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NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2014
“We have to man 13 different locations in Mercer County, and
the PBA is a big part of this,” he said. “We are very thankful that
Tony Wieners was able to assign a full-time member to our
committee. Kevin has great ideas, he takes on every task and he
produces. We need more people like Kevin to be involved and
bring more people to the table.”
Special Effects
breaks and be fed, and that they can be a huge help to the campus police at Rider College and The College of New Jersey where
the athletes will be housed.
Each venue will have three layers of security: coaches, volunteers and on-site personnel associated with the game; volunteer personnel who will not have to perform law
enforcement functions; and on-duty law enforcement officers
assigned to rotate among the venues. SONJ and the 2014 USA
Games organizers are asking volunteer and on-duty officers to:
• Maintain access security for venue areas not open to the
public during competition.
• Provide public safety services, including patrol, crowd control and support zone access control.
• Support medical services at all venues.
• Provide a police presence within the venue areas.
Police officers will also be given jurisdiction to address locations identified as problem areas in previous games, including
medical emergencies, lost or missing children, suspicious or
unattended packages, zone or access violations and equipment
problems that may arise. And law enforcement help might be
most critical at Mercer County Airport on June 14, when, every
90 seconds, a Cessna aircraft will deliver Special Olympics athletes to New Jersey.
“It’s a huge, huge undertaking, but we have a responsibility
as law enforcement officers,” Lyons said. “We got into this job to
protect people who cannot protect themselves. Just being New
Jersey cops is a reason to make sure these athletes have nothing
but a great experience.”
When it comes to the security aspect of the USA Games,
Belfiore knows the NJ State PBA can be the game-changer.
Law Enforcement’s support of Special Olympics in New Jersey really begins with Belfiore. In 1984, when Belfiore was a
fourth-year patrolman, SONJ came to the Port Authority needing a fundraising entity in the state.
“The superintendent asked my captain and me to fly out to
Wichita, Kansas to observe a thing called the ‘Torch Run,’”
Belfiore commented. “He asked if we could do it. I said, ‘let’s try
it.” The rest is history.”
The first year, New Jersey law enforcement raised $7,000 for
Special Olympics. That number now annually tops $2 million.
There is also now a law enforcement torch run in all 50 U.S.
states and 49 foreign countries.
All of that $2 million goes to training, uniforms, venues and
whatever else the athletes need. The Law Enforcement Planning Committee wants none of it. The 40 committee members
are all volunteers, and Belfiore says they will each work 365 days
a year if asked.
“The attraction for us is what the athletes give back to law
enforcement,” Belfiore said. “We’ve seen them as little children
grow up to become productive members of society, living,
working, helping their families. With all their issues, to see them
perform at the best of their ability all the time, never giving up,
never quitting…that’s the attraction.”
One of the fantastic 40 is State Corrections Local 105 member Beth Westrich. She has been involved with Special Olympics
for 29 years. At age 35, she left her job as physical therapist,
where she trained athletes for the summer and winter games,
to work in law enforcement.
Westrich has been selected as the New Jersey representative
to the National Torch Run. Six teams made up of one representative from each state and one athlete are taking part in the
torch run. The final leg will run through Philadelphia, along the
Jersey Shore to show Hurricane Sandy devastation and recovery, and from New York into New Jersey.