Sheriff helps New Orleans cop rebuild

[Guest guest]

Sheriff helps New Orleans cop rebuild

February 22, 2008

The Citizen Patriot*

By le Quisenberry

dquisenberry@... -- 768-4929

http://www.mlive.com/news/citpat/index.ssf?/base/news24/1203696317236

320.xml & coll=3 & thispage=1

Before County Sheriff Dan Heyns and about 40 other officers

went to New Orleans, Sgt. Jay Vitrano was sleeping on a cot in a

mold-infested house ravaged by a hurricane.

In a week, Heyns and the other officers transformed Vitrano's home,

one of many still badly in need of repair after Hurricane Katrina

flooded the city in 2005.

As part of Cops Helping Cops, a program a Michigan undersheriff

helped start in 2006 to assist struggling New Orleans police

officers, the crew gutted the house, rebuilt the roof and installed

insulation, drywall and siding.

A crew from ``America's Most Wanted'' and the show's star,

Walsh, chronicled the effort and will air a segment about it and

Michigan fugitives at 9 p.m. Saturday on Fox.

``This was our effort to get one guy back on his feet,'' said Heyns,

who returned to Michigan on Saturday, awed by the devastation that

is still New Orleans.

``I don't know what Baghdad looks like, but this couldn't be a lot

different,'' Heyns said of the city, which he says is filled with

empty, crumbling buildings. ``It was kind of an eye-opener for me.''

Heyns signed up for the trip after he heard Osceola County

Undersheriff Dave Fowler, the Cops Helping Cops co-founder, give a

presentation on the program at a conference last summer.

The nonprofit organization paid for the sheriff, several other

Michigan sheriffs and deputies, and officers from other states to go

on the trip. Heyns said County Sheriff's Office employees

donated about $1,300 to the program.

Fowler said Cops Helping Cops has organized about 15 similar trips

and worked on about 21 houses in New Orleans.

He and Lyons, a search, rescue and recovery specialist

from Suffolk County, N.Y., were inspired to begin the program after

they realized how New Orleans police officers were living.

Many officers left Louisiana after the hurricane, which still has

the New Orleans force short-staffed, and those who stayed had to

deal with losing much or everything, Heyns said.

Fowler said he believes when one cop needs help, all should help.

``If you look at the conditions they live in, they might not be

yelling it very loud, but everybody should be yelling `Officer

down,''' Fowler said.

The house, a small white structure riddled by mold and termites, got

all new electricity and plumbing, a heating and cooling system,

windows, flooring, appliances and fixtures. When finished, it had a

neatly landscaped lawn and new kitchen cabinets, countertops and

furniture.

Heyns said the volunteers were bused to the work site every day at 7

a.m. and didn't leave until about 7 p.m.

``My knuckles and hands are just now starting to heal up,'' he said

Tuesday.

Heyns, who has some carpentry experience, said he hung drywall,

worked on the home's driveway and sidewalk and ``followed orders.''

It was a nice escape from his duties as sheriff, he said.

When it was all done, Vitrano, the New Orleans sergeant, made a

point to thank everyone who swung a hammer, Heyns said.

He was a humble guy and was a bit embarrassed about the TV cameras

and attention, Heyns said.

``We all had some respect for him for hanging on,'' the sheriff

said. ``My fear is they are losing hope out there. They reminded me

of people who just came back from war.''

He said there are many more city residents who need help and there

is much to rebuild, but years after the hurricane, the visions of

the disaster have faded in the minds of most Americans. He said he'd

like to go back.

``In this sound-bite world of ours, I think a lot of us have

forgotten the folks down there,'' Heyns said.