NJ Cops September 2016 | Page 46

Meet the Prosecutors Colligan, Kovar make the rounds to build relationships with lead law enforcement officials in every county n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL When NJ State PBA President Pat Colligan and Executive Vice-President Marc Kovar decided that their tour of meeting with elected officials and government leaders would continue by seeing each of New Jersey’s county prosecutors, the very first encounter heralded the value of this initiative. During a sit-down with Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray, she wanted to know who has been recommending that officers not give a statement after a shooting, even if it was a textbook shooting. “I was surprised because that’s certainly not the advice we give, and I don’t think it’s the advice our LPP lawyers would give,” President Colligan related. “She thought it was the PBA, and it turns out it was one or two local lawyers who were doing it. So we were able to set the record straight.” Each subsequent meeting with each prosecutor has been equally productive, if not more so. The plan that has been transpiring for the past five months has been to forge relationships with the lea