Staying ahead of the next emergency call is what keeps New Jersey police officer Luis Vasquez busy with the Fair Lawn Police. He’s also found a creative way to make children smile when their planned birthday gatherings have been cancelled due to safety precautions for the novel coronavirus: a social distancing celebratory drive-by.
“As a police officer, and all my colleagues, I definitely could say that it’s one of the most uplifting parts of our days when we could do one of these drive-bys,” Officer Vasquez told NBC News from Fair Lawn.
When a family reached out to him about their nephew Javen’s upcoming birthday, Officer Vasquez didn’t hesitate to call his colleagues and organize a drive-by to wish him well.
Residents could hear loud police sirens and see a parade of flashing lights as the Fair Lawn police and Fair Lawn Ambulance Corps. drove by, marking Javen’s rite of passage as he eagerly waited outside in his wheelchair.
“I’m sure being cooped up in the house too for as many hours as he is, you know, he needed to get out for a little bit,” said Vasquez.
Javen’s mother, Princess Silva, said her sister in the neighboring town of Clifton surprised the family by calling the first responders to do the drive-by for her nephew’s 11th birthday.
“We all got our stuff and got him out there as quickly as possible,” Silva told NBC News.
Silva said her son has a rare chromosome disorder and she’s taking extra precautions to protect him from any exposure to the virus.
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Javen has been homeschooling for the past few weeks and hasn’t seen his friends and the drive-by uplifted his spirits.
“I was grateful that people that we don’t personally know would do something like that for my son,” she said.
Officer Vasquez shared the moment on Facebook in a video that’s been viewed several thousand times and asked any family celebrating a child’s birthday while under quarantine to reach out so they could offer the same for them.
“Hopefully, this will help make your child’s day a little brighter,” he wrote online.
Since that Facebook post on April 6, he and his team have received about 20 or so emails from residents about their children’s birthdays.
“I saw how much it meant to Javen and I said, you know what, we got to do this for other kids too, as long as it permits…with call volumes and stuff like that,” Officer Vasquez said.
A heavy toll on the state
The state of New Jersey is second to New York in the number of COVID-19 cases, with 51,027 testing positive for the virus and 1,700 deaths, according to the NJ Department of Health.
Officer Vasquez, who is married and has a daughter,17, and two sons ages 12 and 10, feels for children who are doing distance learning from home and missing their friends and extended family.
“I know a lot of important events have been cancelled like weddings, birthdays—and kids might not understand why their birthday parties were cancelled,” he said.
Officer Vasquez said he and his department first learned about another resident’s birthday party on social media back in March and they decided to go and visit her. The girl’s birthday was cancelled due to safety precautions and they decided to drive by to wish her well.
First responders in different parts of the country also doing the same, like the Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire and Rescue in Virginia for Alex’s second birthday.
Officer Vasquez said during this precarious time he and his colleagues are taking extra precautions while out on assignment answering emergency calls, especially those from people with coronavirus-like symptoms.
“We go on these calls too, and sometimes we’ll have to assist and we’ll have to put on the Tyvek suits and the masks and the gloves and the whole nine yards and it’s like, you know, your heart races,” he said.
The health pandemic has hit closer to home too. His 72-year old stepfather Nick recently contracted COVID-19 and he received that crisis call during his shift. His stepfather was recently taken off the ventilator but is still hospitalized at the moment.
Vasquez reminds residents to continue to sanitize and practice social distancing as the public works to flatten the curve.
“As a first responder, you just hope that you don’t get it, but you know that you’re there to help people, that’s what we’re there to do,” he said.
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