LEO's as the Enemy during a Disaster--Proper Response?

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Cosmoline

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More and more reports coming back are indicating the "snipers" and "mobs" were far less of a threat than law enforcement in the immediate aftermath of Katrina. Check out this detailed description of the problems faced by stranded hotel guests from the Quarter after the storm hit:

http://neworleans.craigslist.org/rnr/96481306.html

Amazing, just amazing. You will note several instances where LEO's, esp. from neighboring jurisdictions, blocked the survivor's escape routes and once case where a deputy essentially stole their supplies.

My question is, would the crowd be justified in killing them in order to escape, assuming they had long guns? It's a tough call. But frankly I can't see why not. At the time the blocked escape routes constituted not only a violation of law but a direct threat to their imminent survival. At the very least these deputies should be tracked down and put in prison, though in reality they will probably be lauded as "heroes"
 
Cosmoline

My question is, would the crowd be justified in killing them in order to escape, assuming they had long guns? It's a tough call. But frankly I can't see why not. At the time the blocked escape routes constituted not only a violation of law but a direct threat to their imminent survival. At the very least these deputies should be tracked down and put in prison, though in reality they will probably be lauded as "heroes"

You need to realise that the people who were stranded in New Orleans failed to
Evacuate, dispite the advanced warning. Afterwards when they where
Stoped on the bridge they where only prevented from moving from one disaster to another.

/ :D
 
Many of the NOPD also ran like scared rabbits.... taking their patrol cruisers to escape in. There were sightings of NOPD units as far away as Texas. The chief of police in NO says they will consider filing felony theft charges on the officers who ran with their units.
 
You need to realise that the people who were stranded in New Orleans failed to
Evacuate, dispite the advanced warning. Afterwards when they where
Stoped on the bridge they where only prevented from moving from one disaster to another.
Click to expand...
+1

I'll bet you still have your secret decoder ring too. :D
 
The chief of police in NO says they will consider filing felony theft charges on the officers who ran with their units.
Click to expand...

No doubt right after they get back from their 5 days paid vacation in Las Vegas. The chief offered the vacation to those public servants (?) who would return to work and help out.

I don't think treating them as the enemy is fair - but treating them just like any other person you might run into is fair. 20% reportedly stayed and did a good job, suffering serious burnout in the process. The majority vanished while a few hung around to participate in the looting and mayhem. I doubt the statistics on the police aren't much different from the general populace in their reaction to what happened - they're just people.
 
What really amazes me is that the people writing the report cited above were PARAMEDICS. PARAMEDICS!!! These people are worth TWICE THIER WEIGHT IN GOLD during a situation like this. They are more important than soldiers, cops and politicians put together. Frankly they're more useful than any doctor. You would expect LEO's to be asking them for help and getting them put in ad hoc triage centers. Maybe if they'd put on little hats and badges they would have been treated like human beings and not cattle.
 
There is no right answer.

On the one hand, if you, as policy, advocate gunning down every officer who gets in the way of what someone believes they need to do, then you may as well not have a police force. If the police do not have the authority to make people do things those people don't want to do, then the police are completely useless.

On the other hand, you as a person have to live your life and make your own decisions. If the officer is putting your life in real danger, then you have the right to do what you need to do to escape that danger.

Of course, every officer preventing a convict from escaping prison is putting that prisoner's life in real danger...but in that case, everyone agrees that the prisoner deserves it. But the only way the prisoner knows that on a daily basis is because the guard doesn't let him leave...and I'm pretty sure the prisoner disagrees with that assessment. So the prisoner's POV is much the same as yours when you're trying to flee the city. (The prisoner's POv, obviously, is NOT as justified, it's just the same)

The question you pose strikes me as very similar to the question of mutiny in the British navy of the Napoleonic era: it is always wrong. Except when it's right.
 
In the case of prisoners, though, they've all had full due process and been given an opportunity to be heard BEFORE the LEO's and prison guards were given that kind of authority over them. Likewise, nobody has taken the King's Shilling or agreed to serve aboard a man of war. Admittedly, not everyone was given a chance to agree. But wasn't that one of the reasons we fought the War of 1812?

In the case of NOLA, the mayor decided he could declare martial law and the cops decided that meant they could do whatever they wanted to whomever they chose. No due process, no rule of law. Just brute tyranny.
 
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