Posted on 09/03/2005 4:07:38 PM PDT by HAL9000
NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) - A top New Orleans police officer said that National Guard troops sat around playing cards while people died in the stricken city after Hurricane Katrina.New Orleans deputy police commander W.S. Riley launched a bitter attack on the federal response to the disaster though he praised the way the evacuation was eventually handled.
His remarks fuelled controversy over the government's handling of events during five days when New Orleans succumbed to lawlessness after Katrina swamped the city's flood defenses.
The National Guard commander, Lieutenant General Steven Blum, said the reservist force was slow to move troops into New Orleans because it did not anticipate the collapse of the city's police force.
But Riley said that for the first three days after Monday's storm, which is believed to have killed several thousand people, the police and fire departments and some volunteers had been alone in trying to rescue people.
"We expected a lot more support from the federal government. We expected the government to respond within 24 hours. The first three days we had no assistance," he told AFP in an interview.
Riley went on: "We have been fired on with automatic weapons. We still have some thugs around. My biggest disappointment is with the federal government and the National Guard.
"The guard arrived 48 hours after the hurricane with 40 trucks. They drove their trucks in and went to sleep.
"For 72 hours this police department and the fire department and handful of citizens were alone rescuing people. We have people who died while the National Guard sat and played cards. I understand why we are not winning the war in Iraq if this is what we have."
Riley said there is "a semblance of organisation now."
"The military is here and they have done an excellent job with the evacuation" of the tens of thousands of people stranded in the city.
The National Guard commander said the city police force was left with only a third of its pre-storm strength.
"The real issue, particularly in New Orleans, is that no one anticipated the disintegration or the erosion of the civilian police force in New Orleans," Blum told reporters in Washington.
"Once that assessment was made ... then the requirement became obvious," he said. "And that's when we started flowing military police into the theatre."
On Friday, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin denounced the slow federal response as too little, too late, charging that promised troops had not arrived in time.
"Now get off your asses and let's do something and fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country," the mayor said in remarks aired on CNN.
Blum said that since Thursday some 7,000 National Guard and military police had moved into the city. President George W. Bush on Saturday ordered an additional 7,000 active duty and reserve ground troops.
Blum said any suggestion that the National Guard had not performed well or was late was a "low blow".
The initial priority of the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard forces was disaster relief, not law enforcement, because they expected the police to handle that, he said.
The police commander was unable to give a death toll for New Orleans.
"We have bodies all over the city. A federal mortuary team was supposed to come in within 24 hours. We haven't seen them. It is inhumane. This is just not America."
Riley said he did not even know how many police remained from a normal force of 1,700.
"Many officers lost their homes or their families and there are many we have not heard from. Some officers could not handle the pressure and left. I don't know if we have 800 or thousands today."
What a stark comparison with the New York cops and firemen who charged up the stairs into the inferno of the World Trade Center on 9/11. These NOLA cops couldn't even deal with a flood and some armed gangbangers. The National Guard isn't properly trained in law enforcement. They're trained to fight a ground war. What are they supposed to do in this situation...get in fighting formation and shoot at the looters? The "leadership" in NOLA has been a joke from the top all the way down the line. I really can't comprehend the mayor's decision not to evacuate the city much sooner. When you have such a weak police force, then you really need to err on the side of caution and get people out of the city before a flood.
We expect this from the French... especially if that's the way MSM has been spinning it from the beginning.
National Guard are state not federal. They had no powers to do anything because the idiotic LA Governor didn't sign any emergency paperwork activating them to take over and have the power in an emergency.
Guy is protecting his own backside since half the police force walked off.
Riley, you're top a$$hole in my book. Ungrateful POS
The ravings of nanny-state liberals.
They won't be found until they start the house by house search. God bless them I know I could never do a search like that.
As anyone in the military klnows troops dont do anything until they are ordered, They dont just come to town and start doing things they wait until ordered. The National Guard is a State function and have to wait for orders from the Governor.
What happens when these so-called police officers decide to show up for work? Will they be charged with annual leave and forgiven or fired. They should be fired. It would be interesting to know how many Firefighters didnt show up.
The National Guard troops have family's too , but they showed up. This has been a cluster8uck since the beginning and the fault lies with city and state officials . NOT the federal govt. or George Bush. Where are our Republicans who should be defending the president. probably hiding somewhere in the basement of the Senate Office Bldg. Where is Dr, Frist?
The Citizen-solider to the rescue!
One important early figure in Rome was Cincinnatus, who epitomized the citizen-soldier for many American revolutionaries. In 458 BC (according to tradition), Cincinnatus was plowing his fields when messengers arrived to tell him he had been named dictator to defend the city againt an uprising. He took up the supreme command, defeated Rome's enemies and returned to his farm, all within 16 days. He also refused the honors that came with his military victories. George Washington was sometimes called an American Cincinnatus because he too held his command only until the defeat of the British and, at a time when he could have chosen to exercise great political power, instead returned as soon as he could to cultivating his lands.
---Riley said he did not even know how many police remained from a normal force of 1,700.
"Many officers lost their homes or their families and there are many we have not heard from. Some officers could not handle the pressure and left. I don't know if we have 800 or thousands today."---
He doesn't know how many officers he has left...
He is an incompetent fool.
Without a very public apology to the people in cammies who DO know how to keep order, he should be put to work sooging down the floors in the Superdome.
I assume that all NO police officers will eventually be rehired when the city is drained and starts to rebuild. IMO the police department needs a complete overhaul from the very top on down and they shouldn't hire those that were derelict in their duty and were also photographed looting.
Could you imagine what the response would have been had
the President sent in the Guard to begin with?
He would have been labeled the biggest facist, power hungry,
dictator since Ronaldus Magnus.
It's simply impossible to leave command and control in the hands of guys like this. I'll be writing Congressman Simmons with a few suggestions.
Don't know about anyone else but I will not donate to any fund that is helping New Orleans and people like this.
My donation was sent to help out MS. Wouldn't mind sending money to help out surrounding communities of NO, but I don't feel like giving one red cent to NO proper. They have played the race card and put the blame once too often on the Feds when it is their own gross incompetence not to mention the thrill of looting from a lot of the NO people who stayed just to loot.
Maybe if the media didn't pander so much to New Orleans and paid more attention to other disaster areas, these people would learn they are not the center of the universe and the race card is wearing thin on a lot of people.
To say that about our Guard troops in Iraq is irresponsible and despicable.
OK,now its been almost a week and these idiots dont know who is there? They dont know how many police they have?
How's about a roll call? How's about planning your work--even in a crisis you take attendance, if for no other reason than to figure out who is killed or missing.
Jeeze.
The guard might be playing cards, but I think these guys got their police training from the back of a comic book.
More I see of this crap by the politico's and the press the more I think of the old adage No good deed goes unpunished.
Hey NOLA your dead now lay down and STFU.
This is yet another reason I have not to like soooo many cops.
Give this kid a book deal! I'd love to hear his story.
This is nothing more than CYA coming from the heads of the NO authorities.
This entire debacle is going to be laid right at the feet of one Terry Ebbert, Nagin appointee.
They are running for the hills.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.