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NO Police LT. tries to justify his desertion during Katrina disaster (CNN transcripts)
CNN Transcrtipts ^ | 9/19/05

Posted on 09/20/2005 9:49:12 AM PDT by Dane

PAULA ZAHN: Well, because of all the chaos after Katrina, many New Orleans police officers, as I have just said, simply vanished. And their fellow officers called them all that and more. Well, tonight, for the first time, in an exclusive report, you're about to hear from one of those who left, a high-ranking officer, and hear why he made that choice.

Here's Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing, man? Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

(CROSSTALK)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the days of lawlessness, looting and flooding, something happened few people in New Orleans imagines was possible. Hundreds of police officers, like Lieutenant Henry Waller, abandoned their fellow officers and thousands of evacuees when they were needed most.

LT. HENRY WALLER, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT: I defend it by saying that I left them in a bad situation, but I have would have been leaving my wife in a worse situation.

Snip

H. WALLER: The one time that I know that I did the right thing and made the right decision, it's going to vilify me, that's difficult to deal with.

Snip.

H. WALLER: We listened to the radio. And we're hearing the things, the water is still rising. The water is still rising. The water is still rising. The looting is this. The looting is that.

Snip

H. WALLER: I got with another lieutenant in the First District, who essentially told me, look, you're a supervisor. You can't scare these guys. If they know you're scared, they're going to be scared. And I said, flat out, I said, you know what? I am scared. Everybody here is scared. And the bottom line is, I'm not going to tell these guys everything is going to be OK when it's not going to be OK.

(Excerpt) Read more at transcripts.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: katrina
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To: Dane
LT. HENRY WALLER, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT: I defend it by saying that I left them in a bad situation, but I have would have been leaving my wife in a worse situation.

Fine with me. Get a new job and stay with your wife.

81 posted on 09/20/2005 5:39:24 PM PDT by TankerKC (The Media turn each tactical victory for insurgents into a strategic victory for terrorists.)
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To: Tennessee_Bob

I can't hold being an Air Force weenie against you (I'm Army). ;-)

You are absolutely right. I wonder how Eva Zahn would have addressed a soldier (Or Airman) who went AWOL when the unit needed him. Your sense of duty is obviously great and I hope you took that Air Force training to earn what you deserve. The divorce rate for servicemembers is pretty high, and most people outside the military don't know how easy it is to ruin a marraige because commanders demand so much "time" and zero defect mission support. I am sure that you, as a A&P mechanic, know that you couldn't just leave any time you wanted. Even when we're not at war, the UCMJ takes care of any desires to walk off the job.

Have a great night!


82 posted on 09/20/2005 5:43:46 PM PDT by DilJective (Proudly serving in the US Army - opinions are my own.)
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To: Sloth

Do you really believe that keeping your word equates to slavery? How about the hippocratic oath? Would you be upset at the doctor caring for you, if he chose not to "really" take care of you? I bet you'd be pretty upset about that.


83 posted on 09/20/2005 5:54:33 PM PDT by DilJective (Proudly serving in the US Army - opinions are my own.)
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To: <1/1,000,000th%

Just another example of how out of touch the MSM is. A little research should be expected to get the facts straight before broadcasting it to ignorant viewers and warping their sense of reality.


84 posted on 09/20/2005 5:59:59 PM PDT by DilJective (Proudly serving in the US Army - opinions are my own.)
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To: teenyelliott

Good thing for us that your husband isn't serving in our military.


85 posted on 09/20/2005 6:01:02 PM PDT by Godebert
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To: Pylot
anyone who thinks the police are going to let their families die while they "perform their duty" is just not in touch with reality.

Easy, drama queen. Any reason why wifey couldn't get herself and the kids out of Dodge while hubby fulfilled his promise to protect and serve?

86 posted on 09/20/2005 6:03:06 PM PDT by ez (What went wrong...Blanco kept the Red Cross out while Nagin kept the refugees in.)
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To: FFIGHTER

I just realized that you are a firefighter, so you must know all about working for peanuts while risking your life for others.


87 posted on 09/20/2005 6:04:40 PM PDT by DilJective (Proudly serving in the US Army - opinions are my own.)
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To: Godebert
No way would I ever marry an active duty soldier.

I married my husband after his service.

88 posted on 09/21/2005 6:47:10 AM PDT by teenyelliott (Soylent green should be made outta liberals...)
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To: VeritatisSplendor

I am friends with the wife's half sister and found out that their dad was perfectly fine and wasn't even in an area majorly affected by the hurricane.


89 posted on 10/14/2006 5:52:23 PM PDT by dhs117 (wife's dad)
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To: highlymotivated
This guy is a Lieutenant.
His base pay from the city is $39,400. Add in State Supplemental Pay and mileage & uniforms he's at $44,200. Plus 2.5% longevity pay for each 5 years of service.

Not spectacular, but certainly not poverty ...

90 posted on 10/14/2006 6:36:48 PM PDT by dread78645 (Evolution. A doomed theory since 1859.)
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To: teenyelliott
This guy can always get another job.

This is true. Hopefully it will be a job without any responsibility.

91 posted on 10/14/2006 6:41:11 PM PDT by dread78645 (Evolution. A doomed theory since 1859.)
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To: <1/1,000,000th%
Lieutenants are "high-ranking officers" in NO?

Middling high-ranking ...

Recruit, Officer I, Officer II, Officer III, Officer IV, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Asst. Superintendent.

Majors and Superintendents probably are more political than anything else.

