Panama City Beach Police Department deploys to Perry to assist in Helene recovery efforts

BAY COUNTY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – The Perry Police Department put out a request to the state for hurricane relief and the state reached out to local agencies to see who was ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. The Panama City Beach Police Department was ready to go.

Officers began immediately packing their mobile command center with supplies and equipment.

“That’s what this profession is. It badges helping badges, brothers helping brothers, sisters helping sisters. One big community in the state of Florida. We’re here to help,” Police Chief J.R. Talamantez said.

While in Perry, they will relieve officers who have been on active duty since the hurricane hit.
Talamantez said the infrastructure in Perry is intact, but they have no power and the coastal community is heavily damaged.

“We’ll be patrol functions, answering calls, working traffic, doing whatever we need to do in a normal police function to provide them support, relief, and sort of help them get back on their feet.”

Officers will stay in Perry for seven to ten days. If Perry still needs extra support after that time, the Panama City Beach Police Department will send out more officers.

“We’re there to offer help. You know, if we have to sleep in a hammock outside then that’s what we’ll do. It’s something that we can handle for a short time because we know the long-lasting effects of the storm,” Talamantez said.

They’ll be joined by police departments from Panama City and Fort Walton Beach. Combined, they will have about 20 officers available to provide assistance.

“I saw the help that we were getting from all the outside agencies and I just really was like, man, I would like to return the favor to go and help the other agencies that are going to be affected by this storm,” Patrol Officer William Turner said.

They are bringing four all-terrain vehicles, chainsaws, light towers, generators, and a K-9 dog.

Panama City Beach officers are happy to help because they know Perry would help them if the roles were reversed. Many beach officers were quick to volunteer for deployment.

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