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Bush turns New Orleans into crime haven

Texan

Well-known member
Post-Katrina New Orleans turns into crime haven
By Bob Dart
COX NEWS SERVICE
June 21, 2007


Nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the city's failing justice system is attracting violent criminals the way the French Quarter once pulled in tourists, witnesses told the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday.

"Returning drug dealers and violent criminals have chosen to come back to New Orleans ... to exploit the highly dysfunctional local criminal justice system, including its notorious 'revolving door,' " testified Jim Letten, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

In more than 3,000 criminal cases last year, charges had to be dismissed and suspects released because indictments were not brought within 60 days, as required by Louisiana law, said witnesses from New Orleans.

And last year there was only one conviction for the 160 homicides committed.

Anthony Cannatella, deputy superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, described how a lack of juvenile detention facilities resulted in the nearly immediate release of a 14-year-old girl who had robbed a tourist at gunpoint.

Committee chairman Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, warned that violent crime has become New Orleans' "most serious threat to recovery since the storm."

"Securing convictions has become increasingly difficult with the lack of forensic capabilities, delays in court proceedings and the reluctance of witnesses to come forward where the system cannot protect them from retaliation," he said.

In the first three months of this year, violent crime is up 107 percent over the same period last year, including 91 homicides, law-enforcement officials testified.

Indeed, witnesses and committee members described a city where crime seems to be one of the few parts of society that is working 22 months after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

"The murder rate per capita is now the highest in America, more than 20 percent higher than in any other major city," said Mr. Leahy.

The New Orleans Police Department is still working out of FEMA trailers, said Mr. Cannatella. More than 800 officers "lost everything" in the storm and about 500 still live in FEMA trailers. Many of its most highly trained veterans were recruited to adjoining parishes where pay and living conditions are better.

"At present, we have only one qualified firearms examiner and one fingerprint examiner left," said Mr. Cannatella, adding that more than 85 firearms examinations and more than 1,600 narcotics tests are backlogged.

The witnesses appealed to the committee for congressional aid.

"In a nutshell, we need federal funding," said Judge David Bell of the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court.

A beefed-up federal law-enforcement force — including more prosecutors and FBI agents — is making a dent in its jurisdiction, said Mr. Letten. Last year, the U.S. attorney's office charged 358 persons with federal offenses.

But too often, suspects are back on the street within hours after police book them, he said. Witnesses and victims are too often abused in this system, he added.

"We must restore faith in the criminal justice system in Orleans Parish," agreed Robert Stellingworth, president of the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, a nonprofit community group set up to improve the criminal justice system.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070621/NATION/106210080/1002
 

Cal

Well-known member
Heard on the radio today that all of the FEMA trailers intended for hurricane relief will now be given to reservations and they expect them to have a 30 year useful life. Maybe the "30 years useful life" wasn't referring to the trailers, most of the ones that were already here look like trash.
 

loomixguy

Well-known member
It's simply amazing that neither Mayor Ray Nagin or Gov. Kathleen Blanco catch any hell about their lack of leadership or their inept actions during the whole fiasco. All these tards know is it's all Bush's fault. No personal responsibility whatsoever. Go figure.
 

Texan

Well-known member
Cal said:
Heard on the radio today that all of the FEMA trailers intended for hurricane relief will now be given to reservations and they expect them to have a 30 year useful life. Maybe the "30 years useful life" wasn't referring to the trailers, most of the ones that were already here look like trash.
The feds probably came up with the 30 year bs just to make it seem like a better 'investment.' Or...maybe they were talking about the people on the reservations having a 30 year useful life? No...that couldn't be right. :lol:

It's a damn shame how quickly people can trash something when they have no concept of working for ownership of it. Government continues to perpetuate this waste by giving to the people who always have their hands out instead of encouraging them to work for something. Liberalism at it's finest.

It's amazing to me that anyone who has ever worked a day in their life could EVER vote for a freakin' liberal.
 

Texan

Well-known member
loomixguy said:
It's simply amazing that neither Mayor Ray Nagin or Gov. Kathleen Blanco catch any hell about their lack of leadership or their inept actions during the whole fiasco. All these tards know is it's all Bush's fault. No personal responsibility whatsoever. Go figure.
That is so true. The incompetent and/or crooked dems in LA have a long history of siphoning money from the federal government and diverting it to their own use. Hurricane 'relief' seems to be no different.

I've heard that Mayor nagin is even considering running for state office. Seems that term limits keep him from running for Mayor again but he continues to raise campaign money - about $500,000 last I heard. Some of the speculation is that he might even run for Governor.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Texan said:
Cal said:
Heard on the radio today that all of the FEMA trailers intended for hurricane relief will now be given to reservations and they expect them to have a 30 year useful life. Maybe the "30 years useful life" wasn't referring to the trailers, most of the ones that were already here look like trash.
The feds probably came up with the 30 year bs just to make it seem like a better 'investment.' Or...maybe they were talking about the people on the reservations having a 30 year useful life? No...that couldn't be right. :lol:

It's a damn shame how quickly people can trash something when they have no concept of working for ownership of it. Government continues to perpetuate this waste by giving to the people who always have their hands out instead of encouraging them to work for something. Liberalism at it's finest.

It's amazing to me that anyone who has ever worked a day in their life could EVER vote for a freakin' liberal.

I couldn't agree more-- but you have to take it a few more steps-- some corporate CEO's probably made millions getting a quickee (Halliburton type) contract and selling those trailers to FEMA for well over the cost of constructing them-- and some other corporate CEO's will make millions by getting the government to allow the reservations to resell them for a dime on the dollar and will get the contract to buy them all for resale- and then sell them back for a good profit to the taxpayer that originally paid for them......
Ain't just the Libs screwing the taxpayer thru our "good old boy" government system...
 

Texan

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
I couldn't agree more-- but you have to take it a few more steps-- some corporate CEO's probably made millions getting a quickee (Halliburton type) contract and selling those trailers to FEMA for well over the cost of constructing them-- and some other corporate CEO's will make millions by getting the government to allow the reservations to resell them for a dime on the dollar and will get the contract to buy them all for resale- and then sell them back for a good profit to the taxpayer that originally paid for them......
Ain't just the Libs screwing the taxpayer thru our "good old boy" government system...
You're sure right about that, OT. Greed has no party affiliation.

It's almost unbelievable all of the waste that is generated by the federal government. But these knee-jerk FEMA reactions seem to be the same every time where minorities are concerned. They try to make it look like something is being done before the press coverage make them look bad. Throw money at something - then MORE money to fix what they screwed up the first time.

And like you say, there's always somebody willing to cash in on the mistakes and mismanagement by the feds. And those people looking to cash in usually have some Congressman or Senator pushing something through so that they can bring home the bacon to their district or bring in the campaign contributions. Almost always in the name of helping some minorities, to make it more palatable to the taxpayer.

There are a lot of working-class people in Kansas and elsewhere in tornado country who could have benefited from those FEMA trailers. People who probably would have been happy to buy them at a reduced price or with some government financing.

Maybe they sent some to Kansas - I don't really know. It just seems like more and more often, the working class only gets one thing from government - crapped on. :???:
 
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