Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System

From the left, Chief Robert Kenyon, Lead Investigator Geil Jacobs, Sgt. Dennis Cedeno, Officer Meg Powell and Lt. Jerome Simon (not pictured) rendered critical aid during a traffic accident in June. (Photo by Kimberly Gearhart)

Five members of Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System’s (SLVHCS) police force encountered an unexpected snag returning to New Orleans from Belle Chasse June 23: a vehicle accident with several injuries.

Chief of Police Service Robert Kenyon, Lead Investigator Geil Jacobs, Lt. Jerome Simon, Sgt. Dennis Cedeno and Officer Meg Powell were returning from a tactical shooting range just outside of Belle Chasse when Kenyon spotted the accident.

A tractor-trailer had rear-ended a parish road repair truck, which had stopped to fix a pothole. The smaller truck was crushed and the tractor-trailer had crossed into oncoming traffic and come to a halt on the other side of the road.

Although outside their jurisdiction, there was no question whether they should stop.

"Even as a civilian, you just couldn’t drive by this one," Powell said.

"It would have been heinous not to stop," said Cedeno. No other police were on the scene, so Cedeno flipped on his police lights and pulled over.

"We all jumped out and started tending to people. People were walking around in a daze. One guy was in pretty bad shape," he said. The accident was serious enough that Cedeno anticipated casualties when he approached the scene.

Powell began tending to the wounded, making use of her first aid training and working to keep people calm.

"One looked ready to pass out. We just kept him still and kept talking to him," she said.

Both vehicles were still partially in the road, so VA police began directing traffic around the site. Jacobs crossed the street to attend to the tractor-trailer.

"You had your rubberneckers, of course. I directed people to slow down and get around in the open lane," Jacobs said. The biggest concern was that the lane blockage and onlooker interest would cause further collisions.

"We jumped out and just started doing what we were trained to do," he added.

That sentiment was echoed by the other officers, who all said they did nothing more or less than their duty as police officers. Their training prepared them to react quickly and professionally.

"VA police are some of the best-trained officers in the country. I should know, I used to train civilian police," Jacobs explained, citing his 40 years of law enforcement experience.

It took approximately 10 minutes for state troopers and deputies from Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office to arrive.

"It really felt like longer. It was tense," Cedeno said.

The team turned over the scene to arriving civilian officers having aided the injured and successfully controlled traffic, avoiding further impacts or injury.

"I’m really proud of them," Kenyon said. "They displayed the professionalism and skills that come from years of training."

SLVHCS’ Acting Director Jimmy Murphy also commended the officers.

"It is both an honor to work with officers of this caliber and a comfort to know men and women like them are here to protect and serve our Veterans every day," he said.