32
COVER STORY
NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JULY 2014
FOLLOW THE LEADERS...
‘I bet you know
Pat Colligan’
Or here is what you should know about the personable, good-humored, good-natured,
courteous, committed, creative, gregarious, knowledgeable, energetic, quick-witted,
effusive new NJ State PBA President.
Stop me if you heard this one:
A police officer walks into a bank…
OK, stop me if you heard this one:
Franklin Township Police Officer Pat
Colligan walks into a bank in town.
Three elderly women have a table set up
off the lobby where they are selling
afghans as a charity fundraiser. Pat walks
up to the table. He is dressed in civilian
clothes but wearing a Local 154 shirt.
The ladies notice his police logo and
start to chat him up. One of the ladies
“If you have read my articles, you know
I don’t hide too much; I’m a pretty open
guy. I try to keep my sense of humor
no matter what’s going on. You have
to keep a smile on your face. The
union can be aggravating at times,
but I try to look for the silver lining.
There’s always something positive
about everything in life.”
PAT COLLIGAN
begins by saying:
“Hey, are you a police officer?”
“Yes, I am,” Pat replies.
The lady comes back with: “I bet you
know Pat Colligan.”
“True story,” says Pat Colligan, your
new NJ State PBA President. “They had
never met me. I didn’t know them. No
joke.”
Life can be funny, and it often is for
Patrick Colligan, who brings a bevy of
refreshing skills to the PBA’s top level of
leadership. Not the least of these is a gifted sense of timing to make light of a situation by oozing a one-liner that elicits a
laugh, creates an instant bond and can
even lift the tension.
Talk about timing. Stop me if you
heard this one: Pat Colligan walked into
a meeting at union headquarters in
Woodbridge and walked out having
learned that he was going to become the
next NJ State PBA President.
No joke.
And it very well may be his refreshing
outlook, glass-is-always-half-full philos-