Relief Convoy From Loudoun Sheriff Ordered To Turn Around
22 Volunteer Deputies Part Of Relief Effort
POSTED: 11:48 pm EDT September 2, 2005
UPDATED: 12:17 am EDT September 3, 2005
McLEAN, Va. -- A caravan of Loudoun County sheriff's deputies, loaded with supplies and volunteers willing to assist police in Louisiana in maintaining order, never made it out of Virginia after the sheriff said bureaucratic delays forced it to turn around early Friday.
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Loudoun Sheriff Stephen Simpson said he organized a troop of 22 volunteer deputies and six emergency medical technicians in response to a call for help that came from the sheriff in Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans.
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Whitehorn referred to the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, signed after Hurricane Katrina by Louisiana and 47 other states, including Virginia, that outlines how states can get help from other states during times of disaster. Louisiana law enforcement agencies must get approval from emergency officials before bringing in help in order to be reimbursed.
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Simpson said, "We didn't self dispatch. ... We tried to go by the process, but the process was ignoring us," and that desperate pleas for help from local law enforcement are going unmet as a result.
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