The NJ Police Chief Magazine Volume 25, Number 6 | Page 4

The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | June 2019
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
CHIEF RICHARD J. BUZBY, JR.
LITTLE EGG HARBOR PD
It has been my distinct honor to serve as your president for the last eleven months. While the
sustained workload seems to have gone on forever, the time itself seems to have flown by.
Mitch and informed others have mentioned that this was one of the most eventful periods for
the profession and Association that they could recall, but I guess it was all in the cards. What
should remain is that we have managed to raise the positive profile of the Association, we
have, collectively, managed to make significant progress on many issues of great importance
to us all and we have managed to form many unprecedented relationships that made this and
much future progress possible.
I said last month that I would like to speak more to the issue of resiliency and I think it only appropriate that I finish on
this most important subject. Resiliency is a rather singular issue on which any police administration could judge its success
or failure. I have, for example, experienced the loss (by retirement) of several great officers due to them having been at
the point of the spear when lethal intervention was required. I can’t help but think that, knowing them as they were, what
more could have or should have been done to help them through those nightmarish periods and their aftermath. Since it is
always, essentially, our orders that send police officers into all potentially hostile actions, all police executives are looking
for answers. This is, for the real leader, as it should be.
We must remember, however, that it is not always these most dramatic issues that give rise to things that can
destroy even the best of us. Sometimes it is the smaller things that stack up to eventually erode our sense of self and all
of the manifestations that go with it. In my mind, for example, there is archived over 40 years many things that I thought
(and that I had wished) I had forgotten. These come storming back not when one wants to remember but when one is
prompted to do so by something, similar or not, to the original terror. These are perhaps the most undetectable and, as
such, are more dangerous than perhaps all the others that are more to be expected. The detection process is,
unfortunately, not an exact science and also requires those in leadership to not only perform in the ways that are
expected, but also as constant observers of possible cries for help from a group of folks that just want to be left to do what
they do best: service above self.
I recently have had direct experience with those who needed a helping hand. Some were my own, others worked for other
leaders whom I respect. As leaders we all suffered that sense of consternation of watching those we know well suffer.
Stepping back I think that a phenomenon starts where the leader, like the victim, suffers a period of denial. This seems to
be followed by a grim acceptance that something has to be done but we then try to trivialize this and possibly minimize the
eventual response. Please don’t fall into that trap. I have found that when these issues are apparent enough for a lay
leader to detect they are certainly significant enough to require a meaningful response. The condition will only deteriorate
further and we will, more or less, enable that suffering until we summon the courage to make those referrals and do what
we know is required.
Fortunately for us, we are not alone in this. Princeton House, as a great example, has developed a program for first
responders that I can now commend by personal experience. That knowledge came by watching the metamorphosis
experienced by a dedicated and long suffering employee referred to that program. He is now, again, cognizant of his
blessings, enjoys things in life that he formerly treasured and also seeks to help others still wrapped in the throes of stress
induced depression. Our colleagues in Burlington County, likewise, have helped to develop and promote a resiliency
training program that is being looked to as a model across the nation, including significant recognition of the concomitant
suffering by the families of first responders. This has all now been recognized by our Attorney General, who, along with his
staff, is working very hard to make all of this a recognized and approved part of every NJ law enforcement workplace.
I want to close by sincerely thanking all of you for the trust and support you have given me as your leader. I have gained
and will always have the love and respect for you that one can only gain for others who he has served with “in the trench”
of a diverse and challenging environment. As have my predecessors, I pledge to help carry all of the ongoing initiatives
across the goal line and to help you, the Association and our profession to the best of my abilities as long as I can.
Your friend and colleague,
Chief Richard J. Buzby, Jr.
NJSACOP President
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