hmmm.... the cops view refuges from katrina as people they should shake down to see if they have arrest warrents. i wonder if they let you be a refuge if you take the 5th and refuse to tell the pigs your name and date of birth so they cant run a warrent check on you? Original Article Sep 22, 2:49 PM EDT DPS: Few among Katrina evacuees in Arizona had criminal records By PAUL DAVENPORT Associated Press Writer PHOENIX (AP) -- Arizona authorities conducted criminal background checks on Hurricane Katrina evacuees transported to Phoenix and Tucson but found only a handful had criminal records. None of the evacuees formerly at shelters in Phoenix and Tucson were sought on arrest warrants, but two evacuees at the Phoenix shelter were subject to a law requiring them to register as sex offenders and two others also had criminal records, a state Department of Public Safety spokesman said. "The numbers are minute," said Officer Frank Valenzuela. The Phoenix shelter at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which housed approximately 600 people at its peak, was scheduled to close Thursday. The Tucson Convention Center shelter has already closed after housing approximately 80 evacuees. Valenzuela said DPS officials was not permitted to release details of the individuals' criminal records and did not want to discuss the background checks themselves for security reasons. He said DPS conducted the checks as part of the state's response to aid the evacuees. "Our primary concern when these individual were brought to Arizona was to provide shelter, food and a safe environment for them," he said. "The objective was not to try to identify these individuals." Valenzuela said DPS expected that the hundreds of people would include some with criminal records. Of the two people subject to the sex offender registration, one was taken to a different shelter that could accommodate sex offenders and the other person left the Coliseum shelter on his own, Valenzuela said. Valenzuela said two people who arrived in Arizona from the hurricane area later registered with the state as sex offenders but that he didn't know if those were the same two offenders. With the security presence provided by uniformed DPS officers and, later, local police, evacuees in the Coliseum shelter were in a safe environment "even if there were convicted felons, even if there were sex offenders," Valenzuela said. DPS made no arrests at the Coliseum shelter though there were reports of missing clothing and other personal items, Valenzuela said. "Under normal circumstances you might want to suspect a theft." A Phoenix Police Department spokesman, Sgt. Andy Hill, said he was unaware of any criminal activity involving Katrina evacuees. In Tucson, an evacuee was arrested on suspicion of attempting to bring crack cocaine into the shelter there, said Officer Lisa Peasley, a police spokeswoman.