http://apnews.myway.com//article/200...D8CAC7E80.html
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - With much of the city flooded by Hurricane Katrina, looters floated garbage cans filled with clothing and jewelry down the street in a dash to grab what they could. In some cases, looting on Tuesday took place in full view of police and National Guard troops. ...
At a drug store on Canal Street just outside the French Quarter, two police officers with pump shotguns stood guard as workers from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel across the street loaded large laundry bins full of medications, snack foods and bottled water.
"This is for the sick," Officer Jeff Jacob said. "We can commandeer whatever we see fit, whatever is necessary to maintain law."
Another office, D.J. Butler, told the crowd standing around that they would be out of the way as soon as they got the necessities.
"I'm not saying you're welcome to it," the officer said. "This is the situation we're in. We have to make the best of it."
The looting was taking place in full view of passing National Guard trucks and police cruisers.
One man with an armload of clothes even asked a policeman, "can I borrow your car?"
Some in the crowd splashed into the waist-deep water like giddy children at the beach.
I thought about this earlier, but reading this story really elevated the profile of it in my mind: New Orleans isn't exactly known for being the most law-abiding city in the country. If the looting mentality gets a little momentum, and officials don't manage to clear out the vast majority of the people still in the city, I wouldn't be surprised if the eventual death toll from the crime rivaled the toll of the hurricane itself.