as a result, we knew what the other side was going to do before
they did it.”
To find out what’s underneath that union rep requires the
mechanism to best know any law enforcement officer. So, let’s
go on a ride-along with Polkowitz, courtesy of Kenney.
“He has great verbal skills, and that was his way of policing,”
Kenney begins. “If a woman was coming home from ShopRite
with her two kids in the car and was going a few miles over the
speed limit, Bruce wouldn’t write her. Or if a truck driver was
speeding a little, as long as he wasn’t endangering anybody,
Bruce wouldn’t write him because he knew he needed his li-
cense to make a living.”
According to Kenney, Bruce was more of a teacher than a dis-
ciplinarian. He would make violators aware of what they did
wrong and then watch out for them. If he responded to an ac-
cident and somebody was hurt, he would check up on them for
days afterward. If he responded to a burglary, he would drive by
the house repeatedly for days afterward.
“He can talk to a homeless person on the street or a top pol-
itician with the same ease,” Kenney praises. “He’s just got that
way about him.”
ing empathy with speaking from the heart.
Sure, he listens to Maureen. But he also listens to everybody,
which is the foundation of his vision for doing the trustee work.
“It’s not possible to do this without the support of others, and
that’s what motivates me: to work hard for them,” Polkowitz
philosophizes. “Making sure we have a staff that is performing
at the highest level is critically important. I believe our custom-
er service with the pension system has to be second to none.”
Given his background, Polkowitz would like to participate in
one of the new PFRS subcommittees charged with hiring staff
and vetting vendors who come calling with plans to invest the
system’s millions. He believes the vendors should be paid fees
based on performance rather than execution because, “Why
would we pay for a job that is poorly done?” he questions.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 36
Invested interest
Polkowitz is on the record here that being a PFRS trustee is
not a what’s-in-it-for-me proposition. It’s for the members, of
course, but Bruce is thinking beyond that.
“It’s all of our money,” he notes, “but it’s for all the people rely-
ing on their pensions, especially the spouses. We have to invest
wisely because they are the ones who deserve it.”
He will tell you that one of his greatest attributes is the wom-
an behind the man. And the more you get to know Bruce and
see him in action, the more you see Maureen Polkowitz’s astute
judge of character fueling her husband’s leadership style of mix-
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ NOVEMBER 2018 35