New Orleans Phantom Police?

[HummBebe]

BABY JESUS!!!!!

I hope this is BS, it is from an unknown source...so it probably is.


Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, lashed back at critics after the FBI
discovered that up to 700 so-called members of the city police force
simply did not exist. Funding for many of these officers was provided by
the federal government.

"During the storm and aftermath we'd heard reports that hundreds of New
Orleans police officers had deserted their post," said an FBI
spokesman."

Further investigation indicates that these posts had never been manned
and the funds supposedly paid in wages has disappeared." "Sure, we
overstated the number of officers on the force,"said Nagin. "We did this
to deter crime."

As Nagin explained it, the "phantom officers" were used as a decoy to
"frighten" would-be offenders. "Just as George Washington lit fake
campfires to lull the British troops before his surprise attack at
Princeton, we in New Orleans have employed a similar strategy."

The effectiveness of Nagin's alleged strategy is in doubt, though. New
Orleans has one of the highest crime rates per capita in the nation.

As for what happened to the funds that were supposed to have paid police
salaries, Nagin asserted that they were used to hire consultants and
purchase computer software needed to sustain New Orleans' "Virtual Police
Force." "The software had to be custom made," said Nagin. "It's not
something you can buy at CompUSA. Software designers don't come cheap.
Neither do the public relations experts who developed our media campaign."

The media campaign featured TV spots of various street people implying
that they could be undercover cops. In one ad, an apparently toothless
derelict looks into the camera and says, "I be watchin' you. So don't you
go misbehavin'."

Unimpressed by Nagin's explanation, the FBI asserted it will continue its
investigation.

And they want us to give them $40 Billion, no strings attached and no
oversight, to rebuild New Orleans! Give Me A Break

[HummBebe]

BABY JESUS!!!!!

I hope this is BS, it is from an unknown source...so it probably is.


Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, lashed back at critics after the FBI
discovered that up to 700 so-called members of the city police force
simply did not exist. Funding for many of these officers was provided by
the federal government.

"During the storm and aftermath we'd heard reports that hundreds of New
Orleans police officers had deserted their post," said an FBI
spokesman."

Further investigation indicates that these posts had never been manned
and the funds supposedly paid in wages has disappeared." "Sure, we
overstated the number of officers on the force,"said Nagin. "We did this
to deter crime."

As Nagin explained it, the "phantom officers" were used as a decoy to
"frighten" would-be offenders. "Just as George Washington lit fake
campfires to lull the British troops before his surprise attack at
Princeton, we in New Orleans have employed a similar strategy."

The effectiveness of Nagin's alleged strategy is in doubt, though. New
Orleans has one of the highest crime rates per capita in the nation.

As for what happened to the funds that were supposed to have paid police
salaries, Nagin asserted that they were used to hire consultants and
purchase computer software needed to sustain New Orleans' "Virtual Police
Force." "The software had to be custom made," said Nagin. "It's not
something you can buy at CompUSA. Software designers don't come cheap.
Neither do the public relations experts who developed our media campaign."

The media campaign featured TV spots of various street people implying
that they could be undercover cops. In one ad, an apparently toothless
derelict looks into the camera and says, "I be watchin' you. So don't you
go misbehavin'."

Unimpressed by Nagin's explanation, the FBI asserted it will continue its
investigation.

And they want us to give them $40 Billion, no strings attached and no
oversight, to rebuild New Orleans! Give Me A Break

[Sewie]

hmmmmm.....

[DRTYFN]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by HummBebe:
BABY JESUS!!!!!

I hope this is BS, it is from an unknown source...so it probably is.


Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, lashed back at critics after the FBI
discovered that up to 700 so-called members of the city police force
simply did not exist. Funding for many of these officers was provided by
the federal government.

"During the storm and aftermath we'd heard reports that hundreds of New
Orleans police officers had deserted their post," said an FBI
spokesman."

Further investigation indicates that these posts had never been manned
and the funds supposedly paid in wages has disappeared." "Sure, we
overstated the number of officers on the force,"said Nagin. "We did this
to deter crime."

As Nagin explained it, the "phantom officers" were used as a decoy to
"frighten" would-be offenders. "Just as George Washington lit fake
campfires to lull the British troops before his surprise attack at
Princeton, we in New Orleans have employed a similar strategy."

