New York keeps lid on crime during Sandy

New York has kept a lid on crime and looting despite days of electricity blackouts, in contrast to the disorder that marred New Orleans seven years ago after Hurricane Katrina. The August 2005 storm in Louisiana saw widespread violent crime and looting while the authorities were distracted with search and rescue operations in rapidly deteriorating circumstances. In contrast, the New York Police Department, the most modern in the country, was quickly deployed through the city on Monday as Sandy began spreading floods, fires and wind damage. Despite huge power cuts as a result of flooding and wind, looting and other crime have been kept low, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. Kelly said Thursday he was only aware of two incidents: 18 people who broke into a food store on Coney Island and two people arrested for robbery during another incident on Staten Island. The key, the police chief said, was to establish a robust presence on the streets. "We have a large number of police officers deployed, we have light towers deployed, radio cars patrolling. We are focused on the blackout areas," he said. "We are doing, I think, an excellent job." New York media outlets have reported cases of looting in pharmacies and shops in the Coney Island neighborhood ahead of the arrival of police. However, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was pleased with the crime rate, saying "I don't think that we had a murder in two or three days." In pitch-dark southern Manhattan, with traffic and street lights out, and public transport crippled, residents were sometimes reduced to using cellphones as torches to navigate their way home. Bartender Chris Schiffer, 29, said the first night he had to walk home, he carried a knife for self-protection, although the journey turned out to be entirely peaceful. "Last night, I walked all the way. There was no light, not a single car. I took a little something for myself, a knife, because I didn't know what I would find," he said. Fran Sanchez, a resident of Staten Island, said that her neighbors had told her not to open the door to people in uniform unless they showed a badge, fearing that they could be criminals impersonating police. "How low can you be to think of looting at a time like this?" she asked. "If you're going to rob a bank, sure, but it's so horrible to take from anyone who has lost everything already." Greg Zac, another Staten Island resident, said that despite criticism, police were doing a thorough job of patrolling. Asked whether the city could experience looting of the kind seen after Hurricane Katrina, Zac said: "New Yorkers stick together. That's how people are around here." The painful lessons of Katrina extend not just to street safety but to other crimes as well. Federal law enforcement officials issued a statement reminding the public of a "potential for disaster fraud in the aftermath of a natural disaster."