Live journal from disaster area
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one bit:
Looting: The police are looting. This has been confirmed by several independent sources. Some of the looting might be "legitimate" in as much as that word has any meaning in this context. They have broken into ATMs and safes: confirmed. We have eyewitnesses to this. They have taken dozens of SUVs from dealerships ostensibly for official use. They have also looted gun stores and pawn shops for all the small arms, supposedly to prevent "criminals" from doing so. But who knows their true intentions. We have an inside source in the NOPD who says that command and control is in chaos. He reports that command lapses more than 24 hours between check-ins, and that most of the force are "like deer in the headlights." NOPD already had a reputation for corruption, but I am telling you now that the people we've been talking to say they are not recognizing the NOPD as a legitimate authority anymore, since cops have been seen looting in Walmarts and forcing people out of stores so they could back up SUVs and loot them. Don't shoot the messenger....
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one bit:
Looting: The police are looting. This has been confirmed by several independent sources. Some of the looting might be "legitimate" in as much as that word has any meaning in this context. They have broken into ATMs and safes: confirmed. We have eyewitnesses to this. They have taken dozens of SUVs from dealerships ostensibly for official use. They have also looted gun stores and pawn shops for all the small arms, supposedly to prevent "criminals" from doing so. But who knows their true intentions. We have an inside source in the NOPD who says that command and control is in chaos. He reports that command lapses more than 24 hours between check-ins, and that most of the force are "like deer in the headlights." NOPD already had a reputation for corruption, but I am telling you now that the people we've been talking to say they are not recognizing the NOPD as a legitimate authority anymore, since cops have been seen looting in Walmarts and forcing people out of stores so they could back up SUVs and loot them. Don't shoot the messenger....
This was discussed in some detail on Slashdot, where it was pointed out that the police are allowed to commandeer supplies and vehicles to carry out their duties of protecting the populace and property. When rescue helicopters have already been shot at, the police are probably helping by reducing the availablility of guns to looters, and by loading food into SUVs, they could have been doing so to take that food to people who need it. They could also have been taking money from safes and ATMs to prevent looters from getting it. Eyewitness reports even a few minutes after the event are notoriously unreliable, and when people are scared, hungry, tired and confused, they will (even unwittingly) have a distorted recollection of what's going on. I'm not saying that no police at all are looting, but that we shouldn't jump to conclusions here. On a personal note, I think it's a disgrace how long the evacuation process is taking in the world's single superpower, and my thoughts go out to those affected.:rose: I bet they can't wait for Dubya to turn up, everything will be just A-OK once he takes command.