i have been to several state meetings on terrorism and disasters in my medical career..
i have listened to the SHFT predictions..and plans for all types of scenerios.

when i read about someone posting a derogatory remark about the LEO's faced in the situation of NOLA..i have to wonder.

yes..NOLA is known the be one of the most corrupt police organizations in the free world. but..

i have to disagree with a bunch that has been posted..
what you see is the largest catastrophe ever to hit US soil..in modern times.

probably only 10% of the locals still there have gotten something to eat..that doesnt have flood water in it...and i imagine little water as well..

of course its gonna be caos..its to be expected..even by moral standards. imagine being a LEO in the middle of no where...in the middle of it.

as for looting...
no question.....to be expected...of course..anything in that area is a loss...just write it off..
i know the locals are doing a good job of stealing...but i imagine that if i has lost everything but the clothes i had been wearing for 4 days that i would be stealing stuff too.

now the LEO's that have been "looting"..
maybe they are looking for stuff that could help people out..or to make sure something doesnt get on street...say.."drugs or guns"..

i think we have to take a step back and disregard our ozzie and harriet modern life..to think about the fact that these people dont have anything..

no power..
no communication...
no money...

it is a total breakdown of society..and there is nothing they can do about it...

now..
is stealing plasma TV's and beer...good sense..when they arent a "need" in a situation like this???
NO...............

was staying in NOLA when a cat 4 hurricane is bearing down for it..a good idea???
HELLLLLLLLLLLLL no...

was the govt inadequate pre and post katrina???
i say it was more faulty at Pre Emptive measures..such as forced busing out of the area...or other methods of getting people out of there..

there are numerous other things it could have done...to keep the carnage to a minimum.

The cops that I've seen looting were not taking essential or even useful items.  No excuse for them.  Oh, and I'm a LEO.

ETA:  That being said, I'm sure there are alot of other LEO's, Firefighters, and EMT's over there trying to do the best they can with what they have.  It's just a shame that the few cops that have taken advantage of the situation have marked the whole lot of them in the public's eye.  Kind of like when a nutjob does something with an "AK47" and everyone on this board cringes at the possible legislation that could come down the tube.

was the govt inadequate pre and post katrina???

Irrelavent.  It is not the governments place to play nanny.  

Were the people who stayed behind stupid?  For the most part, yes.  While there are some that could not leave (tourists without cars, etc) the majority could have left (they have feet, they knew it was coming days ahead of time) and I have NO sympathy for them whatsoever.

And as for the cops who were captured on video looting.....they were taking TVs and computers and dvd and shoes.  Sorry, thats not "keeping them from falling into the wrong hands" or "for the good of society" (which is a bullshit argument anyway)  that's stealing, and those involved should be shot like any other looters out there.

Quoted: was the govt inadequate pre and post katrina??? Irrelavent.  It is not the governments place to play nanny.   Were the people who stayed behind stupid?  For the most part, yes.  While there are some that could not leave (tourists without cars, etc) the majority could have left (they have feet, they knew it was coming days ahead of time) and I have NO sympathy for them whatsoever. And as for the cops who were captured on video looting.....they were taking TVs and computers and dvd and shoes.  Sorry, thats not "keeping them from falling into the wrong hands" or "for the good of society" (which is a bullshit argument anyway)  that's stealing, and those involved should be shot like any other looters out there.

So how about taking food, supplies, medicine and water.  Or is that bullshit as well.  

Regarding medicine, there was an interesting clip on Fox News last night.  It showed a pharmacy owner who had to go back into the area to retrieve the safe that he kept his narcotics in.  The FDA requires that all pharmacy owners turn the drugs over to them within 48 hours of a catastrophe such as this.

So, a few questions: were the police taking the medicine to turn it over to the FDA?  Or were they using it with or without the blessing of the FDA?  What will happen to the pharmacy owners who go back to find their drugs missing, and they can't turn them in as required by law?

Quoted: Quoted: was the govt inadequate pre and post katrina??? Irrelavent.  It is not the governments place to play nanny.   Were the people who stayed behind stupid?  For the most part, yes.  While there are some that could not leave (tourists without cars, etc) the majority could have left (they have feet, they knew it was coming days ahead of time) and I have NO sympathy for them whatsoever. And as for the cops who were captured on video looting.....they were taking TVs and computers and dvd and shoes.  Sorry, thats not "keeping them from falling into the wrong hands" or "for the good of society" (which is a bullshit argument anyway)  that's stealing, and those involved should be shot like any other looters out there. So how about taking food, supplies, medicine and water.  Or is that bullshit as well.

I have some tolerance for that given the state of things, but you can't argue that DVDs, electronics, and 27 inch flatscreens are being taken to help the people survive.  That's bull.

The LEO cunt who was caught on tape looting Wal Mart was griping that there were no shoes left in her size, to go with the basket full of shoes she already had. I agree, though, it would be terrible if a pair red pumps in size 6 fell into the wrong hands.

As to the cops taking food, water, medicine, et c., it seems to me that lots of folks have no concept of the depravity of the NOPD. There was one cop there who murdered and robbed the owner of a restaurant where she was working off-duty security, in uniform. It has historically been little more than an immunized street gang. I have little confidence that anything "appropriated" by the NOPD is headed for refugees rather than black-market sales out of the trunk of a patrol car.

As for commandeering in the public interest, I guess it's OK - if it isn't my stuff. Needy people don't have the right to take my property by force. They don't acquire that right simply by hiring somebody else to take it for them.

The police should have gone into the stores, brought out food, water, and other necessities, and allowed people to take what they could, shooting dead anybody who tried to enter the stores.

the nonessential stuff..is what boggles my mind..
i mean..the fact that they arent concerned about staying alive..with the basics..

i must admit, i have been busy the past few days with work...i'll take your word for the fact the LEO's were taking nonessential items..

i missed those clips..

wouldnt just surviving this...post katrina time..be the only thing on a persons mind..
i cant imagine stealing beer...

its a total breakdown in psyche...

unless they didnt have a brain..

Quoted: the nonessential stuff..is what boggles my mind.. i mean..the fact that they arent concerned about staying alive..with the basics.. i must admit, i have been busy the past few days with work...i'll take your word for the fact the LEO's were taking nonessential items.. i missed those clips.. wouldnt just surviving this...post katrina time..be the only thing on a persons mind.. i cant imagine stealing beer... its a total breakdown in psyche... unless they didnt have a brain..

I suspect that these are the coddled savages we've been hand-feeding since about 1965. They are taking TVs and computers and whatnot because they have no view of a future that does not include the taxpayers putting them back in a place where they can use them in a day or two. And they're probably right. Just you wait for the FEMA fraud in the coming weeks. Welfare sows will be collecting for the Escalades and jewelry they lost in the flood. Just watch.

I'd like to think that part of the screening process to be a LEO is that you arent a thief. I dont think the DVDs I saw in the cops hands count as "essential supplies" that he needed to commandeer.