[Preacherman]

There's a very interesting (and long) article here (http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2005/09/survivor_storie_5.asp) about the experiences of a NOLA police officer during and after Katrina. It bears out some of the news reports, but also gives a lot of information left out by the media. Recommended reading.

A couple of excerpts to whet your appetite:

There were guys running through the crowd shooting at us and shooting at the crowd. And they would disappear back in the Convention Center. There wasn't much we could do. How about shooting into a crowd of 20,000 people to kill one person? At one point, there's a guy in a stolen Jeep Liberty who's shooting at us with an M16. It jammed on him--he didn't know what he was doing--and we were able to persuade him out of the vehicle the way I normally persuade people out of vehicles, and we were able to subdue him. We weren't technically the most polite in subduing him. We did this in front of 20,000 detainees. I call them detainees because the city sent them to a place where they could be detained, and that's all that happened, they were inconvenienced and detained. Anyway, we do this in front of the crowd and you hear this ????ing roar from the crowd, this ????ing standing ovation. We handed him over to the feds--who, by the way, are very good at making ID cards, and have really pretty uniforms.
Day to day, anything I could get my hands on that might be useful, I'd go get it. By any means necessary. The number of vehicles I've procured, commandeered, is just phenomenal. The gas issue was another whole story. We figured we'd go get some of the old fleet trucks that have air conditioning, and we'll keep the trucks running so we can store cold goods in them. So we got five of those. Through all this, you can imagine all the flat tires we were getting from nails and debris and everything. If you've got six inches of water on the road, you can't see what's under the water. The department made no provision for spare tires. Thankfully, through some connections I've got, we got access to spare tires and we're getting that done. Through this, I've been to southern Plaquemines parish, to the water line, wherever I've got to go to get what we need. We don't care.

[MikeIsaj]

Excellent reading. It's encouraging to read that first hand account that not everyone reverted to savagery.

When this is over, there are people in the local and state governments down there that need to be in prison for their disgraceful and cowardly conduct. It is criminal, the breach of public trust that these officials are guilty of. Instead of planning and leading, they abandoned the citizenry and blamed the feds while high and dry in Baton Rouge.

At least that is how it appears from up here.

[NMshooter]

Well, not Hue or Sarajevo or Mogadishu...

Some of the comments are about what I would expect from folks who demand to be taken care of though.

Thank you for posting this.

[Cosmoline]

Wow. This is great stuff you're finding Preacherman. Worth 48 hours of CNN.

[Atticus]

They were afraid given what the city did to the community in the '60s when the hurricane hit and they blew the levee and flooded them and killed them.

What's the story behind that...anyone?

[Carl N. Brown]

Beats the typical tv news stock-footage-and-we-don't-
have-any-news-so-we'll-speculate repeated very thirty
minutes.

[Tory]

Quote:
They were afraid given what the city did to the community in the '60s when the hurricane hit and they blew the levee and flooded them and killed them.

What's the story behind that...anyone?

The story is that whoever wrote that has little grasp of history. He attempts to make reference to the 1927 Flood, literally fabled in song and story.

Levees were blown upstream in an attempt to save NO by reducing the level of the Mississippee, flooding thousand of acres of farmland and destroying the lives of that many sharecroppers.

THEN - in the state of Mississippee, among other locales, BLACKS - not all able-bodied men; only BLACKS - were dragooned off the streets by white press gangs; police and NG. They were put to work on the levees at gunpoint for no compensation. Some might call that "slave labor." :scrutiny:

One man had just gotten home from such work when another police press gang came and tried to seize him AGAIN. He refused; the cop shot him. Victim was black; cop was white; locale was Mississippi. Do the math...

There was a documentary about this fiasco just a couple of nights ago on PBS. Check your local listings for a rebroadcast - I think its timeliness will warrant many airings....

[Borachon]

So this cop was just taking any vehicle he wanted. He called it commandeering, I think.

I'm not sure...I admit I could be wrong...but I was under the impression that police don't have the right to commandeer a private citizens vehicle. There could have been a serious misunderstanding between me and this police officer if I'm wrong about that.

Anyone know what the LAW on commandeering vehicles is in the US and Louisiana in particular?

[AZRickD]

I'm 1/4 of the way through it and I can't stop reading.

You owe me one night's worth of sleep, bub.

Rick

[dustind]

I doubt it is illegal to pull a few fuses/relays/computers or do some other tricks to make sure your car/truck/equipment will never function or leave under it's own power.

[Michigander]

We did this in front of 20,000 detainees. I call them detainees because the city sent them to a place where they could be detained, and that's all that happened, they were inconvenienced and detained. Hmmm.

[Optical Serenity]

And...what difference does it make? Who cares if a peace officer wants to use your vehicle in these emergencies? Selfish is what I'd call it if someone pulls their fuse, how about helping out and working for the better of the whole public, and not just yourself?

[dustind]

Sorry but I would rather my stuff not disappear never to be seen from again or destroyed. It is not just the police I would be worried about protecting my stuff from though. Did you read about how many vehicles they destroyed, how many where lost or stolen? That officer's report as well as Preacherman's posts show what happens to things that are "borrowed."

If you want to donate your vehicles to the cause I am willing to bet many agencies will still take them this late in the game, knock yourself out.

I have no problem helping people, but I draw the line at grand theft auto. Especially since I do not have anything but liability insurance on my stuff. I would be happy to donate time, food, water, or even vehicles under the right circumstances, but I will not leave them out to be stolen.

[goalie]

And...what difference does it make? Who cares if a peace officer wants to use your vehicle in these emergencies? Selfish is what I'd call it if someone pulls their fuse, how about helping out and working for the better of the whole public, and not just yourself?

It makes a lot of difference. I have every right to be selfish if I damn so desire. Show me the authority, or I will treat you like any other A-hole stealing my car.