NOPD: When Cops Loot, It's Not Looting
Published March 24, 2006
Well, it took almost seven months, but the New Orleans Police Department has finally gotten its lies straight, concerning pilfering police officers who availed themselves of other people's property in Katrina's aftermath. The official word: Looters in uniform do not count as looters.
The pronunciamento concerned six officers, four of whom were named. Olivia Fontenot, Vera Polite, Debra Prosper and Kenyatta Phillips were caught by an MSNBC news crew in a compromising position inside a Wal-Mart. According to a report from the New Orleans Times-Picayune's Michael Perlstein:
"When a reporter asks the officers what they're doing, one of them responds, 'Looking for looters.' She then hastily turns her back to the camera...."In the video, the officers never offer an explanation as to why they're filling a shopping basket with merchandise. Instead, Fontenot tells Savidge that they are 'looking for looters.'
"When Savidge points out that he can see looters everywhere, the following exchange takes place: Fontenot: 'That's what I see, including you. What are you doing in here?'
"Savidge: 'I haven't taken anything, ma'am.'
"Fontenot: 'But you're in the store, huh?'"
Office Fontenot was clearly seeking to intimidate Savidge out of doing his job by making a veiled threat of arresting him, while letting all the looters run wild.
According to Perlstein, that same day, several Times-Picayune reporters also saw officers taking items such as fishing poles and electronics "while dozens of other officers stood by."
But that was then, this is now. Speaking through a department flack, Superintendent Warren Riley said "It was determined that all four officers had received permission from their commanders to get clothing for fellow officers who were soaking wet. They did not steal anything."
If the four officers had really been acting with their commander's permission, don't you think they would have simply said so, instead of hiding from the camera, making the idiotic statement that they were "looking for looters," and harassing a reporter?
When I was a department store security guard, it was easy to profile most shoplifters before they stole anything, because they practically had a big "G" for guilty written on their foreheads. They'd look around in a paranoid fashion and otherwise draw attention to themselves. If those New Orleans policewomen weren't looting, why did they act guilty as hell?
- NOPD: When Cops Loot, It's Not Looting
- Published: March 24, 2006
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Politics: Law and Rights, Culture: Society, Culture: Media
- Writer: Nicholas Stix
- Nicholas Stix's BC Writer page
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"If I recall on a 60 Minutes profile a few years back, the NOPD is one of the lowest paid police forces in North America."
That's highly unlikely, since all police forces in Mexico pay less than the NOPD.
Plus, at the time Katrina hit, the NOPD's 1450 actual officers also enjoyed a 17 percent fraud bonus, based on th federal taxpayer money that paid for 250 non-existent "ghost" policemen. The ghost money was divvied up among the rest of the department. And that's not even including whatever NOPD officers were "earning" in thefts, bribes, and robberies.
"The other little piece of info that sticks in my mind was the observation that no one arrested for killing a police officer in New Orleans has ever lived to stand trial (despite being healthy when arrested) except one...wait for it...who was a police officer."
Since it sticks in your mind, could you please source that little piece of information? I've done a study of the NOPD, and found that the department seems not to have a lot of shootings and attacks on officers, compared to other cities (like, say, Cincinnati, where the police have the choice between killing psychopaths in self-defense and de-policing).
P.S. New Orleans is more famous for killer-cops than for cop killers. At present, two former NOPD officers are on Death Row for murders they either committed or commissioned while they were officers. Len Davis, who was a crime kingpin while in uniform and during job hours, ordered a drug dealer-associate to murder Kim Greaves, after Greaves had witnessed Davis' partner for beating the hell out of a teenager (her nephew?) for no good reason, and sworn out a complaint. When Davis got word from the killer that the deed had been done, he exclaimed, "Rockabye, baby!"
Antoinette Frank was more hands-on. During a robbery she murdered three people, including one off-duty NOPD officer who was working security, at a Vietnamese restaurant where Frank also worked as a security guard.
Actually I do cite my source - 60 Minutes. Unfortunately 60 Minutes doesn't seem to provide a story archive online that I can point you to. As I noted, I'm going by memory, so no guarantees.
As for Mexico, apologies I was thinking of only Canada and the US, so yes, Mexico is excepted.
Your citing of Antoinette Frank does sound familiar as I believe it was a female police officer that committed the murder.
Sorry for the lack of precise memory.
"Actually I do cite my source - 60 Minutes. Unfortunately 60 Minutes doesn't seem to provide a story archive online that I can point you to. As I noted, I'm going by memory, so no guarantees."
Oh. I didn't realize 60 Minutes was the source in both cases.
"As for Mexico, apologies I was thinking of only Canada and the US, so yes, Mexico is excepted."
No sweat. I think most people forget or don't know thta North America has three countries.
"Your citing of Antoinette Frank does sound familiar as I believe it was a female police officer that committed the murder.
"Sorry for the lack of precise memory."
No sweat. It was 11 years ago; even I had to double-check the date (March 4, 1995). Only hours after being sworn in as chief of police, Richard Pennington finds himself at the crime scene with a detective telling him that he's sure the killer is a cop. Welcome to the Big Easy, Chief!
I was down there for 4 months working electrical contracts.
I met a lot of folks, drank piss warm beer and ate crappy food the whole time.
Wal-mart, rather than throw their damaged goods away told the cops to take what they needed, just keep the store from getting torched by the gangbangers.
So they did! Wal mart was filing claims anyway, and in good NOLA fashion greased a few palms, saved their storefront and were able to get some infrastructure up and running.
I will have to comment that a lot of people on this blog didn't go there, and STILL don't understand the magnitude of destruction, and how massive an undertaking it was to even get power through the destruction to other zones. It was HUGE. And that's just the power side of the recovery. There is still ships up on dry land, fishing boats (BIG FISHING BOATS) up on 4 lane highways, all of which can't be moved, and have to be de-fueled, stripped and cut up (by hand) and trucked off to scrap yards.
So titter tatter away like you have been for months. Most of you (I'm sure there's a few who are from there, and have seen the damage) haven't been there... and the reality is... you cannot fathom the damage sitting your blessed assurance sucking brews and keyboarding like the wind.
"There is still ships up on dry land, fishing boats (BIG FISHING BOATS) up on 4 lane highways, all of which can't be moved, and have to be de-fueled, stripped and cut up (by hand) and trucked off to scrap yards."
There's no such thing as a fishing boat so big it can't be moved.
"So titter tatter away like you have been for months. Most of you (I'm sure there's a few who are from there, and have seen the damage) haven't been there... and the reality is... you cannot fathom the damage sitting your blessed assurance sucking brews and keyboarding like the wind."
What is your point? That we should adoringly accept nonsense you spout about fishing boats, and grant you a monopoly over what can be said and thought about New Orleans? You're the one tittering and tattering away, pal.
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If I recall on a 60 Minutes profile a few years back, the NOPD is one of the lowest paid police forces in North America.
The other little piece of info that sticks in my mind was the observation that no one arrested for killing a police officer in New Orleans has ever lived to stand trial (despite being healthy when arrested) except one...wait for it...who was a police officer.