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The President’s Message
NEW JERSEY COPS ■ DECEMBER 2014
NEW JERSEY STATE
POLICEMEN’S BENEVOLENT
ASSOCIATION
EXECUTIVE BOARD
PATRICK COLLIGAN
State President
MARC KOVAR
Executive Vice-President
Mark Butler 1st Vice-President
Peter Andreyev 2nd Vice-President
Jerry Tolomeo 3rd Vice-President
Andy Haase 4th Vice-President
Henry Werner 5th Vice-President
Kenneth Burkert 6th Vice-President
Michael Pellegrino 7th Vice-President
Domenic Cappella 8th Vice-President
Mark Aurigemma 9th Vice-President
Michael Kaniuk 10th Vice-President
Manuel Corte 11th Vice-President
Mark Messinger 12th Vice-President
Wayne K. Hall Financial Secretary
George Miller Recording Secretary
John Monsees Treasurer
Eugene Dello Trustee
James Crilly Trustee
Keith Bennett Trustee
Richard Kott Trustee
Richard Brown Trustee
Bruce Chester Trustee
Margaret Hammond Trustee
Frederick Ludd Sergeant-at-Arms
Luke Sciallo Sergeant-at-Arms
Frank Cipully Sergeant-at-Arms
John Cernek Sergeant-at-Arms
Kevin Hibbitt Sergeant-at-Arms
Rich Geib Sergeant-at-Arms
Ed Carattini Jr. Sergeant-at-Arms
Michael Freeman Sergeant-at-Arms
Bryan Flannia Sergeant-at-Arms
Robert Ormezzano Sergeant-at-Arms
As a guy who is very rarely at a loss for words, I wish I had some profound, powerful statement regarding the Ferguson, Missouri issue. Unfortunately I don’t. What I do know is that I was going to accept whatever
decision the Grand Jury made. I would accept it because that is the system we have in the U.S. and, although not perfect, nobody has come up
with anything better. I wasn’t an eyewitness on Aug. 9 and I wasn’t on the
Grand Jury, but I have had the unique opportunity during the past years to
meet many officers who had to resort to deadly force in the course of their
duties. Some I know personally and many I have met through the PBA.
What I can guarantee is that not one of them (including Officer Wilson)
woke up that day, strapped on their gun and thought to themselves that
they wanted to kill someone. Could that person be out there? I’m sure
somewhere they are, but luckily I haven’t met him yet. Are there tragedies? Yes there are. Are
we infallible? Unfortunately, we are not, but for the public to think those officers head home
that night with a proud smile on their faces after taking a life is wholly disappointing. Virtually every single deadly force situation is finished in seconds. Both the Ferguson Grand Jury
and the Eric Garner Grand Jury deliberated for months.
It took many people many months to arrive at a decision that was made in seconds. No law
books, no case law, no attorneys, no supervisors and no clergy were available to these officers
in those few seconds. And now they face two more hurdles: an Internal Affairs investigation
and a U.S. Attorney General who stated, “Several arms of the U.S. Department of Justice” will
be monitoring the inquiry and civil rights investigation. I’d call that “Triple Jeopardy,” but I
don’t have a law degree. Unlike the Grand Jury decisions, I can easily predict the outcome of
those inquiries.
My final thoughts on Ferguson reference the statements made by some of our elected officials taking a cheap shot for yet another vote. Especially those that walk into their warm, clean
offices at 9:30 or 10 a.m. in a beautiful, safe, tree-lined section of New Jersey after a restful
night’s sleep. They have never worked a midnight shift, they have never responded to a shotsfired call in one of our cities at 2 a.m. They have never stared down the barrel of a gun ready
to pull the trigger. They haven’t had the opportunity to hear the truly heroic stories that happen every single day like we did at our Valor Awards last month. They know who they are. I
want them to call me personally and I want to put them in a patrol car or on a midnight shift.
I want them to walk a cellblock in one of our prisons. When they do, their pictures will grace
our pages and I will give them the recognition they deserve. Until then, your shallow words
mean nothing to us. Unfortunately, the most profound statement I can make came off of a Tshirt I saw years ago. I only wish I knew who said it to give them the proper recognition:
Patrick
Colligan
“A society that makes war against its police had better
learn to make friends with criminals.”
Our 118th Valor Awards were held on Nov. 22. To the brave recipients, I say congratulations
once again. I was humbled and proud to hand you your awards. The stories of bravery, and
in many cases life-changing events, remind me what our public doesn’t seem to appreciate
lately; that every minute of every day one of you somewhere in New Jersey is heading to a call
that could be your last. It could impact the rest of your life, and in some cases unfortunately
end it. Our profession will be impacted forever by events during the past year. Regardless of
whatever changes are in store for us, what some people have to say about us or even your personal feelings are, we will continue to answer our calls for service, we will continue to save
lives every single day and I alre Y Hۛ