Here is my paper's article.. A few errors but minor.
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N.O. police officer to go Underground in London
Local to participate in U.K. fund-raiser
Monday, August 08, 2005
By April Yee
Staff writer
When bombers targeted London for the second time in July, they gave New Orleans Police Capt. Tami Brisset one more reason to spend time in the city's battered subway system.
The commander of the NOPD Inspections Division had already committed to cover all 263 miles of the Underground during a ride-and-run event in late August to raise money for victims of the July 7 bombings. Brisset has been told by organizers she will be the only American and only law enforcement official in a group of 60 runners. The other runners are from England and Scotland.
"If you live in London, it's the Tube that is London," Brisset said. By participating in the fund-raiser, she said she is "telling them that New Orleans cares."
When an online friend, who is in the Guinness Book of Records for traveling the Tube system in the shortest time, asked her to join the patriotic fund-raiser, she was all in, committing hundreds of her own dollars to finance the flight and a week's room and board. She also wants to raise about $800, but as of Thursday, she had only a quarter of that.
Brisset leaves for England on Aug. 22 to prepare for the race, which will start at 5 a.m. and end at 1 p.m., featuring subway rides and runs between many of the system's connection points, on a date kept secret for security purposes. The group, which hopes to gather at least $20,000, will forward proceeds to the London Bombing Relief Fund launched by the city's mayor and the British Red Cross.
Brisset recently held up a laminated map of the labyrinthine system, with 12 lines and 275 stations. In a team with three or four others, she aims to cover every one, armed with new running shoes and a see-through backpack filled with raisins, granola and a first-aid kit. Though she wasn't working out, she now uses the stairs to get to her fifth-floor office, training for platform sprints and escalator dashes. For the event, every step and subway ride is choreographed, passing telephone and first-aid stations and even a local pub that will offer a bathroom break.
Other subway runners have already raised $500 each, Brisset said, which brings out the competitive streak that helped the 23-year police veteran rise from patrol officer in 1982 to sergeant in 1991, lieutenant in 1999 and assistant commander in 2001. She briefly commanded the 1st District and later the NOPD crime lab before moving to the Inspections Division. Since 2003, she has overseen drug testing of police officers and other internal scrutiny.
"I'd like to get the most money, since I'm coming from the farthest away," said Brisset, 47, who will represent the New Orleans Police Department. "Apprehensive, I am. Determined, more. Because I'm going to complete this run. I might have to be carried, but I'm going to finish it."
The cross-Atlantic flight is a familiar one for Brisset, who fell in love with London on her honeymoon 21 years ago and by her own count has returned nearly 90 times, she said, forging longtime friendships with Scotland Yard. Souvenirs -- a Buckingham Palace piggy bank, a plate painted with red-suited guards -- rest on her desk.
The Underground, a storied subway that opened in 1884 and is the site of 3 million passenger journeys each day, was always the center of Brisset's travels. The Anglophile, set to retire in five years, keeps in her right desk drawer the immigration forms she plans to complete to move to the United Kingdom, where she hopes to open a bed-and-breakfast. Or, she said, laughing, a pub -- perhaps with her favorite drinks, bitters and cider.
When she flies to London later this month, Brisset has one more task: She'll buy the latest Harry Potter novel for her 13-year-old son, who reads only the British editions. He also told her to forgo his upcoming birthday gift. Give the money to the victims, he said.
. . . . . . .
To contribute to the fund-raiser, called Not Afraid Tube Relief 2005, by check or credit card, call the New Orleans Police Fund, which will forward gifts to Brisset, at (504) 558-9944 by Aug. 19. Donors can give directly to Brisset at
http://www.justgiving.com/tubecop.
April Yee can be reached at
ayee@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3321.