2018 NJSPBA Valor Awards
NJ State PBA 2018 Legislator of the Year
Josh Gottheimer
Thank you for your service
Even before the NJ State PBA stepped up with its support of
Josh Gottheimer to help him get elected to the U.S. House of
Representatives in 2016, the soon-to-be second-term congress-
man from North Jersey went out of his way to show apprecia-
tion for law enforcement. During his daily travels, Gottheimer
would stop to shake hands with any officer he would see and say,
“Thank you.”
The practice became such a ritual that his kids would emulate
their dad and offer their own words of gratitude. Before he knew
it, other people he met would offer similar gestures to law en-
forcement.
But Gottheimer’s thank-you noting didn’t end there. When he
took his seat in the House, one of his first acts was to vote for pas-
sage of the Blue Lives Matter bill, which establishes offenses that
target law enforcement officers as federal crimes. In doing so, he
broke from many members of his Democratic party.
“I think it was my first few weeks on the job, and I broke with
my party,” Gottheimer confirmed. “It’s amazing to me that not
everybody in my party was there, but I was there. And it wasn’t
even a close call.”
As its own expression of “Thank you for your service,” the NJ
State PBA honored Gottheimer as its Legislator of the Year at the
2018 Valor Awards. Mutual admiration and appreciation that
has grown between Gottheimer and the PBA and helped him
get re-elected two weeks before the Valor Awards inspired his re-
marks at the event to begin with noteworthy words.
“In this day and age, when I think people don’t appreciate
enough what the people in this room do, it’s incredibly important
for people like me to stand up and say, ‘Thank you,’” the congress-
man declared. “I believe my job is to make sure I do everything I
can to get the backs of everybody I represent. Law enforcement
officers wake up and put their lives on the line every single day
for us, to look out for us. And, I’m so grateful for what they do.”
After receiving the honor, Gottheimer took a moment to reaf-
firm his commitment to law enforcement. Partly because of his
growing relationship with NJ State PBA President Pat Colligan
and Executive Vice President Marc Kovar, partly as recognition
for the support of the PBA’s political action efforts that were again
a big part of his 2018 campaign and partly because it’s just the
right thing to do, Gottheimer pledged to continue to work to get
law enforcement officers the equipment they need to protect and
serve their communities.
“I think, because that’s not done enough, people forget to
respect law enforcement,” he added. “And, instead, we find all
these people out there questioning their service, which, to me, is
beyond offensive. I know they wake up every day worrying about
us, and I want to make sure I wake up every day worrying about
them.”
Honoring Friends of the PBA
Friend in Labor
Gregg Murray
President/Business Agent
UA Local 855
UA Local 855 of the Public Utility Construction and Gas Appliance Workers
of New Jersey was honored in grateful appreciation for working in
cooperation with the NJ State PBA to advance the interests
of law enforcement in New Jersey.
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ DECEMBER 2018
Business Appreciation Award
Carine Joannou
President/CEO
G. Joannou Cycle Company, Inc.
Founded in 1937, the company located in Northvale was honored
for its ongoing contributions to the Police Unity Tour.