|
Post-Hurricane:
New
Orleans
Narcs
Itching
to
Make
More
Busts
10/21/05
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/408/nonarcs.shtml
In the wake of Hurricane
Katrina, New Orleans doesn't have the money to prosecute its current prisoners,
prisoners whose sentences have been completed are being held weeks beyond
their release date, the city still can't find 169 prisoners missing since
the storm, and doesn't have a prison to keep them in (the Amtrak station
is serving as a makeshift jail) if it does find them. The police
department has seen 250 officers desert their posts during the flood, four
officers charged with brutality, and others accused of looting. Oh,
and the chief of police resigned.
But none of that is stopping
the New Orleans Police Department's Vice and Narcotics Squad. In
an interview this week with the Kansas City Star, head narc Capt. Tim Bayard
said his 48-officer unit stayed intact throughout the crisis. The
spirit of police camaraderie within the unit was so high that the entire
squad, including women, shaved their heads in a statement of solidarity.
"Even the women shaved their heads, ya know?" Bayard explained. "We
have a dedicated bunch here."
This week, after weeks of
dealing with the hurricane and its aftermath, the drug squad is itching
to get back in business. Using storm-damaged Wagner's Meat Market
on Claiborne Street as their station, the narcs gathered to get their orders
from Bayard.
It was time to get out and
bust some dopers, Bayard told his eager squad. "Stay together.
Hunt in packs. And I want to drive this point home: Get in touch
with your snitches. Let's get something going... If you got bad guys
you can deal with, set it up. I'd like to get back to doing real
police work again."
"Alright!" came the chorus
of replies.
New Orleans may be recovering
from the terrible damage of Hurricane Katrina, but some of its residents
will soon suffer new damage inflicted by prohibition's war without end.
-- END --
|
Issue #408
-- 10/21/05
Feature:
Marijuana
Arrests
at
All-Time
High
Again
|
Feature:
Toronto
Moves
Toward
Four
Pillars-Style
Drug
Policy
|
Feature:
MOMA
Exhibit
Mutes
DanceSafe's
Drug
Harm
Reduction
Message
|
Event:
Celebrity
Perry
Fund
Reception
in
Los
Angeles,
Monday,
November
7
--
You're
Invited
|
Quote
of
the
Week:
Former
Seattle
Police
Chief
Norm
Stamper
on
Legalization
of
All
Drugs
|
Weekly:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Newsbrief:
Trial
for
California
Narc
Who
Killed
Rudy
Cardenas
Gets
Underway
|
Post-Hurricane:
New
Orleans
Narcs
Itching
to
Make
More
Busts
|
Post-Hurricane:
Congressional
Conservatives
Eye
Cuts
in
Anti-Drug
Spending
to
Pay
for
Katrina
Relief
--
Reformers
Clamor
for
More
|
Asia:
Calm
Words
from
an
Indian
Drug
Expert
|
Canada:
British
Columbia
Health
Officials
Call
for
Discussion
on
Regulation
of
Illicit
Drugs
|
Medical
Marijuana:
Both
New
Jersey
Governor
Candidates
Support
It
|
Web
Scan:
Stamper,
Hartford,
Emery,
Prosecutorial
Zealotry,
LEAP
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
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