So far none of the Gulf states have made formal requests for supplemental police officers from California, said SLO Police Chief Deborah Linden. Still, the SLO Police Department has contingency plans in place should the requests be made.
“Very rarely would [that request] occur,” said Linden, due to the distance to New Orleans.
Linden said it’s possible that the Gulf States will need extra police officers in the months to come. In that case those states would make formal requests through state offices, which would then be channeled through to county agencies. In this case it would be the SLO Sheriff’s Department.
“We have a mutual aid system through our state offices of emergency services,” said Linden. “The contingency plans are in place but we wait until we get a request.”
Similarly, Colin Jones, Caltrans spokesman, said there have been no formal requests for Caltrans assistance in New Orleans and the surrounding area. It’s possible, though, he said, that Caltrans engineers might help in the eventual rebuilding of the Gulf region.
-J.P.
This article appears in Sep 8-15, 2005.