Guard to pull out of New Orleans after 3 1/2 Years

Guard to pull out of New Orleans after 3 1/2 Years

news.yahoo.com

Three and a half years after Hurricane Katrina, the National Guard is pulling the last of its troops out of New Orleans this weekend, leaving behind a city still desperate and dangerous. Residents long distrustful of the city's police force are worried they will have to fend for themselves.

"I don't know if crime will go up after these guys leave. But I know a lot more of us will be packing our own pieces now to make sure we're protected," said Calvin Stewart, owner of a restaurant and store.

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The Guardsmen answered lots of calls involving domestic violence, reported to be up in New Orleans since the hurricane, and handled car wrecks, house and business alarms and other problems.

"One of the biggest things we did was keep those places safe so people could rebuild," said Sgt. Wayne Lewis, a New Orleans native who has been patrolling the streets since January 2007. "People would put the things to rebuild in their houses and thieves would come along and take them right out again. We stopped a lot of that."

Looks like New Orleans will be on it's own after 3 am on Sunday. so hopefully the police will have enough new recruits to be able to take care of the city from now on. With all the anti-military sentiment that has been running rampant on the boards lately, I think it is important that we remember that they do a lot to help the country during emergencies.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)