Posted on 09/30/2005 8:35:12 PM PDT by John Semmens
Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, lashed back at critics after the FBI discovered that up to 700 so-called members of the city police force simply did not exist. Funding for many of these officers was provided by the federal government.
"During the storm and aftermath we'd heard reports that hundreds of New Orleans police officers had deserted their post," said an FBI spokesman. "Further investigation indicates that these posts had never been manned and the funds supposedly paid in wages has disappeared."
"Sure we overstated the number of officers on the force," said Nagin. "We did this to deter crime."
As Nagin explained it, the phantom officers were used as a decoy to frighten would-be offenders. "Just as George Washington lit fake campfires to lull the British troops before his surprise attack at Princeton, we in New Orleans have employed a similar strategy."
The effectiveness of Nagin's alleged strategy is in doubt, though. New Orleans has one of the highest crime rates per capita in the nation.
As for what happened to the funds that were supposed to have paid police salaries, Nagin asserted that they were used to hire consultants and purchase computer software needed to sustain New Orleans' "virtual police force."
"The software had to be custom made," said Nagin. "It's not something you can buy at CompUSA. Software designers don't come cheap. Neither do the public relations experts who developed our media campaign."
The media campaign featured TV spots of various street people implying that they could be undercover cops. In one ad, an apparently toothless derelict looks into the camera and says "I be watchin' you. So, don't you go misbehavin'."
Unimpressed by Nagin's explanation, the FBI asserted it will continue its investigation.
(Excerpt) Read more at azconservative.org ...
This story was first posted on Free Republic by Cincinnatus Wife[sp] two days ago. She heard it on the Fox Network Tony Snow show. It was written up on headline news web site. It disappeared from the web site within 24 hours which raised some suspicion.
I have been looking out for it, and this is the first post I have seen since headline news.
What complicated things was a CNN report on police corruption and looting. A lot of people on the original forums assumed that the CNN report included the phantom police issue.
One person reported that Wolf Blitzer mentioned the report. However, it was not plain whether Wolf mentioned looting or phantom police.
Someone reported that a high-ranking New Orleans police official had been given protection under the FBI witness protection program. However, they did not cite a source and I think they were merely repeating SPECULATION from a Freeper earlier on the thread. [This is one reason I wish people would label speculation. It's just too easy to be confused.]
I wonder where AZConservative heard the story!?
How do you light a fake campfire?
Nagin is up the creek without a paddle, so to speak. One thing after another will come out about the corruption in New Orleans.
If you're going down in flames, go down lying, and lying BIG! PING!
A.A.C.
O.K. guys and gals. This thread IS based on satire. For proof, read the last article on the original web site. Do you really believe that Senator McCain would warn Cindy to register as a lobbyist??!! Come on now.
oh, btw...it's satire
Human Rights Watch has called on the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an investigation. The Orleans Sheriff’s Department should account for the 517 inmates who are missing from the list of people evacuated from the jail.
Human Rights Watch compared an official list of all inmates held at Orleans Parish Prison immediately prior to the hurricane with the most recent list of the evacuated inmates compiled by the state Department of Corrections and Public Safety (which was entitled, “All Offenders Evacuated”). However, the list does not include 517 inmates from the jail, including 130 from Templeman III.
Officers Deserted a Jail Building, Leaving Inmates Locked in Cells.
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/09/22/usdom11773.htm
Mayor C. Ray Nagin, the Director of the Office of Homeland Security Terry Ebbert, the Superintendent of Police Edwin P. Compass III and the Executive Director of the New Orleans Police Foundation Robert Stellingworth announce a new initiative to recruit experienced police officers to join the New Orleans Police Department.
Effective immediately the New Orleans Police Department will offer a $5,000 signing bonus to the first fifty (50) P.O.S.T. Certified Patrol Officers who meet the required qualifications and are employed by the New Orleans Police Department.
Applicants must agree to employment with the N.O.P.D. for not less than three years. Applicants need not live in the City or State to apply, but must be domiciled within the City of New Orleans when employed.ex-convicts welcome
For further details, interested individuals should contact:
New Orleans Police Department
Recruitment & Applicant Division
Washington lit fake fires but he did not PAY the non-existent soldiers.
This is an epic scandal and yet the MSM is going after Delay for being a bit part in a Democrat Prosecutor's personal movie.
This is your "brain" on liberalism.
Hmm, invisible decoys. I'll have to try that on my next duck hunt.
Haha! Sure! And I bet you didn't pay those phantom cops anything, either!
Really. It doesn't get any more idiotic than Nagin.
Just when I thought I'd heard everything.
Very appropriate and nicely done
Don't be bragging too soon. This is from SEMI-NEWS. It is a joke, satire.
Ah hah! Bagdad Bob lives in New Orleans!
So is this a joke a well? It is also marked semi-news. If you look at the comments, nobody who posted one thinks so. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1494701/posts#comment?q=1
Personally, I would like to see satire marked as such in the headline. Not "semi-news" which is meaningless, but satire.
Ys, it sounds like satire. I read an earlier thread that reported that there were "ghost cops" being funded on the rolls in N.O., but the elaboration attributed to Nagin is so over-the-top as to make you wonder. In any case, inquiring minds want to know, and an honest investigation is in order.
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