Southern Nevada cops volunteer for NYC duty

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2001 | 9:03 a.m.

A group of officers from several Southern Nevada law enforcement agencies want to give some of their New York City counterparts a break from the chaos that resulted from the terrorist attacks.

The Las Vegas World Trade Center Expedition leaves for New York Thursday morning, said Metro Police Officer Bruno Choueiri, who organized the trip to assist officers working at ground zero in lower Manhattan.

"Our hope is that we can give a few police officers a break, so that they can go home and spend the night with their wives and kids," Choueiri said. "We really don't know what we'll be doing, but we'll be there to help."

The nine-member expedition includes officers from Metro, the Nevada Highway Patrol, Paiute Reservation Police and city of Las Vegas marshals and detention officers. All of the officers are using vacation time to make the trip, which should end with their return to Las Vegas on Dec. 5.

The group has collected some private money through donations to help with the cost of the trip, but any other expenses will come out of the officers' pockets.

The idea to go to New York came from a friend Choueiri has known for about 20 years.

"Robaire Orfaly is a good friend who knows all the guys going," Choueiri said. "Robaire is a U.S. Army veteran, and is originally from New York. He has been doing civic work all his life, and he came up with the idea of this tight group of friends going over to help out."

Choueiri has been working out the details of the trip and talking to the New York Police commissioner's office, which extended an invitation to the group to make the trip.

"A lot of people were going over to help right after the attacks, but now it's getting colder, and a lot of the people that were helping aren't there anymore," Choueiri said. "There is still help that can be given, and everyone can play a role, even if it's just a small group of friends."