds like they did their jobs and Riley probably wouldn't be "happy" with anything they did.
I know many of the cops and firefighters stayed and God bless them. I haven't heard reports of fatalities among the PD, but I have heard reports that upwards of 40% or more bugged out.
I'd love to see a screen capture of those two po-licewimmins pushing the shopping cart with the bigscreen tv....hint, hint.
Saw those clips. A handmade "Fort Apache" banner hung over the exterior balcony of the police precinct building.
All of these freaks are ignorant and incompetent. From the Governor on down, the entire N/O government should be taken out with the garbage.
Exactly, he flew out then closed the airports. The first time Blanco came back was when Bush came.
Yeah, good enough to be a Presidential candidate.
I wonder how many member of the PD's top brass were in Baton Rouge with Nagin?
it was his same police force as well as the sheriff's (orleans) that released many of the prisoners. prisoners helped with the chaos that you see. many of the officers turned in their badges in the second day. they had lost their property too and was not going to stand around and get shot at by the gangsta mentality that has existed in that city for decades.
No excuse from me for the cops leaving their post. But it does show you the respect these guys did not have for the chain of command.
The good news is, we are ALL going to pay for their incompetence. Their being from the police officer who left his post all the way up to the Mayor and the Governor. That is why the spin to blame the FED's has been going on for days.
Yes, they may have been slow to get there, because many roads had to be cleared. Logic however does not fit in blaming anyone but yourself.
An eighteen year-old black teenager had more sense and presence of mind than the mayor, the chief of police and the city council of New Orleans had following the flooding. He took a school bus from the bus yard of the Orleans Parish school board. He then loaded it with strangers and drove it to the Astrodome in Houston. His bus load was the first to arrive at the Astrodome -- unannounced and unexpected. Niether the mayor nor the police chief nor this clown named Riley did as well. There were approximately two hundred buses in the yard. Unfortunately the kid could only drive one at a time. The stupid mayor issues a mandatory order to evacuate then fails to mobilize the buses to help accomplish the task. The mayor is a loser. All that I have seen him do is critize, condemn and complain -- like most Democrats, he is superb at this but is lacking in leadership. He reminds me of a player who does nothing but whine in the huddle while the game is being lost. He demoralizes the entire team if allowed to continue. Lead, follow or get out of the way. It is time for Mayor Nagin to get out of the way. It is time for Governor Kathleen Blanco to get out of the way.
The governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans failed to have a plan in place to even properly begin the task of recovering from the hurricane. The governor was elected by the people who have suffered the most. The poor black citizens of New Orleans all of whom are Democrats. The remainder of the governor's support came from white citizens who would not vote for a dark skinned son of Indian immigrants named Bobby Jindal. We in Louisiana can now only wonder what if Jindal had been elected.
Shoot I figured the police and fire choppers were in the lot with the buses... I never saw them rescuing people once.
Looks to me like the police chief is on the defensive. Many of hiis people either ran or were looting and he knows it.
2/3 of the NO police quit... and he's bitching about National Guard... F*** Off...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.