The effectiveness of Nagin's alleged strategy is in doubt, though. New
Orleans has one of the highest crime rates per capita in the nation.

As for what happened to the funds that were supposed to have paid police
salaries, Nagin asserted that they were used to hire consultants and
purchase computer software needed to sustain New Orleans' "Virtual Police
Force." "The software had to be custom made," said Nagin. "It's not
something you can buy at CompUSA. Software designers don't come cheap.
Neither do the public relations experts who developed our media campaign."

The media campaign featured TV spots of various street people implying
that they could be undercover cops. In one ad, an apparently toothless
derelict looks into the camera and says, "I be watchin' you. So don't you
go misbehavin'."

Unimpressed by Nagin's explanation, the FBI asserted it will continue its
investigation.

And they want us to give them $40 Billion, no strings attached and no
oversight, to rebuild New Orleans! Give Me A Break </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Link to source? I wouldn't be surprised if Nagin was up to all kinds of shenanigans, though.

[rodster]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DRTYFN:
Link to source? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The story was posted on freerepublic.com and linked back to azconservative.org. It also appears in a number of blogs. No mainstream outlets found on a Google news search.
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens14.htm

This is an interesting story (or at least it is to me) and if true, the city is in a world of crap. Best case scenario the city has to give the money back (lots of luck collecting; we’ll probably write it off like a third world debt). Middle case scenario, the city has to give the money back and is then debarred and suspended for a period of time from receiving federal aid (that ain’t gonna happen). Worse case, someone is going to jail and the city will still have to give the money back.

If the city received fed money for the stated purpose of hiring sworn officers and if in fact they diverted that money for other purposes, the Mayor's quoted statement is a confession, not an explanation. All that remains to be determined is intent and the scope of the fraud and any potential misappropriation.

That all now said, the whole thing doesn't sound plausible. N.O. would most likely not have received that much money for that purpose in the most recent fiscal year. They've no doubt been through at least a few OMB-required audits and those audits should have uncovered the violations.

Now, if they have been through audits and no violations were noted, well, that's a deception of a different color…

Or at least that’s my opinion.

[HummBebe]

I couldn't find it on anything like API or UPI.

Great find Rodster. It will be interesting to see what actually shakes out.

[HummBebe]

Tony Snow Fox News Radio

Audio Link

[rodster]

Whoa, talk about nice finds. Good one, HummBeBe.

One thing Tony didn't repeat or confirm is, was the money federal or local? Either way isn't good news for the N.O. authorities but if it was fed funds, that's particularly hazardous to their future.

Good story all the way around. Thanks for posting it.

[KenP]

Crooks!

[rodster]

Snopes says not true.

http://www.snopes.com/katrina/satire/police.asp

[HummBebe]

Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, lashed back at critics after the FBI discovered that up to 700 so-called members of the city police force simply did not exist. Funding for many of these officers was provided by the federal government.


"During the storm and aftermath we'd heard reports that hundreds of New Orleans police officers had deserted their post," said an FBI spokesman. "Further investigation indicates that these posts had never been manned and the funds supposedly paid in wages has disappeared."


"Sure we overstated the number of officers on the force," said Nagin. "We did this to deter crime."


As Nagin explained it, the phantom officers were used as a decoy to frighten would-be offenders. "Just as George Washington lit fake campfires to lull the British troops before his surprise attack at Princeton, we in New Orleans have employed a similar strategy."


The effectiveness of Nagin's alleged strategy is in doubt, though. New Orleans has one of the highest crime rates per capita in the nation.


As for what happened to the funds that were supposed to have paid police salaries, Nagin asserted that they were used to hire consultants and purchase computer software needed to sustain New Orleans' "virtual police force."


"The software had to be custom made," said Nagin. "It's not something you can buy at CompUSA. Software designers don't come cheap. Neither do the public relations experts who developed our media campaign."


The media campaign featured TV spots of various street people implying that they could be undercover cops. In one ad, an apparently toothless derelict looks into the camera and says "I be watchin' you. So, don't you go misbehavin'."


Unimpressed by Nagin's explanation, the FBI asserted it will continue its investigation.



Also see: http://katrinacoverage.com/2005/11/1...r-fiction.html


I don't think he is out of the woods yet. "Virtual Police Force"???? Right

So the money was used for Software development, and a Media campaign? That still sounds like misappropriation to me.