Katrina volunteers Caminiti and Plum honored by Mayor McWilliams

On behalf of Mayor Al McWilliams, City Administrator Norton Bonaparte presented proclamations of gratitude to Detective Dino Caminiti and Officer Jerry Plum at the Holiday tree lighting ceremony last Friday evening for their role as volunteers in the Katrina relief effort this past autumn.

"I . . . commend Detective Dino Caminiti and Officer Jerry Plum for their service in this time of national catastrophe, and . . . call upon the residents and friends of the City of Plainfield to join me in this commendation," said Mayor McWilliams in the proclamations.

Little did anyone in New Jersey suspect that when Hurricane Katrina made landfall at dawn on Sunday, August 28, in the New Orleans area, the storm surge would overwhelm the city's levees, flooding eighty percent of the city and that the it would also destroy towns and cities along much of the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Hurricane Katrina instantly became the worst natural disaster in American history, displacing three million people immediately, of whom one million were left utterly homeless, with over 1300 confirmed deaths.

The hearts of the American people opened immediately to the enormous suffering and need. Voluntary first-responder assistance from police and firefighters was offered by many states and jurisdictions, including the State of New Jersey.

When the call came down for volunteers at the local level, so many Plainfield police and fire personnel volunteered that the city would have been left shorthanded.Union County officials selected Plainfield Police Detective Dino Caminiti and Officer Jerry Plum to be part of the New Jersey contingent.

Caminiti and Plum were deployed in two separate waves to ‘Camp New Jersey’ in Kenner, Louisiana between September 17, 2005 and October 10, 2005.

Upon arrival, the entire New Jersey contingent was sworn as Louisiana State Troopers for the duration and performed their duties as directed, including patrol, security details and resolving backlogged 911 calls, serving with distinction and giving honor to New Jersey’s assistance effort.

Both men say the New Jersey assistance was well-received, both by Louisiana authorities and the local residents. Put up at the Kenner High School, their accommodations were spartan, but gave them the base of operations and a place to rest and relax that made the operation seem to go quickly.

Detective Caminiti drove a Plainfield police vehicle down and back, accompanied by another officer from Union County. They drove nonstop in shifts, taking turns napping in the passenger seat as the rear of the cruiser was jammed with equipment and supplies. Asked if he had any problems on the road with the cruiser, Caminiti laughed when he said everything went without a hitch until the night before leaving to return. Just to be on the safe side, he checked the vehicle's tires and found a screw embedded in one that might have caused a blowout on the return trip. After changing the tire, the return trip proceeded without incident.

Keywords: Plainfield, mayor, proclamation, Katrina