FEMA says no to police escorts for rescuers

FEMA Suspends Phoenix Rescuers Over Arms:

"FEMA relies on 28 elite teams like the Phoenix group to perform specialized rescue operations immediately after terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

"According to the mayor, FEMA officials advised the team to bring U.S. marshals along on the initial trip.

"After Hurricane Katrina struck, firefighters faced deployment to areas plagued by looting and lawlessness. Twice, Phoenix's team was confronted by law enforcement officers who refused to let them pass through their communities and told them to 'get out or get shot,' Gordon said."

All this fuss over a total of four Phoenix police officers who had been been sworn in as deputy US marshals in an arrangement US Marshal David Gonzales is reported to have described as ideal.

It may be that tales of sniper activity were over-blown. Gen. Honore thought so and pointed out in an interview that he was touring N.O. an open boat without wearing body armor. But, it was certainly not unreasonable to provide for the possibility that the firefighters might need protection, not to mention the reported $1.4 million in federal equipment assigned to the Phoenix rescue unit.

Note that FEMA's urban search and rescue (USAR) capability is composed of contracts with more than two dozen agencies. They don't have a stable of people in house for this sort of specialized work. This is why you can't just say, let FEMA do it. Much of what FEMA can do is just piggy-backing on the capabilities of other agencies, many of them not even federal, which agree to go and help when and where there is a crisis.