The City of Knoxville's police officers and firefighters are responding to calls for help in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast.
A dozen Knoxville Police Department officers have been in Mississippi since Sept. 5 to help restore order and calm fears of local residents and prevent looting along Mississippi's Gulf Coast.
The crew is working 12-hour, overnight shifts for two weeks, and indications are they may be called to serve for another two weeks.
In addition, four members of the Knoxville Fire Department have been selected by the International Association of Fire Chiefs to deploy to New Orleans to help relieve the current command team at the New Orleans Fire Department.
Those selected are: Deputy Chief Bob Pressley, Assistant Chief Mark Foulks, Assistant Chief Tony Grande and Assistant Chief Vic Lawson. They are awaiting a firm date for deployment.
Two-dozen Knoxville police officers, as well as volunteers from the Citizens Police Academy, also removed hundreds of KPD patches from surplus uniforms, which along with other police equipment, were donated to law enforcement officers in the region.