92 posted on 10/14/2006 6:51:30 PM PDT by dread78645 (Evolution. A doomed theory since 1859.)
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To: Dane
"LT. HENRY WALLER, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT: I defend it by saying that I left them in a bad situation, but I have would have been leaving my wife in a worse situation."

They have a right and obligation to care for their family members first and that is just the way it is.

Just what the heck were they supposed to do... Let their families be at risk because a bunch of welfare Moms and Gangsters were too stupid/greedy to get out?

Look they are Peace Officers not Soldiers so allegations of "Desertion" are so much baloney. In spite of Politician's big talk and Union rhetoric used to increase their salary they have a right to be relatively safe and go home at night to their families.

I support that right.

I think they did fine with few exceptions and that goes for all of us all the time doesn't it?

Just what did you want them to do run around with buckets in their hands biting their lip looking concerned like that Maroon Clintoon? Or ride around in a fishing pram without the drain plugs installed like that idiot Shaun Penn?


Lt's play "What If's


The Lt makes the choice to abandon his family to what comes then goes and saves Welfare Mom and her four Crack Kids.


Meanwhile Dr Dregs and his "Posse" Catch the Peace Officers wife trying to flee the city on her own. They slice her throat for the 23 dollars and thirty five cents in her purse, cut off her finger to get her $500 diamond wedding ring (after they entertain themselves with her first for a while her hands are too swollen to just pull it off her dead body).


Now that would be a good story too wouldn't it?


The press stinks, dont let yourself be sucked into their fantasy world and intepretations of events they have never faced in their lives.


He did the right thing took care of his family.


W
93 posted on 10/14/2006 7:31:55 PM PDT by WLR ("fugit impius nemine persequente iustus autem quasi leo confidens absque terrore erit")
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To: WLR

Wow, a blast from the past, but I think the point everyone can agree on is that New Orleans and Louisiana state executive branch are the epitomie of the word dysfunctional.


94 posted on 10/14/2006 7:47:46 PM PDT by Dane ("Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" Ronald Reagan, 1987)
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To: WLR
Meanwhile Dr Dregs and his "Posse" Catch the Peace Officers wife trying to flee the city on her own. They slice her throat for the 23 dollars and thirty five cents in her purse, cut off her finger to get her $500 diamond wedding ring (after they entertain themselves with her first for a while her hands are too swollen to just pull it off her dead body).

Read the story.

His wife was already out of New Orleans and in Baton Rouge staying with the in-laws.

On Tuesday, he says he went for supplies in Baton Rouge (and perhaps he brought them back to NO) but didn't show back up on Wednesday morning.

Your 'What-if' is bogus.

95 posted on 10/14/2006 8:08:32 PM PDT by dread78645 (Evolution. A doomed theory since 1859.)
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To: dread78645

Perhaps a mile in another man's moccasins might help.



W


96 posted on 11/24/2006 12:44:36 PM PST by WLR ("fugit impius nemine persequente iustus autem quasi leo confidens absque terrore erit")
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To: Pylot
but anyone who thinks the police are going to let their families die while they "perform their duty" is just not in touch with reality.

Thankfully our soldiers don't think that way.

97 posted on 11/24/2006 12:52:24 PM PST by Doe Eyes
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To: Doe Eyes

You know it is entirely different.

1. It is rare anymore for US Soldiers to be fighting in the same neighborhood as their families.

2. In Europe for example there were extensive and detailed plans to fly US Families out of Europe en-masse if things hinted at becoming serious. That included drills,special documents and rehearsals of all aspects. So the Military takes the issue very seriously.

3. If we made such arrangements for Police families our citizens would quite rightly say if such plans are needed they should be made for all citizens not just a selected few. Peace Officers are employees, civilians (by law). They are civil authorities with unions and a great many other issues that impact what can and cannot be done for their families.

Should there be an evacuation plan for families of Peace Officers and Public Officials.... touchy subject.

I think if they are evacuated to a central point in the same community, that would pass the smell test. Say some NG Armory or a Convention Center which can then be used a base of operations for civil authority. Then they are not immune from all hazard but they will not be successfully targeted either. If they are integrated into the civil defense apparatus and doing productive work that would also be justified.

W


98 posted on 11/24/2006 4:32:13 PM PST by WLR ("fugit impius nemine persequente iustus autem quasi leo confidens absque terrore erit")
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To: Doe Eyes

You know it is entirely different.

1. It is rare anymore for US Soldiers to be fighting in the same neighborhood as their families.

2. In Europe for example there were extensive and detailed plans to fly US Families out of Europe en-masse if things hinted at becoming serious. That included drills,special documents and rehearsals of all aspects. So the Military takes the issue very seriously.

3. If we made such arrangements for Police families our citizens would quite rightly say if such plans are needed they should be made for all citizens not just a selected few. Peace Officers are employees, civilians (by law). They are civil authorities with unions and a great many other issues that impact what can and cannot be done for their families.

Should there be an evacuation plan for families of Peace Officers and Public Officials.... touchy subject.

I think if they are evacuated to a central point in the same community, that would pass the smell test. Say some NG Armory or a Convention Center which can then be used a base of operations for civil authority. Then they are not immune from all hazard but they will not be successfully targeted either. If they are integrated into the civil defense apparatus and doing productive work that would also be justified.

W


99 posted on 11/24/2006 4:32:14 PM PST by WLR ("fugit impius nemine persequente iustus autem quasi leo confidens absque terrore erit")
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