Posted on 09/26/2008 10:05:31 AM PDT by John David Powell
It must be due to the lack of a convention center and domed stadium — that is the only differences between Katrina/LA and Ike/TX, right? (wink wink)
Police Arrest 81 Looting Suspects After Ike
Houston Police Department FOX 26 News
HOUSTON -- Many felt disgusted after witnessing looting in the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina left thousands of people dead and victimized. Who would steal at a time like this? According to Houston Police Department officials, more than 75 Houstonians and counting.
At least 81 people have been arrested for looting. The crimes have hit several areas of our city as Ike was making landfall and after the monster storm moved out.
"It's very disheartening because there's enough tragedy to infrastructure,...to the act of a theft," Houston Police Department Capt. Bruce Williams said.
So what did they steal during Ike? Officials say everything from furniture to clothes and even liquor.
Council member Adrian Garcia - a former Houston Police Officer-- says the act is disgusting at best.
"This is horrible when mother nature is upon you and is putting your life in danger and you want to be out there trying to steal from someone else it is unfortunate that someone would have that kind of mindset," he said.
Williams says the criminals - the 81 people - Houstonians accused of trying to steal from Houstonians will be dealt with swiftly and with a firm hand.
This was an image Houston frowned upon in New Orleans but now needs to deal with in it's own backyard.
Who dat? True dat.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083809/posts
(Houston) Police Arrest 81 Looting Suspects After Ike
Police Arrest 81 Looting Suspects After Ike
Houston Police Department FOX 26 News
HOUSTON -- Many felt disgusted after witnessing looting in the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina left thousands of people dead and victimized. Who would steal at a time like this? According to Houston Police Department officials, more than 75 Houstonians and counting.
disaster shooting and looting - only in New Orleans and other Third World countries.
“At least 81 people have been arrested for looting. The crimes have hit several areas of our city as Ike was making landfall and after the monster storm moved out.”
What is missing from that story is that total buglaries in Houston are down by about 1/3 of what they normally would be absent the storm. Houston is making singificantly fewer arrests because significantly fewer crimes are occuring.
In Galveston County, with a popultion in excess of 150,000 there were exactly 11 arrests for looting — and three of those were one band of looters.
Not that the news media ever *overstates* a problem.
Standard operating procedure for most people throughout history. Consider it a reminder of how luxurious our society is, and what "normal" is to humanity.
These comparisons are getting SOOO tired. Was Houston under water for weeks and then back under water a second time? Was a vast percentage of the housing there destroyed?
Of course I’m sure that Texas isn’t accepting any government help with this, either. By golly, them Texans will just take care of everything by themselves. Right?
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083809/posts
(Houston) Police Arrest 81 Looting Suspects After Ike
Police Arrest 81 Looting Suspects After Ike
Houston Police Department FOX 26 News
You talkin’ ‘bout yourself again? I thought it was just typical California jealousy of Texas causing folks there to trash talk Texas by providing information out of context.
Certainly you seem to be ignorant of things like the difference between Harris and Galveston Counties and the population of the Houston Metropolitan area. Otherwise you could put 81 arrests in . . . you know . . . perspective.
And, as I recall, that story was printed a week after the storm hit. Lessee 81 divided by 7 equals. . .
You talkin’ ‘bout yourself again?
Huh? The fact is there was looting, and other reports have over 150 arrests just in Houston for looting, and those were just the ones that happened to get caught.
If you can't handle the truth, fine, just don't take it out on me. It make ya look really bad.
Nobody is going to state the obvious. 81 arrested around Houston....New Orleans....
Bennin Houston the whole time and heare are my observations:
The churches have indeed stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park. My church fed 15,000 people and afterwards was a distribution point for food, water and ice at the rate of about 1,000 per hour. Other churches did as well serving as distribution points and spending their own money for the relief effort. The number of volunteers in this city who have worked distributing food and clearing brush is larger than some European countries.
Centerpoint energy repaired the commercial areas first, particularly the areas that had grocery stores and they were up and running within a few days without a problem. For those who feel that commercial operations should be in charge of distribution, that is exactly what was done and it works so well it is astonishing. The Fema Distribution points have lasted only so long as the nearby commercial areas were inoperable and have been moved within hours of the power coming back on. Kudos to the energy companies and the grocery companies for their spectacular management of this aspect of recovery.
On Saturday at twelve noon, the day after the hurricane passed through, the wind died and people came out of their homes in my neighborhood and shook hands congratulating each other for surviving Ike. A few minutes later, rakes and shovels were out and by Sunday afternoon the neighborhood looked normal except for the piles of brush on right of way, and trees that had fallen into roofs. On Sunday evening we noticed that many fences had been repaired or had been completely replaced with new wood.
The crime rate for the past two weeks has been unusually low and it has simplified the Police’s job dramatically.
Although there has been some friction with Fema, the problems that presented themslves were quickly resolved.
Yesterday, 600 loaded Fema trucks were sent home as they were not needed. I guess Fema was prepared for another Ray Nagin/Kathleen Blanco situation that never materilaized.
The speed with which Houston has rebooted is absolutely astonishing. Galveston and nearby areas are going to require some additional work, but we will git ‘r done.
God has Blessed Texas. And we thank Him for those Blessings.
“By golly, them Texans will just take care of everything by themselves. Right?”
Well, we (Texans and Taxpayers in general) are sure as hell taking care of tens of thousands of Katrina evacuees, 3 years later.
Yeah, we are asking for some Federal assistance. So what?
If you can't handle the truth, fine, just don't take it out on me. It make ya look really bad.”
There were 1,953,631 people living in Houston proper in 2000 There are close to another 500,000 in the immediate metropolitan area. Call it 2.75 million people total in the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area. And there were 150 cases of looting since September 12.
Not exactly a crime wave, to my way of thinking. If pointing that out makes me look bad, oh well. I really don't worry about what the microcephaloid think about me. Of course, I am sure that metropolitan areas in California of similar sizes have much, much lower burglary rates than 75 per week.
Those trucks went to Seguin and dumped thousands of pallets of ice on the runway at the air force base to melt. Seriesly.
I have no problem with providing assistance. When something like this happens, people need help.
I was taking a jab at the folks here who would have you believe that Mississippi by golly just picked itself up and went on with no help after Katrina, unlike those crummy Louisianans.
All the Gulf states have GOP governors now - even loosieanna.
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