Steve Burns
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON – (WMAL) Ten D.C. Police officers are headed to Puerto Rico Wednesday morning to help the island recover after being devastated by Hurricane Maria. The ten officers know the island well. They’re natives of the island, and volunteered to return home.

“The D.C. Police Union received requests from members of the MPD who had family in Puerto Rico and wanted to go over and help,” Chief Peter Newsham told reporters Tuesday.

“I could not be more proud of these folks, willing to go to another country to help.” Of the ten officers, eight started their policing careers in Puerto Rico, Newsham said.

Many still have family there. Officer Angel Figueroa hadn’t heard from his son since the storm hit, but he said that changed this week.

“When we were actually preparing all this, I got a phone call that I wasn’t expecting at all. It was my son,” he said. “I wiped my tears for a second, and went back to the mission.”

Officer Jose Gonzales is still waiting for a phone call from his sister after Maria’s eye went through his hometown. “We came from there. We became police officers there, and now we’re going back to help,” Gonzales said. “It means a lot.”

Both said their training and experience has allowed them to put emotion aside to get the necessary work done. “There’s a lot of birthdays that I’ve missed.

There’s a lot of special occasions in my family that I’ve missed,” Figueroa said. “Because duty comes first. We are professionals. We are able to put our emotions aside and take on the mission, and get it done.”

A timeframe for the officers’ stay had not been determined, Newsham said, but he did indicate they will be bringing and donating supplies to residents.

“It’s in the nature to want to help, particularly in times of disaster,” Newsham said. “I couldn’t be more proud of these folks for going out there.”

Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Steve Burns/WMAL)