NJ Cops October 2016 | Page 81

l Berkeley Heights road gets Thin Blue Divider Passing by the Berkeley Heights Town Hall, drivers must abide by a new traffic marker – a stripe of blue paint in between the double yellow lines in support of the town’s law enforcement. “All of a sudden Joe Niosi from the Department of Public Works came into police headquarters and said ‘I’m going to paint a blue line, can you close off the street?’” recalled Berkeley Heights Local 144 State Delegate Patrick Moran. “We were like, ‘what?’” Without a big ceremony, and unimpeded by a broken painting machine, the next thing Local members knew, their road had been transformed into 500 feet of pro-police sentiment. “We as a police department would have never asked (for this), or even thought we could get it across the goal line. Then one day it’s done,” Moran expressed. “I guess that’s what it’s about – these guys didn’t really want credit. What a better way to do something. It definitely goes a long way to know that the community backs you.” d www.njcopsmagazine.com ■ OCTOBER 2016 81