[Cincinatus' Wife]

Tony said the FBI began investigating the New Orleans police who had abandoned their post during Katrina and of the more than 500 screened so far, 84% don't exist.

Tony Snow said, of the 1700 police working for New Orleans, maybe only 1000 really exist.

Where was that payroll money going?

____________________________________________________

Later in the day asking for privacy and respect.........

New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass, right, turns away from the microphones as Mayor Ray Nagin, left, looks on after Compass announced his retirement in New Orleans, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2005. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Leader of New Orleans Police Resigns***NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Police Superintendent Eddie Compass resigned Tuesday after four turbulent weeks in which the police force was wracked by desertions and disorganization in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.

"I served this department for 26 years and have taken it through some of the toughest times of its history. Every man in a leadership position must know when it's time to hand over the reins," Compass said at a news conference. "I'll be going on in another direction that God has for me."............***

[msnimje]

Where was that payroll money going?

We can be relatively sure it is not flood control or levee improvements.

[kb2614]

They don't call Louisiana America's last banana republic for nothing!! I know I shouldn't laugh, but this is absurdly funny.

:-)

[HiTech RedNeck]

I'll be going on in another direction that God has for me."

like the devil?

[BulletBobCo]

Ruh roh!

[nopardons]

Holy cow!

[XpandTheEkonomy]

Not good. The 911 response times of non-existent cops can be really long.

[BIRDS]

I can barely believe my eyes and ears when hearing we are now being asked as a country to fork over gargantuan billions of dollars to Louisiana FOR THEIR CONTROL AND DISPENSATION, without so much as a receipt and/or documentation as to how it's spent.

The state should be taken into some sort of Marshall Law embrace, rebuilt with some sense to the georgraphy and not upon sentimentality, and every individual harmed by the damage (there and elsewhere) helped financially. BUT, to leave Louisiana -- New Orleans, specifically -- to profit yet again with no supervision (or even with supervision, because I am thinking the whole area needs to be relieved of duties, at least, for a while), is the most wasteful thing I have ever heard. It equals "guest worker programs" in nuttiness and waste as to Americans' taxes.

[konaice]

She's come undone
She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
It was too late

She's come undone
She found a mountain that was far too high
And when she found out she couldn't fly
It was too late

It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone
She wanted truth but all she got was lies
Came the time to realize
And it was too late

[Americanwolf]

Well that explains Eddie's sudden exit stage left....
I hope the corruption being unearthed in Lousiana force many local and state governments to either come clean or forces the people of those cities to demand and accounting... Corruption needs to be routed out of politics... This means that money has to be taken out of the political process. that along with tort reform would go a long way towards changing the face of our current political landscape.

[Flyer]

Tony Snow said, of the 1700 police working for New Orleans, maybe only 1000 really exist.

700 times an average salary of $35,000 = $24,500,000

[dan_s]

So how many of these 700 'missing' voted last time? I'd say most of them...

[leadpenny]

Chrisy Prissy Shays to investigate.

[Anti-Bubba182]

I wonder if this has a connection to the resignation of Eddie Compass.

If the story is true that there are non existant Police Officers on the rolls, in anything like those numbers, the scandal will be explosive. One bogus employee is too many.

Taxpayers will be less willing to shovel money into the area without massive oversight.

[newzjunkey]

No wonder they didn't have the people necessary to do the job required! This is incredible!

[M1911A1]

LOL! It doesn't get any better than this.

Perhaps the Mayor Nagin can claim he needed the phantom cops to handle the phantom crimes committed at the Superdome...

No, wait, he knew a hurricane was coming, so he created the positions on the department so they could be quickly filled in case of an emergency...

Umm, no, well, err... It's Bush's fault, dammit!

[rvoitier]

Tony Snow's audio.

[Cricket24]

You know...with the way everything was handled down there, is this really surprising? NO Mayor Nagin is one arrogant guy and I can see why the dums in this country want to keep anyone from investigating or blaming the mayor or the governor for the problems that existed before and after the hurricane!

[Deetes]

BTTT

[syriacus]

A study of the NOPD was completed in 2003. It contained very bad news, but did not receive much attention. You would have thought some TV show like 60-minutes 20/20 could have spent time investigating NO's crime/police problem, instead of making up stories about Bush.

A Blockbuster Report [New Orleans was already MURDER CAPITAL of the US]

"New Orleans is facing a crisis: our police force is shrinking at the same time that our city has recaptured the distinguished title of 'murder capital' of the United States among major cities," the Foundation stated.

"We now have only about 1500 officers actually engaged in police work, down from 1700 three years ago. Not surprisingly, the reduction in police strength has been accompanied by steep increases in the number of murders.

CITIES AND CRIME: New Orleans homicides up as people fear killers, cops

"We're going in the reverse of 46 of the top 50 cities in the United States. Almost everyone is going down, but we're going up," said criminologist Peter Scharf. "There is something going on in New Orleans that is not going on elsewhere.

[snip]New Orleans has had such a problem with retaliation against witnesses -- including murder -- that the district attorney's office took the unusual step of starting a local witness protection program.

Witnesses may also be reluctant to talk to police because of allegations of police brutality and corruption.

[GoLightly]

Hmmm, who would one have to contact to hire a bunch of fake police officers?

New Orleans Police Foundation
Elodia Blanco, Recruiting Coordinator
400 Poydras St. Suite 2105
New Orleans, La. 70130

http://www.nopdonline.com/rec.htm