About 50 Tampa officers returned to the Tampa Bay area on Tuesday morning. The group called “Tampa Strong Platoon” spent about a week in Collier County helping with the hurricane relief effort.
“Our mission was to prevent loss of property, loss of life, and make sure those people were taken care of,” said Cpt. Carlos Rodriguez.
The officers worked 15-hour shifts in Collier County. They helped patrol the streets, give residents water, and provide gas to citizens.
“At the gas station everyone was fighting to get to the pump, we ran those gas stations like a traffic light, that put the community at ease,” said Sgt. EJ Diaz.
The crew said they were happy to help out their law enforcement family in need.
“If Irma decided to go a little west they would have come here to help us, that's what unique about law enforcement all over the country,” said Diaz.
Officers said they were happy to help, but they are glad to be home.
“We could probably sleep for a week but it was great,” said Cpt. Rodriguez.
