2016 NJSPBA
Valor Awards
A familiar face in an
unwanted place
When responding to a call, the last thing a police officer expects is to arrive on the scene to see a familiar face at the center
of the action. On May 23, 2015, Patrolman Marc Lewis of Eastern Bergen County Local 45 experienced the unthinkable. He
was responding to a radio dispatch that reported a fight. Little
did he know, the distressed male who was holding a knife and
threatening bystanders turned out to be a man that Lewis recognized.
“Mentally, he has a different learning capacity. I’ve talked to
him on a number of occasions and I know parts of the family,”
Lewis explained, adding that being a police officer in a small
community, you get to know the backgrounds of many people.
Patrolman Lewis took a step back once he realized that the
man holding the knives was someone he knew to have unstable
tendencies. After securing the scene by clearing the space of innocent bystanders, Lewis approached the disturbed man in a
very calm, conversational manner.
“My gut feeling was, before we have to go rolling around or
anything, let me see if I can just talk him down a bit,” recalled
Lewis.
Body language let Lewis know that the man’s original heightened state of anger was starting to drop. Lewis took his time,
convinced that by keeping his composure the man would be
On track for an
off-duty rescue
The phrase “off duty” isn’t always afforded to Officer Michael
Keane of Lyndhurst Local 202, who firmly believes that in this
line of work, there is always a job to be done. His outlook put
him on the job when Keane and his wife, Courtney, were passengers on an Amtrak train heading home from the 2015 Police
Unity Tour in Washington, D.C., when suddenly the train derailed and hundreds were put at risk of harm.
Once the train halted to a stop, Keane went into action. He
first assumed the role of a concerned husband, making sure
his wife was unharmed. After pulling her to a safe spot away
from the scene, Keane re-entered the train, this time as a law
enforcement officer, reporting for duty.
“Now this is my scene. It’s time for me to go to work,” Keane
recalled thinking after assessing the wrecked condition of the
train which had tumbled on its side. He acted quickly through
a fog of unsettled dust and dirt to pull injured and distressed
passengers away from the chaotic scene.
It wasn’t until Lyndhurst Police Chief James O’Connor picked
Keane and Courtney up from the site of the train wreck outside
of Philadelphia that Keane’s adrenaline began to wear off and
he felt his first twinge of pain in his shoulder. Suddenly in the
quiet of the car ride home, Keane realized he had a serious injury, which eventually required surgery.
M
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Officer Marc Lewis
Eastern Bergen County Local 45
less likely to see Lewis as a threat, which could have sent him
into deeper fury. Eventually, Lewis closed the space and confiscated the man’s weapons.
Since the event, Lewis makes a point of reaching out to the
man whenever their paths cross.
“All of a sudden now we’re good friends,” attests Lewis. “I always tell him that if you need something, just let me know before something like this happens again. Look for me.” d
M
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Officer Michael Keane
Lyndhurst Local 202
“My first priority was to make sure (my wife) was OK both
physically and mentally,” stated Keane. “We didn’t know how
serious our injuries were until we were pulling onto the Turnpike on the way home.”
Patrolman Keane’s leadership on the scene of the Amtrak
derailment has led many to view him as a hero. But in Keane’s
mind, he was simply doing the job that he signed up for.
“If we’re here strictly for the award, we’re in the wrong line of
work,” he said. d
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■ DECEMBER 2016 63