Even the police are looting now.

[-..__...]

Maybe I should head down to NOLA and get some early Christmas shopping done while supplies last?

:sarcasm:


Even a cop joins in the looting
Mike Perlstein and Brian Thevenot
Staff writers

Law enforcement efforts to contain the emergency left by Katrina slipped into chaos in parts of New Orleans Tuesday with some police officers and firefighters joining looters in picking stores clean.

At the Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas Street, an initial effort to hand out provisions to stranded citizens quickly disintegrated into mass looting. Authorities at the scene said bedlam erupted after the giveaway was announced over the radio.

While many people carried out food and essential supplies, others cleared out jewelry racks and carted out computers, TVs and appliances on handtrucks.

Some officers joined in taking whatever they could, including one New Orleans cop who loaded a shopping cart with a compact computer and a 27-inch flat screen television.

Officers claimed there was nothing they could do to contain the anarchy, saying their radio communications have broken down and they had no direction from commanders.

“We don’t have enough cops to stop it,” an officer said. “A mass riot would break out if you tried.”

Inside the store, the scene alternated between celebration and frightening bedlam. A shirtless man straddled a broken jewelry case, yelling, “Free samples, free samples over here.”

Another man rolled a mechanized pallet, stacked six feet high with cases of vodka and whiskey. Perched atop the stack was a bewildered toddler.

link to story

Yep, gotta stock-up on those necessities.

[havocmom]

1. It's all gonna be under water pretty damned soon

What is the point of giving it to the mud & muc?

[-..__...]

7. WTF is the point of stealing it then?

Unless the flood waters are expected to rise even more, it's probably a safe bet that the non-essential items being looted are still salvageable.

Cases of whiskey and jewelry aren't the type of merchandise that loses it's usefulness or value because there's some flood damage to it.

[havocmom]

12. Because people are hoping they will not be under water with it

Also, they don't have a lot of resources, like CNN and FAUX to refer to at this point in time. And possibily, not every one ther got a good night's sleep like you and I so they aren't thinking as well as they could.

Hey, the social contract in the area is gone. Things are NOT gonna go as one would hope. And a few generations of rage against being the bottom tier of that social contract is also welling up and showing.

Why worry about STUFF? Stuff is gone. There are more important issues than cases of vodka destined to the fishes anyway.

[MemphisTiger]

2. On the 6' high pallet of vodka and whiskey was a toddler?

That kid is going to need some serious therapy.

[Spinzonner]

4. Medicinal purposes only

[growlypants]

3. they empitied out all the drugs in the pharmacies too.

and i bet if you went in there, the only drugs taken were the painkillers and the valiums, etc. No antibiotics, antidiarrheals, animalarials, etc.

[JuniperLea]

5. This is really pissing me off!

Who the ferk cares? Why aren't these damn cops looking for stranded people to save instead of worrying about useless crap left sitting on store shelves? When I see pictures of cops walking around with rifles, shooing people out of stores, I get so damn mad! They should be out helping people, not adding to the hysteria! There are lives hanging in balance and they are worried about material things? Has common sense left the planet?

[mike_c]

16. I agree-- IT'S JUST STUFF, and if taking it gives some comfort...

...to people who were mostly poor to start with, and who live in a destroyed city, whose future is utterly uncertain except in the sense that it mostly won't be good-- I say fuck Walmart's profits and open the doors wide.

[JuniperLea]

26. You bet!

Let them have what they need to survive, emotionally or physically. God knows their government won't help them. It's every man, woman and child for themselves.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

32. I agree. Also, these things that have been taken would have been

written off as a total loss by these stores anyway.

[I concur]

28. I care!

Just consider that the drugs being looted from the N.O. pharmacies and hospitals could save a life of someone who is currently lying sick in the Superdome...consider that the guns being stolen will some day take a life...consider that the cases of liquor being stolen will be used eventually to ruin a life.

[JuniperLea]

31. Ruin what life?

Are you saying they have any quality of life right now? Are you assuming there are any organized actions taking place that could actually direct said goods to the place they would do the most good? Are you saying the pharmacy items are still good after soaking in disease ridden water for days? Are you saying it is far better to keep the looters out than to search for dead and dying? Priorities, man, priorities!

[I concur]

34. YES! Because...

...most vital medicinal items are sealed in bottles. Drugs to counter the diseases that are sure follow (cholera) are most assuredly going to be in great demand as will the pain medicines to relieve the suffering of victims. Also, I note that a lot of gun shops are currently being looted. Why?
I appreciate and understand stealing food to survive but, at this point, perishable items are now contaminated and will cause sickness so looting in general should be the first police priority. The dead are dead.

[JuniperLea]

39. First priority over saving lives?

Surely you jest!!!

Sealed bottles or not, opening them would contaminate.

I'd sure grab a gun under these circumstances. All hell is breaking loose. I'd defend what's left of my family for sure!

Save the living... let the "consumer goods" rot.

[LaurenG]

6. There will always be those who break the law

just to get something more for themselves. Look who we have in office for an example of stealing, looting and murdering. The VAST majority of human beings don't deliberately steal or hurt others.

Frankly I am tired of hearing about those who are looting.Some of them truly DO need supplies. The rest, well, that is their deal. What comes around goes around.

[KharmaTrain]

10. There is no "Law" In That City

We're seeing a city that has no effective police force, fire department or other services. There's little communications and no indication of when services will be restored. Looting? This is more like Fort Apache: The Bronx or MadMax...the "rules" that apply here are surviving any way you can.

