Law enforcement efforts to contain the emergency left by Katrina slipped
into chaos in parts of New Orleans Tuesday with some police officers and
firefighters joining looters in picking stores clean.
At the Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas Street, an initial effort to hand out
provisions to stranded citizens quickly disintegrated into mass looting.
Authorities at the scene said bedlam erupted after the giveaway was
announced over the radio.
While many people carried out food and essential supplies, others cleared
out jewelry racks and carted out computers, TVs and appliances on
handtrucks.
Some officers joined in taking whatever they could, including one New
Orleans cop who loaded a shopping cart with a compact computer and a 27-inch
flat screen television.
Officers claimed there was nothing they could do to contain the anarchy,
saying their radio communications have broken down and they had no direction
from commanders.
"We don't have enough cops to stop it," an officer said. "A mass riot would
break out if you tried."
Inside the store, the scene alternated between celebration and frightening
bedlam. A shirtless man straddled a broken jewelry case, yelling, "Free
samples, free samples over here."
Another man rolled a mechanized pallet, stacked six feet high with cases of
vodka and whiskey. Perched atop the stack was a bewildered toddler.
Throughout the store and parking lot, looters pushed carts and loaded trucks
and vans alongside officers. One man said police directed him to Wal-Mart
from Robert's Grocery, where a similar scene was taking place. A crowd in
the electronics section said one officer broke the glass DVD case so people
wouldn't cut themselves.
"The police got all the best stuff. They're crookeder than us," one man
said.
Most officers, though, simply stood by powerless against the tide of law
breakers.
One veteran officer said, "It's like this everywhere in the city. This tiny
number of cops can't do anything about this. It's wide open."
At least one officer tried futilely to control a looter through shame.
"When they say take what you need, that doesn't mean an f-ing TV," the
officer shouted to a looter. "This is a hurricane, not a free-for-all."
Sandra Smith of Baton Rouge walked through the parking lot with a 12-pack of
Bud Light under each arm. "I came down here to get my daughters," she said,
"but I can't find them."
The scene turned so chaotic at times that entrances were blocked by the
press of people and shopping carts and traffic jams sprouted on surrounding
streets.
Some groups organized themselves into assembly lines to more efficiently
cart off goods.
Toni Williams, 25, packed her trunk with essential supplies, such as food
and water, but said mass looting disgusted and frightened her.
"I didn't feel safe. Some people are going overboard," she said.
Inside the store, one woman was stocking up on make-up. She said she took
comfort in watching police load up their own carts.
"It must be legal," she said. "The police are here taking stuff, too."
(Staff writers Doug MacCash and Keith Spera assisted in this story.)
I am with you on the shooting of all looters no matter who they are I found a picture of the two officers in this article and I hope they are both locked up -- but you have to remember NOPD has the highest rate of convictions for Organized crime committed by Law Enforcement officials. In fact several are serving time for Murder.
That's welcome news, Mick! The rest of the world has been mum, but the Aussies have always been stand-up folks!
It's disgusting what people become when faced with adversity like this. Taking the food, especially that which would spoil otherwise, I can see.
But the looting of non-essentials? That's just mindless greed.
People just go totally wild in this situation. Goes on too long, they'll start killing each other for those baubles.
Reminds Me of Bagdad a coupla years ago.
So, we should be with out our guns?..........................
They are complaining about guns falling in to the hands of the looters?
thats a smidge compared to what is allready out there.
Massive and frequent gun fights have been erupting all over the place there in
New Orleans.
It is amazing how people act when they are in a consquience free enviroment.
many old scores are being settled by neighbors, ex wives and ex husbands,
it is a time to not be a !!!!!!! to other people.
many are getting their cars jacked and shot to death.
and No one will ever know who did it.
the police are powerless
How and Where could they take anyone to jail?
that leaves shooting or not shooting looters that is the only options they have.
and after all the trouble so many get in to for wrongful death, wrongful shootings
So, if you where a cop would you open fire on a massive crowd of fat black women
stealing TV's? while they waded through sewage water?
In New orleans right now it is every single persons responsability to defend themselves and keep them selves going, By any means necessary.
The Road to Corruption:
Part 1 -- 'The Big Sleazy'
Because of the nature of what they do -- enforcing the laws of civilized society -- police officers are held to a higher standard than the average citizen. They are expected to be above reproach as they discharge their duties and they are expected to live by the same rules they enforce. Unfortunately, in New Orleans in the latter years of the 20th century, these standards broke down and the trust in which the police department was held was being violated with impunity. The city that fondly calls itself "The Big Easy" was becoming known as "The Big Sleazy."
