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Police, reeling from the exhaustive work and emotional turmoil, were about to see more trouble about two weeks after the
shooting, just as the community was ready to bury the slain law
enforcement officers.
Flooding hit Baton Rouge and southeast Louisiana in August,
leaving at least 11 dead and tens of thousands homeless. Some,
including King, have said the “once-in-a-thousand-year,” flooding was worse than what the area experienced more than a decade ago during Hurricane Katrina.
Flood waters poured down neighborhood streets, leaving the
homes of about 70 officers destroyed. Another 100 law enforcement family homes took water damage, King added. Around 200
homes took some kind of damage, whether it was to the main
property or vehicles.
A plan quickly materialized to get supplies to Baton Rouge as
fast as humanly possible. With a moving truck and van for the volunteers already secured, “stuffing the truck” began.
The truck would be loaded with generators, cleaning and
painting supplies, hygiene products, baby products, diapers, formula, paper towels, toilet paper, kids’ toys and used books and
pet supplies donated by Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter and New
Jersey Puppy Rescue.
But the biggest request from the Baton Rouge officers was for
beds, Novalis said.
“A lot of their officers had their beds destroyed, and they were
sleeping on the floor or doing make-shift beds,” said Novalis, who
received 70 donated inflatable beds after putting the word out.
Now all Local 227 members needed was a destination.
Novalis had gotten King’s name after checking with the New
Jersey State PBA for a contact in Baton Rouge. When the East Hanover supply truck full of donations rolled into town, the members discovered Baton Rouge officers and their families short on
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ SEPTEMBER 2016
Local 227 officers proudly snap a pic in front of a Baton Rouge police cruiser.
supplies, down even to the last few rolls of toilet paper.
“We wanted to go down and help,” Novalis said. “We didn’t
know specifically who we wanted to help; we just knew we wanted to help the flood victims. After speaking with (King), our goal
was very clear.”
The trek from New Jersey to Louisiana took about 25 hours.
And for the haggard Baton Rouge officers, the truck and New Jersey officers arrived as heroes.
“To say that they stepped up would be an understatement,”
King said, adding that it was “everything we needed.”
The outpouring of support “shows the best the (law enforcement) community has to offer,” he added. “This shows the best
of mankind, too.”
In a small moment after the truck was unloaded, King pulled
Novalis aside and talked to him about how it’s been a “rough couCONTINUED ON PAGE 38