Law enforcement-relief continues to pour into the region fromother states, as evidenced by a convoy of Chicago Police Departmentcars and officers that stopped Saturday afternoon inBrookhaven.

Chicago Patrolman Russell Hill said the group was part of theIllinois Law Enforcement Alarm System, or ILEAS. The group atelunch Saturday in Brookhaven after spending the night in Memphis ontheir south to Hammond, La.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco on Sept. 14 requested ILEAS tohelp maintain the law enforcement presence in her state until Oct.12 by invoking the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, aninterstate agreement for administrating aid in a time of need.

Hill said he was traveling in a convoy of 13 police vehicleswith approximately 22 officers from Illinois agencies. The grouphad left Chicago at 4 a.m. Thursday on their trek to southLouisiana, where officers will relieve a group that has been in thestate since Sept. 3.

Hill said his group, which will stay for 16 days, is made up ofofficers who had volunteered for the trip. Their mission is toprovide relief for law enforcement officers already in place.

The first group sent down was more tactical oriented, Hill said,while this second group’s mission will be control, said Hill. Heexpected his group will do more traffic control and assisting FEMAworkers.

Hill said ILEAS is made up of several agencies from many areasof Illinois. According to the ILEAS Web site, the group is acoalition of more than 760 local law enforcement agencies,including police, sheriffs and state law enforcement agencies. Itwas conceived to meet the needs of law enforcement throughout thestate of Illinois and the rest of the country in matters of mutualaid, emergency response and the combining of resources for publicsafety.

Hill said ILEAS was formed after the 9-11 terrorist attacks.