Definition of a Cop

When Steven Cucciniello, a 20-year veteran of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, was sworn in as the new Chief of Detectives for the office in October of last year, Prosecutor John L. Molinelli read a line from Cucciniello’s original resume from the New York City Police Department, where Cucciniello was a Midtown patrol officer before joining the Prosecutor’s Office in 1989.

"Maintain the peace, uphold the law, issue summonses, make arrests," Molinelli said, reading from Cucciniello’s old resume.

If that does not distill law enforcement down to its fundamentals, nothing does.

Maintain the peace. Uphold the law. Issue summonses. Make arrests. These are the core elements of the job.

This is not to imply that Cucciniello was qualified for his new job solely on his understanding of these basics. He holds a masters degree in criminal justice from Rutgers University, and has a history of success with investigations of narcotics and gangs. These contribute to his being well-suited to his new position.

But still. Have you ever seen such a succinct – and accurate – summation of a cop’s job? Maintain the peace. Uphold the law. Issue summonses. Make arrests.

Police Security Expo

Each June, we set up our display at the Police Security Expo in Atlantic City. We were there for the first one, and this will our 24th consecutive Expo.

This year, the Expo takes place June 22 and 23, and this year, the event organizers included on the official event promotional materials a photo of Badge Company General Manager Bob Marlow showing a badge to a prospect. It’s the photo in the lower right-hand corner of the cover page, shown here.

Anything and everything related to law enforcement supplies and equipment can be seen at this show – but not by just anyone. The show is open to law enforcement professionals, only, not the general public. Show information is available at http://www.police-security.com/.

We will be in booth 322 as always. Stop by and say hello. Check out our badge samples and leather products, and pick up a catalog or two. We'll have some special sale items as well. We look forward to meeting you!

Cops and Confectionaries

A stereotype firmly entrenched in our culture is cops and donuts.

Officers generally do not take insult at this – except when it is intended as an insult, which occurs too often when someone feels aggrieved.

But we were reminded of the stereotype today not because we know of anyone who is aggrieved, and we did not observe a police car at a donut shop. Rather, we were reminded of the stereotype because unbeknownst to us previously, apparently today is National Donut Day. And National Donut Day apparently dates back to 1938, when it was created by the Chicago Salvation Army as a fund-raiser.

Well, speaking of fund-raisers, a number of local police departments across the country have in recent years been promoting "Cops and Donuts" fundraising events, turning the stereotype into a positive force.

Then there is the Cops & Doughnuts shop in Clare, Michigan, pictured above. According to an Associated Press story, this store is owned by nine full-time employees of the Clare police department. The Cops and Doughnuts shop came about when the owners of the 113-year-old City Bakery in Clare were on the verge of closing and the officers stepped up.

Demonstrating some marketing savvy and a sense of humor, the police-owners of the Cops & Doughnuts shop have mugs and T-shirts available bearing the tagline Cops & Doughnuts, 100 Percent Cop-Owned as well as phrases such as You Have the Right to Remain Glazed.

Happy National Donut Day.

Somerville Remembers

In Somerville, New Jersey, this week, a memorial commemorating two fallen police officers was unveiled, and in our view it is more significant than most.

The monument honors Officer Julius Sauter, who was shot and killed on February 3, 1917, and Officer Manning T. Crow, who was shot on January 19, 1899. That’s right, Somerville has not forgotten men who made the ultimate sacrifice 93 and 111 years ago!

Also significant is the fact that these two officers remain the only Somerville officers to have been slain since the department was founded. It has been 93 years since the last Somerville officer was killed on the job. May this remarkable record continue.

At the time of the unveiling of this memorial, it was noted that Officer Sauter was killed while attempting to save a man from committing suicide. The suicidal man turned his weapon on Sauter and fatally shot him before taking his own life. Officer Crow was shot after confronting burglars in a butcher shop. But get this: After sustaining the wound, Officer Crow walked back to the police station to inform other officers about the incident! Sadly, he died shortly afterwards.

A cynic might say that it took Somerville nearly 100 years to commemorate the sacrifice of these two officers, but we disagree: Somerville should be praised for not forgetting these officers from the last century and the century before that.

It’s Good News, But it’s Sad

The City of Newark marked its first murder-free month in more than 40 years this past March. This is certainly good news, and it reflects well on the city’s efforts to improve its policing and to improve its community relations.

But it nonetheless strikes us as sad that this simple statistic – that a month passed without a homicide – is news. How sad that homicide in Newark is so, shall we say, normal, that its absence is news.

We can only hope that the March milestone is just that, a milestone along the way to an ongoing and lasting decrease in the city’s homicide rate. A lasting decrease – that’s the news story we look forward to seeing.

Christ in a Crosswalk

From the Associated Press:

The victim might have forgiven the woman who ran him down in a Massachusetts crosswalk, but police haven't.

Police say a Pittsfield woman has been cited for running down a man named Lord Jesus Christ as he crossed a street in Northampton on Tuesday.

The 50-year-old man is from Belchertown. Officers checked his ID and discovered that, indeed, his legal name is Lord Jesus Christ. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor facial injuries.

Police say 20-year-old Brittany Cantarella was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

As the saying goes, you just can't make this stuff up.

He Bombed On Broadway

Okay, maybe that is too flip a headline, considering the potential carnage that could have resulted had the Times Square car bomber been successful this past weekend.

Thankfully, the would-be bomber was not able to build a bomb that worked. And, thankfully again, solid police work had the guy in custody in not much more than 48 hours after his smoldering handwork was discovered.

Still, it is a reminder that the bombings we hear about half a world away could indeed happen here. New York City residents have carried a reputation for indifference that is traced often to the infamous Kitty Genovese murder of 1964. But the events of September 2001 changed that. Last weekend, a street vendor first alerted a mounted officer about the suspicious SUV. No longer indifferent, New Yorkers – and Americans everywhere – now strive to find the appropriate measure of vigilance without paranoia.