FEMA Suspends Phoenix Search and Rescue Crew

FEMA, which really doesn't need anymore bad publicity right now, has made a decision that will surely come back to bite them:

The Phoenix Fire Department's Urban Search and Rescue team has been suspended by a federal agency because it brought armed police officers for protection on hurricane relief missions.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's conduct code prohibits urban search-and-rescue teams from having guns.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon called the reaction from FEMA "stunning, unbelievable, bewildering and outrageous."

Phoenix's team included four police officers who were deputized as U.S. marshals when they participated in relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

The team was credited with plucking more than 400 Katrina survivors from rooftops and freeway overpasses in flooded sections of New Orleans.

Phoenix officials are threatening to refuse deployments in the future or possibly pull out of the federal agency altogether unless the rules are changed to allow teams to bring their own security, even if that means police with guns.

Given the jungle fever that was going on in New Orleans following the hurricane, I certainly can't blame the boys from Phoenix for bringing along some muscle. It seems only prudent that in a situation where laws and civilization have basically broken down, the rescuers should have a little more protection than just good intentions.

FEMA's going to have to change the way they approach these missions or they'll have a hard time getting local municipalities to send their forces into harm's way.