Re: NBC: An open letter to the President

it seems strange to me Joe ... I don't get it .. unless he thinks he'll have
mass dessertion from the PD soon ... but sending them to Vegas? .. & as far
as trying to have FEMA pick up the tab .. you know as well as I .. that he
was just trying to stick it to the cocksuckers at FEMA who oughta be fired
... I mean does Brown ever watch CNN? .. is he that stupid & inept that he
didn't know anything till Thursday? ... that must be some good stuff he is
smoking ... but this whole thing is out of hand .. I do wonder though how
many officers will go now ... & how many will wait a while to go .. because
they won't abandon the city & their job



"Joe" <obri6133@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1125897403.923354.236700@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Jimmy the Saint wrote:
>> http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09.html
>>
>>
>> OUR OPINIONS: An open letter to the President
>>
>> Dear Mr. President:
>>
>> We heard you loud and clear Friday when you visited our devastated city
>> and
>> the Gulf Coast and said, "What is not working, we're going to make it
>> right."
>
> Hey Jim...
> Things must be much better now. Obviously the crisis is past. Mayor
> Nagin is sending half his PD on vacation to Las Vegas and other cities,
> starting immediately. He wanted FEMA to pay for the airfare and Vegas
> hotels, but FEMA said no. Now, I got no problem with giving the cops
> and firemen a break, but a 5 day vacation? In the midst of one of the
> worst natural disasters in US history? Can't that wait till they at
> least get a death count? Is this guy for real?
>
>
> City to Offer Free Trips to Las Vegas for Officers
> By JOSEPH B. TREASTER and CHRISTOPHER DREW
> NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 4 - A day after two police suicides and the abrupt
> resignations or desertions of up to 200 police officers, defiant city
> officials on Sunday began offering five-day vacations - and even trips
> to Las Vegas - to the police, firefighters and city emergency workers
> and their families.
>
> The idea of paid vacations was raised by both Mayor C. Ray Nagin and
> senior police officials who said that their forces were exhausted and
> traumatized and that the arrival of the National Guard had made way for
> the officers to be relieved.
>
> "I'm very concerned about individuals who have been here, particularly
> since the first few days, and have been through a lot of hardship," Mr.
> Nagin said in an interview.
>
> He said most of the police officers, firefighters and emergency medical
> workers "are starting to show signs of very, very serious stress, and
> this is a way to give them time to reunite with their families."
>
> Mr. Nagin, who has been demanding more federal assistance for days as
> his city struggled with despair, death and flooding, said he had asked
> the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for the trips but the
> agency said it could not. He said the city, therefore, would pay the
> costs.
>
> He said he believed there were now enough National Guard members in the
> city to allow the police to take a break and still keep the city
> secure, and he brushed off questions about whether such a trip might
> look like a dereliction of duty.
>
> "I'll take the heat on that," Mr. Nagin said. "We want to cater to
> them."
>
> His words were seconded by the police superintendent, P. Edwin Compass
> III, in a separate interview. "When you go through something this
> devastating and traumatic," Mr. Compass said, "you've got to do
> something dramatic to jump-start the healing process."
>
> The officials were planning to send 1,500 workers out in two shifts for
> five days each. They are sending them to Las Vegas because of the
> availability of hotel rooms and to Atlanta because many of them had
> relatives there.
>
> They said that they were trying to get the first officers on their way
> on Monday and that the first stop would be Baton Rouge, about 75 miles
> from here.
>
> There the officers will be given physical examinations and inoculations
> against possible infection from the polluted floodwaters, said Col.
> Terry Ebbert, the director of homeland security for the city, who has
> authority over the police and fire departments and other emergency
> services.
>
> Then, Colonel Ebbert and other officials said, those who want to go to
> Las Vegas or Atlanta will be given air transportation and a hotel room.
> The city is reserving hotel rooms in Baton Rouge, they said, adding
> that the officers and firefighters may also be given the choice of
> flying to other cities.
>
> Colonel Ebbert, the senior official running the recovery and rescue
> operation, and Mr. Compass both said that they planned to take a break
> as well, but probably for less than five days, and that they would
> continue to direct the recovery by telephone.
>
> Officials said they expected the military, with much greater resources,
> to expand rescue work, begin cleaning up the city and take the first
> steps toward reconstruction.
>
> W. J. Riley, the deputy superintendent of police, said that by late
> Sunday afternoon more than 2,900 National Guard members and law
> enforcement officers from around the country were operating in New
> Orleans. By early evening, Mr. Riley said, the advance units of a
> 2,200-person force from the 82nd Airborne Division had landed.
>
> Several thousand more soldiers were expected, including members of the
> First Cavalry Division.
>
> Reinforcements are also expected for the fire department. Senior
> firefighters, who have been forced to ignore some fires and to try
> merely to keep the worst blazes from spreading, said that several
> hundred firefighters with fire engines and radio equipment were heading
> for New Orleans from departments around the country.
>
> New Orleans officials said they would remain in charge. Mr. Riley, who
> has been on the police force for 24 years, will oversee the police
> department in the superintendent's absence.
>
> "We haven't turned over control of the city," Colonel Ebbert said.
>
> Mr. Riley said that 40 percent of the city's force of about 1,200
> officers would remain at their posts while the others were on leave.
> When the first group returns, Mr. Riley said, those who stayed behind
> will get a break.
>
> Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Matthews, who is also the director of the
> city's Office of Emergency Preparedness, said officials viewed the time
> off for their security forces as essential. "We've been at this six
> days and we need to give our people a break," he said.
>


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