Hurricane Katrina will go down as the worst natural disaster in the country's history-in the history of Black America-and its aftermath as a national disgrace the likes of which haven't been seen since the Civil Rights Movement. The storm made law enforcement agencies lose it as well. Two New Orleans police officers committed suicide. (Chappell, Ballard & Waldron, 2005) by Was it true that gangs of thugs had taken over both the Convention Center and the Superdome and were responsible for unspeakable crimes? Was there any police presence at either of those sites for the first few days of the evacuation? And, finally, when it all settles down, do you believe any of the New Orleans police who were caught on tape looting stores of shoes, electronics, etc., will be criminally charged?
New Orleans police are investigating 12 officers in connection with looting after Hurricane Katrina. News reports after the storm put officers at the scene of some of the heaviest looting, at the Wal-Mart in the Lower Garden District. "Once we actually got the video, we started our investigation," acting Police Superintendent Warren Riley said. One platoon did take food and water, because they said they had been essentially abandoned--left on their own, because they could not communicate.
The biggest problem, across the board, is that all communication failed in the aftermath of Katrina. The local police could not talk to each other, or the state police, or the firefighters, or the federal authorities. No one could coordinate anything, for days. As a result flustered police officers laid their hands on just whomever they could catch. Merlene Maten, a 73-year-old grandmother and church deaconess, was accused of stealing a sausage from a deli in a New Orleans suburb the day after Katrina struck..........
