Bound for
Baton Rouge
East Hanover Local 227 members hit the road to help
flood-stricken officers in Louisiana
n BY NICK SWEDBERG
When Jesse Novalis sent out the call for volunteers to help Baton Rouge officers devastated by flooding in August, he hoped to
get three of his fellow East Hanover Local 227 members to join
the effort.
“In less than an hour I had seven volunteers ready to go,” the
34-year-old Novalis soon realized.
Almost 200 officers in the Louisiana city saw their homes nearly wiped out or, at least, severely damaged in historical flooding,
prompting an effort supported by Local 227 Civic Association to
lend a supporting hand. It was a quick-fire effort, one that officers
and the Local were eager to get going on in order to help their
brothers and sisters in another state.
“What if we rent a truck, fill it with supplies and just get it down
there?” Novalis recalled brainstorming with Local members.
This summer was unimaginably tough for Baton Rouge’s law
enforcement. The troubles started when protests erupted in July
over the death of a 37-year-old black man in a police-involved
shooting.
Weeks of 12-and-16-hour days policing the protests and riots
slowly passed by and, just as officers started to catch a break from
the long hours, “the worst happened,” according to Baton Rouge
Police Sergeant Chad King.
A 29-year-old Missouri man fatally ambushed three officers
and wounded three others there in July – just days after five Dallas
law enforcement officers were killed by a gunman. Baton Rouge
Officers Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald and Brad Garafola
perished. The assailant was shot dead by police.
Squad cars poured into the parking lot of the hospital where
the Baton Rouge officers were taken.
“Officers on some squads were there with tears in their eyes,”
King said. “It was a really devastating deal, on top of exhaustion.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 36
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■ SEPTEMBER 2016 35