Wednesday, September 28, 2005

N.O. Police Chief Resigns & 500 Prisoners Gone

StPetersburgTimes: After serving his department for 26 yrs and taken it through some of the toughest times of its history, New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass resigned Tues after 4 turbulent wks in which the police force was wracked by desertions and disorganization in Katrina's aftermath. Neither Compass nor Mayor Nagin would say whether Compass was pressured to leave, but ya have to wonder about this (as DemocracyNow! asks): What about the 517 unaccounted for parish prisoners? A month after Katrina, serious questions remain about the fate of 100s of prisoners in N.O. while prisoners and their lawyers say many were abandoned in the flooding jails and left to drown. According to Human Rights News, that as of Monday, Aug 29, there were no correctional officers in the building, which held more than 600 inmates. These inmates, including some who were locked in ground-floor cells, were not evacuated until Thursday, Sept 1st, 4 days after flood waters in the jail had reached chest-level. Many inmates escaped, some drown, and some were left to fend for themselves... hmm, like everyone else in Katrina, huh? "It was complete chaos,” said a corrections officer with more than 30 yers of service at Orleans Parish Prison. When asked what he thought happened to the inmates, he shook his head and said: “Ain't no tellin’ what happened to those people.” Speaking of not knowing what has happened or is currently going on, former FEMA dir Mike Brown starts pointing fingers... is NOW the time for the blame game? Did Bush give old Brownie permission to speak blame?
Posted by Tina :: 12:07 AM :: 0 Comments:

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