Mwa-mwa-mwa-mwaaaaaaaaaaa
Boy howdy, I would have had a better response. "We don't have the resources to stop the looters, but we're doing the best we can to prevent violence here by showing a presence" might be one approach.
Regarding the shoes question, be ready to say something like "we have a health problem, some of the officers are on their feet wading through muck here all day long. We're getting these shoes to reduce infection" or "swamp foot" or something. Be ready to quip "If we were gonna loot shoes, we'd hit someplace better than Wal-Mart."
