Posted on 09/08/2005 4:49:16 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
Hundreds of police officers are missing and many may be dead from Hurricane Katrina, according to a top police official, who in an interview today also said that the population of the city may sharply drop because of the storm.
Deputy Police Supt. Warren Riley said about 700 of the city's 1,600-officer force was told to stay home until the storm passed so that they would be available to be deployed wherever they were needed.
Between 400 and 500 officers remain unaccounted for and many are feared dead, though some are believed to have walked away from the job, he said.
Riley said that survivors would have likely called the department to say that they are alive or to explain their absence. He declined to speculate about how many officers may have perished: "One is too many."
"We don't know how many officers are dead," he said. "We don't know how many officers drowned. That's a fear of ours."
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New Orleans had a population of about 500,000, but that could decrease to 350,000 when people are allowed to return, Riley said.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Did they check Wal-Mart?
Hey Riley...while I hope that they are alive, for all the good they did how could you tell?
I think it will be worse than that. Once someone finds a job somewhere else, it would be a sacrifice to come back to city with a shattered economy. I bet the majority of them won't do it. I'll lay my prediction at more than half staying away at least a year.
The unfortunate implication is that the people most likely to come back are those without jobs. As if New Orleans didn't have a high enough percentage of unemployment already.
There were reports of quite a few NO police cars in Houston.
They were probably in that line of disgruntled ingrates in Houston waiting for their $2000 free debit cards.
I read here recently of NOPD cars being found in abandoned in Houston.
Second, he doesn't say any are dead, just wild speculation that they died.
Maybe most important, in a city that had to be evacuated because it was unsafe, why would you send your police home to die in their unsafe homes??? Their families needed to evacuate. Wouldn't common sense tell you to house the police in safe areas so they would be available after the storm???
Het Riley...get you cop cars back from Houston yet? Why did you tell Houston not to apprehend the thieves?
With the corruption in New Orleans I suspect that many of those missing cops never existed aside from a name on the payroll.
Well one thing for sure. Any able-bodied man won't have an excuse for not having a job since there will be construction crews by the thousands to work on. Welfare in that area should be at a minimum. They hire women too, so that's no excuse!
Oh, too rich- not only did they walk off the job, but they took their police cars with them???
Of course, it's possible they were cars stolen by looters, too.
New Orleans will be rebuilt, bigger and better and I'll bet 95% of the population returns. New Orleans is a "Way of Life".
...or Las Vegas.
http://www.zippyvideos.com/8911023771013466/countdown-looting-in-walmart/
Any shoes left in Aisle 3?
Are all their firearms missing, too?
Did they check the Bellagio casino near the ATM that accepts debit cards?
/s
Seriously, I hope they are all alright, and if not, I hope Mayor Nagin never gets another restful nights sleep.
...Wouldn't common sense tell you to house the police in safe areas so they would be available after the storm???
...
You mean like the same common sense that would tell you to use your buses to evacuate people?
LOL.
WHOA - I think some here better lighten up. I'm sure many did run but hasn't anyone here been in charge of a payroll?
IF they still have not checked in after one missed payday, then many in fact might be dead - I gotta think if they were just AWOL, they would have come back by now with the usual excuses. (Note from Mommy, Sun got in my Eyes, Car would'nt start, uncle's house got flooded)
I am not sure they would just walk away from the typical govt job bennies like acrued holidays, vacation etc.
It's proably a little of both.
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