Now I can see what the guy with all that liquor will do...barter and fence...and he'll probably do nicely, but the dude with the puter and flat screen...now what good is that gonna do? I can't see how well those things will do on the black market.

[HadItUpToHere]

19. as for the guy with the computor and flat screen tv, he can fence it-

with the world's new BIGGEST fencing operation anywhere- Ebay.

[KharmaTrain]

36. And He's Gonna Connect To Ebay How?

There's no electricity or phone service...doesn't do much good right now in a world where you don't know what's going on a couple blocks away, yet on a website.

Is he gonna try to lug the thing around? My bets are he'll barter it for some food or something else...then it'll be fenced around again and again. An acquaintance who went through the LA riots once told me that a lot of the stolen appliances ended up as trash as so much had been dumped on the streets at once they had little value...and most were damaged when they were looted or even beforehand

Once again, there's CNNServative showing that same three-day old looting video again...right now that town is in survival mode and you do what you have to to get by cause there's not going to be any real help in the near future.

Eventually the entire city will have to be evacuated to fix the levees and start to drain the water...these people will be pushed and shoved along...with a very uncertain future. I don't think making a fortune through looted goods...much that is spoiled or spoiling...is going on here.

[HadItUpToHere]

37. It's not like it's produce or something-

a computor and flat screen tv don't spoil- when the electricity comes back on, they'll still be worth just as much.

[-..__...]

20. Barter and fence for what?

Food? Water?

"Lemme see here... I have enough Evian and Spaghettios to last myself a few days, but a fifth of Johnnie Walker for a few of my "essentials", sounds like a good trade".

Maybe the enterprising liquor distributor can barter a deal with Mr. jewelry exchange?

[JuniperLea]

15. Ditto

Time to move on an think about those in peril instead of those scavenging. If my home was destroyed and my president was AWOL and there were no National Guard troops to help me, my family and my neighbors, you damn betcha I'd be looting stores to get what I need. And I can't blame those for stealing drugs and alcohol either... shit, what are you going to do? They are all sitting around in diseased mud fcol!

[MadeinOhio]

8. Unbelievable....

Maybe alot of these people flat out wanted to save whatever they could to sell it later, if anything was left there it would have been destroyed. Its getting worse down south....

If those freepers don't shape up soon, the 'punishment' could come sweeping into Texas. This is what Global Warming is everybody.

[Debbi801]

9. That is despicable...

So, if they don't have enough cops to stop the looting, then it is perfectly okay to join in with the looting? WTF is up with that logic?

I know that there are many cops out there that are slimy, but this is below slime.

[alcibiades_mystery]

23. NO cops don't really have a shining history of integrity...

;-)

Dirtiest police department in the country up until the late-1990's.

[JuniperLea]

33. The cops should be saving lives!

Not Wal-Mart fcol!

[lonestarnot]

11. OMG... survival of the biggest guns.

[havocmom]

13. As the social fabric dissolves in disaster, those who fell through it

years or generations ago will express some dissatisfication. Why would they cling to tattered remnants of a system which always held them down anyway?

And as the social contract fails, survival is what is left.

Survival of the biggest guns has been US policy for a long time. Seems the fates are pounding that point home to us now. Get used to it. It is a glimpse of the future.

[lonestarnot]

14. Nope, will not... I will turn the other cheek. I will break bread with

the hungry and offer them my last crumb! Fuck a gun unless they touch my kid and then all bets are off.

[Bouncy Ball]

21. Now THAT is a REAL Christian attitude.

Thank you for demonstrating it.

Break bread with the hungry and offer my last crumb. You got it. Exactly.

That post made me smile this morning, for the first time in a while. Thank you.

[zyx]

17. Doesn't make sense.

Who would take electronics when the whole city is underwater and there's no power to run the thing in the first place.

[Bouncy Ball]

22. Logical thinking does not come into play for many people

dealing with a massive disaster. Of course it doesn't make sense.

[SlowDownFast]

18. Hoooley Shit.

I didn't realize the scope.

If they're emptying the WalMart with the help of cops, ya know there is serious trouble down there.

I'm shaking my head in disbelief...

[MercutioATC]

24. They're not "looting", they're "just trying to survive"....

Seriously, how many here who have defended civilian looters are jumping all over this?

Geez...

[riverwalker]

25. ?

yeah, bottles of booze and cheap amethyst bracelets soaked in toxic ooze and slime and decomposing bodies for weeks have a value.
IT'S GARBAGE!

[JuniperLea]

29. Yep, garbage.

And I bet they are damn happy to have it.

It's a little hard for us to armchair general this as we sit high and dry in our cozy homes in front of our computers.

[theboss]

27. Chicago cops wouldn't have had the decency to share

Anyway, for some reason, I'm picturing Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin going at it in the middle of all of this.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

30. They had a couple of cops on camera loading a shopping cart,

and another video of one mosying into a store that was being looted. Stopping the looting didn't appear to be his goal.

[nolabels]

35. Mayhem ensues and people dying but cops seeing fit to load booty

How nice

[magnolia]

38. I saw footage of evil looters....

...this morning. They had armloads for food and diapers. People should starve to death and allow their babies to become infected with diaper rash, just as long as they don't break the law??? Those police should be helping people get the things they need out of these store.

[I concur]

40. I saw them too...

...and the ones I saw weren't carrying diapers or food. They had liquor and electronic gear in their goody bags. Besides, if the looters were grabbing perishable food items (vice can goods), then they are just as troublesome as the ones looting entertainment items because perishable stuff is contaminated by now and persons who consume it will become a health hazard to others.