Posted on 09/06/2009 3:27:52 AM PDT by abb
For the past several months, the federal building on Poydras Street has seen a steady stream of New Orleans police officers trudge in and out, all of them testifying before grand jurors gathering evidence of possible civil rights violations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina -- allegations that center on police misbehavior.
Federal agents, meanwhile, have been studying police e-mails and documents obtained by subpoena -- as well as through a surprise search warrant executed on the New Orleans Police Department homicide office -- in an attempt to ferret out exactly what happened in the chaotic days after the storm. The feds also have sent subpoenas seeking photographs to The Times-Picayune, and they have ordered a former photographer for the paper to testify before the grand jury.
Observers and authorities say the investigations, and the charges they are likely to result in, could shake the very foundation of the New Orleans Police Department in ways that haven't been seen since the Len Davis murder-for-hire case in the mid-1990s. Davis, who essentially ran a drug-protection racket comprised of fellow NOPD officers, was sentenced to death for ordering the execution of a woman who filed a complaint against him.
But the reverberations from the new cases could extend well beyond the department. The cases are likely to get international publicity and heighten already-deep mistrust of the Police Department. And, as did other notorious Katrina cases -- such as allegations of euthanasia at Memorial Medical Center and of gross neglect at St. Rita's nursing home -- the cases will force New Orleanians to confront an uncomfortable and perhaps unanswerable question: How accountable should people be for the actions they take in desperate times?
snip
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Of interest
How about including the illegal police action to conficate guns from residents in their homes during the emergency?
Indeed
Maybe this is just an AAR exercise. Got to get it right the next time don't you know.
My wife and I visited New Orleans eight months after Katrina, and the shops in the quarter were selling two t-shirts that caught our eye. One said “I’m gonna keep drinking until Nagin makes sense,” and the other said “NOPD = Not Our Problem, Dude.” ‘Nuff said.
How about the armed, fit and trim, female minority (AA) officers "shopping" uhhh "LOOTING" at Walmart instead of patroling and assisting the citizens during a disaster?.... Those hogs were actually caught on film....and the reported feared these "law enforcement" officers would make certain he did not broadcast the looting...but these fools were too busy 'shopping"....
America was better off with this cesspool filled with sea water.
Don’t forget those pos Blackwater Mercenary Arm Forces, roaming the streets.
See this link for the comments posted on the TP website.
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2009/09/federal_probe_digs_deeper_into.html
That was supposedly the reason one of those brain dead idiots came up with the free vacation and flight to Vegas for NOPD right after the storm.
It was to create chaos and confusion so an accurate head count would be impossible.
Then a few months after the storm, the chief retired.
Someone was collecting salaries from non-exisitent officers.
Tony Snow, covering for Fox at the time had a story on it and then *poof*. Just like that it was gone. Never to be mentioned again.
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.