NJ Cops | Page 71

LE BUSINESS PROFILE BUSINESS PROFILE BUSINESS PROFILE BUSINESS PROFILE BUSINESS PROFILE BUSINESS P NEW JERSEY COPS FEBRUARY 2014 73 ■ “She was an assistant chief, and I had not talked to her in 30 years,” he said. “She wanted to know if I was interested in developing a sergeant’s exam for her city.” That a former student might reach out to Dr. Bernstein 30 years later is not as outrageous as you might think. He can sit at a table outside a PBA State Delegates meeting and every third person or so who comes by stops to shake hands, say thanks and let him know how the promotion worked out. “I think there is still a policeman trapped inside me,” Bernstein admits. “I feel like I still have my street sense, and I try to apply that to our knowledge and our training.” Retired Carteret Captain Bob Talalai targeted Bernstein when he wanted to prepare to take the lieutenant’s exam because, as he said, he wanted to score No. 1 among the candidates. He did come out No. 1, but even from the first class he sat in on, he noticed something about the instructor. “It was his memory,” Talalai said. “Everything seemed so second nature to him that it was first nature. He’s so detailed that he doesn’t let anything slide between the cracks, and he will work with his instructors refining materials two and three times before it g