NJ Cops April2018 | Page 4

Executive Vice President NEW JERSEY STATE POLICEMEN’S BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE BOARD PATRICK COLLIGAN State President MARC KOVAR Executive Vice President Peter Andreyev 1st Vice President Henry Werner 2nd Vice President Michael Pellegrino 3rd Vice President Mark Aurigemma 4th Vice President Eugene Dello 5th Vice President Richard Kott 6th Vice President Frederick Ludd, Sr. 7th Vice President Luke Sciallo 8th Vice President Frank P. Cipully 9th Vice President John Cernek 10th Vice President Ed Carattini, Jr. 11th Vice President Michael Freeman 12th Vice President Michael Kaniuk Financial Secretary Margaret Hammond Recording Secretary John Monsees Treasurer Bryan Flammia Trustee Robert Ormezzano Trustee Terrance Benson, Sr. Trustee Rodney Furby Trustee Charles Schwartz Trustee Patrick Moran Trustee Joseph A. Macones Trustee Sean Plasket Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Tardio Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Heller Sergeant-at-Arms Keith Curry Sergeant-at-Arms Christopher Ricciotti Sergeant-at-Arms John Granahan Sergeant-at-Arms Andrew Pacucci Sergeant-at-Arms Joseph Nigro Sergeant-at-Arms 4 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ APRIL 2018 NJSPBA’s strength in numbers Thank you to all our brothers and sisters who took the time to join us in Trenton for our annual PBA Day at the State House. This show of force sent a powerful message to legislators who regularly make deci- sions that impact law enforcement officers, our families and our pay- checks. The message is clear: The NJSPBA has more influence or power than one person. We have strength in numbers. “PBA Day” is an important part of our legislative and political activity, Marc and the increase in the number of PBA participants who came to Tren- Kovar ton on March 26 confirmed the message that the NJSPBA speaks and acts as one. It shows that we can organize and activate our membership. I am sincere in saying thanks to all those who participated, but we all know we can do better. That leads us back nicely to my consistent message that NJSPBA-sponsored elec- tion activities are important to our overall success. These election activities will start again shortly and intensify until the elections in November. All of our campaign efforts, including the creation of our Political Action Committee (PAC), phone banks and canvassing for votes, have increased the PBA’s influence in both Trenton and Washington D.C. And with each passing year, the bar gets raised a little bit. In other words, our increasing influence is positive. But it also requires us to get better at campaign operations each and every year. The greater our participation and support, the more candidates will seek our sup- port, and, more importantly, the more candidates will not want to be in opposition to our efforts. This requires our entire membership’s commitment and support at least a couple of days each year. It is not a lot to ask, and I will continue to “beat this dead horse” to members about being part of our political action. I find myself continuously explaining the importance to members about participa- tion in all our efforts. This activity, however, is most important in the political arena. The NJSPBA needs everyone’s participation to continue to be successful. Please re- member this the next time we ask for help, and remember: The NJSPBA has strength in numbers. In closing, on behalf of the entire NJSPBA, we send our thoughts and prayers to the family of Officer Sean Gannon of the Yarmouth (Massachusetts) Police Department, who was lost in the line of duty on April 12. d