I wasn't necessarily advocating shooting people right off the bat...just "a highly visible show of force." The South Korean riot police are masters at this sort of thing, and I watched them practice it time and again for three years. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 (and usually means the person is talking out of their a$$). The NOPD would have had to expected looting in the aftermath and should have had their riot control gear already prepped. As they reconsolidated after the storm they should have deployed around the high value targets in 3-10 man teams (depending on available manpower) with CS (tear gas) dispersers, riot batons, working dogs, etc....highly visible indicators that they were ready to do business. Just the visual cues alone, and suggestion that the cops were somewhat organized would probably have kept some of the numbers down.
A few arrests made right from the get go would have further demotivated some of the participants. Likewise, even one who has never been trained in any law-enforcement capacity can fairly easily ID the leaders and key agitators in a mob. Target them, and consolidate the police teams as needed to isolate and remove them.
Of course the NO authorities have let it deteriorate past this point. They should have been prepared Monday to begin executing something akin to the above. Even if, ESPECIALLY if, communications had not been reestablished, a plan should have been in order for police to be on the streets as soon as possible after the hurricane had passed. The looting was to be expected, every bit as much a certainty as sunrise. The breakdown and loss of control are the result of a conscious decision on the part of NO authorities to be reactive instead of proactive, and must be ascribed to either laziness or incompetence. A lot of the shooting that has ensued and will continue could have been prevented with a few wooden shampoos properly administered by the cops on the front side.
But at least the cops scored a few DVDs for themselves, and I guess that's the important thing.
My apologies. I had not intended to direct that part of the comment toward you, but just to make a general reference to postitions taken by some FReepers on earlier threads. To the extent that it was written so that it seemed to implicate you, I am sorry.