This month:
Berkeley Heights Local 144 member Jeanne-Marie Mocarski
Response Time
A conversation with a prominent NJ State PBA member
The Vitals
• Grew up in Rahway
• Hired in 2002
• Berkeley Heights dispatcher from 2001- 2002
First Response
Conversation pieces
• Founder of Local 144 charity events: PBA Police Santa and Trunk-or-Treat
• Local 144 representative for Law Enforcement United
• Mother of Nick, Jonathan and Jaqueline
In 2002, you became Berkeley Heights Local 144’ s first female member. What inspired you to start a career in law enforcement?
I was going to school to be a special education teacher at the time, and I was dispatching for some extra money( at Berkeley Heights Police Department). I loved the department’ s environment and my coworkers there. There was a job opening, and I decided to give it a shot. PBA Local 144 members encouraged me and supported me through the academy.
What is your approach to doing your job and serving the community?
I hear a lot of people say,“ police officers are humans too,” but if we want people to relate to us as humans, we need to continue to show them that we’ re human. When you show people that you’ re approachable, it goes a long way. I love my job because I have the ability to affect the outcome of every call simply based on what I do.
What sort of advice would you give newly hired female officers?
Always follow your gut instinct and be resilient. The most important thing is to be there for each other and to go home safe at the end of the shift. The best female officers are ones who don’ t expect anything extra, who can just be one of the guys and who do their job well.
What do you love about being a PBA member?
I love the brotherhood and the opportunities we have to connect with our community through our charity events and volunteer work. Most importantly, our members are always there for one another. No matter what someone may be going through, they’ re never alone.
How have you helped Local 144 connect with the community?
We started the PBA Police Santa in 2015. It wasn’ t my idea; I had seen fire departments do it. But I thought our community is small enough where we can pull this off. The parents choose a gift from their child’ s Christmas list, and they bring in the wrapped gift with the name and info on it. The children’ s faces are priceless because they’ re getting a gift from their actual list, and Santa visits them at home, escorted by PBA members. We brought the police cars and trailers with lights – Santa police delivery units – to more than 150 homes last year for deliveries.
We also do a Local 144 Trunk-or-Treat. We started that because we have a lot of small children in town who aren’ t going to go out at night. We don’ t have sidewalks in some neighborhoods, so it was a safer alternative to the traditional trick-or-treating and an opportunity for us to get to know the families.
What sort of impact have you seen these events make?
The events allow us to communicate with children and families in a casual environment instead of only on calls. When we are driving up to houses to deliver for Police Santa, I love watching the reactions of the kids running to the window and seeing Santa. Their faces light up. When they see us with Santa, they know that they can approach us, and they remember that. It’ s great to see that the kids and their parents feel comfortable approaching us, and they appreciate what we are doing.
Last Response
Of all the charity events and volunteering, is there any cause that you feel particularly drawn to?
I represent the PBA for Law Enforcement United, a 100-percent volunteer-driven organization. We raise funds through our Road to Hope bicycle ride to Washington D. C. every May. Our fundraising goes directly to the charity programs we support. One of the great charities that we give to is the Concerns of Police Survivors( C. O. P. S.). We assist C. O. P. S. in funding a camp for children of fallen officers. Every summer, children of fallen officers are able to go to camp with their surviving parent to socialize with other families who are going through the same exact thing and receive counseling. They don’ t have to pay a dime. The camp is so important because we know the children of our fallen brothers and sisters are taken care of. Whatever they need through C. O. P. S.( kids camp), they will receive.
30 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ APRIL 2018