By the 1990s, the road to rampant police corruption in NOPD had become well-paved. Once a respected and respectable agency whose motto is "To Protect and Serve," NOPD became plagued by a multiplicity of internal problems that impeded the department's overall effectiveness. Morale was at an all-time low. Although the vast majority of the 1,500-1,600 New Orleans police officers were honest and dedicated, a relatively small percentage of crooked cops tarred the reputation of the entire department. Between 1992 and 1995 roughly 60 NOPD officers were charged in a wide variety of crimes, according to statistics quoted in the city's respected news publications.
On top of the corruption, NOPD also had a shameful record for police brutality. Numerous incidents were reported to the department's Internal Affairs Division and the Office of Municipal Investigations charging officers with roughing up victims, often without sufficient cause. Many of the cases reported to IAD were never followed up, according to anonymous police sources quoted in the Times-Picayune. Suspects in various crimes even died while in police custody.
In 1990, a fugitive black man named Adolph Archie shot and killed a New Orleans police officer. Captured after a long foot chase through the city's downtown streets, Archie was severely beaten up in one of the city's police stations, then refused medical treatment. He subsequently died and the city's black community was outraged. When "60 Minutes" aired its segment on NOPD police brutality, it had a vast store of raw material to work with.
The corruption within the department was systemic. It permeated nearly every phase of operations and encompassed officers at all levels -- from rookie patrolmen to high-ranking deputy superintendents. To begin with, New Orleans's police officers at that time were woefully underpaid. Starting salaries for patrolmen were only slightly above $15,000 a year at a time when the average American workingperson's salary was in the mid-30s. Even veteran officers were barely making $25,000-30,000 annually. Mere pittances for the occupational hazards they faced every time they went out on patrol.
Most New Orleans cops had to moonlight at second jobs known as "details" to make extra money and meet their escalating living expenses. At one point, an estimated 75 to 80 percent of the NOPD force was moonlighting on these details. Usually these details involved providing security for special events, bars and nightclubs, visiting film crews and other similar arrangements with groups and individuals in the private sector. Sometimes they did these details in uniform; sometimes not. On numerous occasions, high-ranking officers worked details under the supervision of lower-ranking patrolmen.
With so many cops working private details, it didn't take long for the entrepreneurial spirit to manifest itself. Enterprising individuals within the department began "contracting" detail work for fellow officers and receiving a percentage of what the officers they hired were being paid. Small fiefdoms -- and even empires -- began evolving as these arrangements became more lucrative to those doing the contracting. They became businesses within the business of policing the city.
According to newspaper reports, some of these "detail brokers" were conducting their private side businesses on their shifts, using police radios and other communications devices provided to them by the city and its taxpayers. Arranging private security details became so profitable for some of these brokers that their second incomes were bringing in more money than their salaries. Some of them even left the department to head their own private security firms.
The department's brass had mixed views on the issue of private details. On the one hand, they didn't want to buck up against PANO, the powerful Police Association of New Orleans, which supported details. As long as police officers could make extra money on details, PANO wouldn't make too big an issue out of pushing for higher salaries; money the city's tight budget could ill afford to come up with, following the disastrous "oil bust" of the late '80s. On the other hand, working these details was taxing on the officers' stamina and overall effectiveness. Working an eight-hour detail after an eight-hour police shift was making many officers fatigued on the job and slower to respond to emergencies.
I was almost tempted to bring an AR and my web gear with me this trip, but couldn't justify breaking a DOT regulation. I knew things were going to turn to crap, but I'm going to Athens Georgia and thought I'd be okay. I wouldn't hesitate to carry if I had been sent into the heart of the $h!+ storm.
I've been hearing alot about price gouging fuel in some areas, with prices over $5 a gallon in the Atlanta area. I don't want to get started on the looting! That p!$$e$ me off! Try to portect your business with deadly force and see who ends up in the cross bars hotel!
"Life is too important to be taken seriously."
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Life is too important to be taken seriously.
What we need to do is load up some guys from Sicily to go to NO for crowd control.... :flame: :flame:
No offense, of course. The real victims of this nightmare would certainly be delighted to receive Italian aid workers, and I'm sure the offer will be appreciated. Really wish there was a politically correct way to wipe out the low-life looter/car-jacker/murderers so the decent people could all work together to get through this.
The whole city is without Law and Order. Could this be a sign the end is near? I have to agree with Logansdad post... police officers are held to a higher standard than the average citizen. They are expected to be above reproach as they discharge their duties and they are expected to live by the same rules they enforce. To all of the LEO everywhere that do live with that code of honor, it is really a disgrace to see this kind of thing happening. It's chaos...I just don't understand why they would steal TV's and computers ETC and have to carry the stuff, when there is no power to even use a TV. When they get tired of carrying the stuff, they will drop it. Water and food I can understand, as survival needs will overcome greed. Lady Di
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IF IT DOESN'T GET HOT..IT DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH FIREPOWER....DBL TAPP IS NOT DANCING..
