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Katrina: Looting cops probed
30/09/2005 14:34 - (SA)
New Orleans - The police department said it is investigating a dozen officers in connection with looting during the lawlessness that engulfed the city after Hurricane Katrina.
News reports in the aftermath of the storm put officers at the scene of some of the heaviest looting, at the Wal-Mart in the Lower Garden District. Some witnesses, including a Times-Picayune reporter, said police were taking items from shelves.
"Once we actually got the video, we started our investigation," said acting police superintendent Warren Riley on Thursday. "The investigation does in fact show police officers with some items."
Of the 12 officers under investigation, four have already been suspended for failing to stop looting, Riley said.
"It was not clear that they in fact looted," Riley said of the four suspended officers. "What is clear is some action needed to be taken."
Drawing a distinction
Riley drew a distinction between taking useful items such as food and jeans, which he contended didn't amount to looting in a crisis, and taking luxuries such as jewellery.
He said incidents in which officers took Cadillacs from a dealer's lot were not looting because the officers patrolled in the cars.
Earlier this week, the city's police superintendent, Eddie Compass, resigned after weeks of criticism about the department's conduct during Katrina and its aftermath. On the same day, the department said about 250 police officers could face discipline for leaving their posts without permission during the crisis.
Meanwhile, business owners started streaming back into newly reopened sections of the city on Thursday morning at Mayor Ray Nagin's invitation, some vowing to rebuild, some saying they were pulling out.
Under the mayor's plan, residents of some neighbourhoods will be allowed to return on Friday, a move that could bring back about one-third of the city's half-million inhabitants.
Life returning to New Orleans
At Igor's, a pub and coin laundry in the Garden District, owner Halina Margan returned after Katrina and never left, despite Hurricane Rita's threat last week.
"It's lonely here. We need people," she said.
Blues music poured out the door of Slim Goodies diner, where by 10:00, owner Kappa Horn had already served pancakes, bacon and eggs over easy on plastic plates to more than 100 people.
"This is the first hot meal I've had in a month," said George Wichser, a Tulane University police officer who rode out the storm on campus.
The mayor is pushing aggressively to reopen the city despite concerns raised by state and federal officials.
Serious health hazards remain because of bacteria-laden floodwaters, a lack of drinkable water and a sewage system that still does not work, said Stephen L. Johnson, chief of the environmental protection agency.
Federal officials said it would take at least another year to clean up all the hurricane debris in Louisiana.
- AP
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