New Orleans' attempt to rebuild its criminal justice system starts here, at the downtown Greyhound bus station.

It is now a jail.

The bus stalls are still numbered 1 to 16, but now each number hangs over a cage hastily constructed from chain-link fencing and razor wire.

By Tuesday afternoon, the first five cages were packed with about 100 sweaty men and women, most of them arrested on suspicion of looting. Their clothes were tattered and many lacked shoes.

Built during the weekend, the cages are a poor substitute for the massive city jail that was evacuated during the flood and remains largely underwater.

But after days of lawlessness, New Orleans finally has a place to bring arrestees.

Fewer than 10 have been picked up inside the city limits. The vast majority were apprehended in neighboring Jefferson Parish, where flooding was less severe, giving police more opportunities to pursue looting suspects.

The jail is being run largely by prison officers brought from the maximum-security Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

When they entered the building late last week to begin construction, they chased off people inside the gift shop, said Burl Cain, the Angola warden who is in charge here.

The terminal is located in Union Station, which also houses the Amtrak depot. The clocks, which had stopped, began ticking again when generators were installed.

A few longtime Angola inmates trained as welders helped put up the fencing. In the corner of each holding cell is a portable toilet — with no door.

A German shepherd attack dog also made the trip from Angola. Armed officers stand at the entrance to the terminal.

There is room here for 700 suspects, about 45 to a cage.
 
All bus station inmates will be given crew cuts upon arrival, Cain said.

Nobody was brought here for stealing to survive, he said.