Behind the Badge                       “Life after the squad”

By Joseph Pangaro

Every year thousands of police officers reach retirement age. Many of them go on to second careers in industry, sales, retail, or private security. Donna Roman Hernandez took a different road.

Donna is a retired police captain from Caldwell NJ. Having spent 28 years on the job she retired and began following her heart. She began making movies, documentaries and other short films. Donna started her own film production company “Blue Force Films”.

Using real life stories of police officers and the things that happened to them during their careers she began telling their stories. Her films have won numerous film festival awards, accolades and contests all across the country.

One of the many hero’s she featured includes Sgt. Ken Hogan, who survived a deadly shooting incident while on duty in north Jersey. Titled “A Call for Valor” it’s a film that gives you the sergeants point of view as the incident unfolded and is a primer for all police officers on being prepared, mental attitude and the will to survive. Another award winner was the “Newark Street Preachers” A true tale of the men from Newark NJ inspired by the message of Dr. Martin Luther King, they use non-violence to deal with many of societies toughest problems.

In 2010 Donna created a web TV series called “Crossing Blood Lines”. This project won the NY film festival for best new web series. It’s the fictional tale of a fictional northern Jersey town. The main characters and plot lines follow a group of police officers and some of their relatives who are involved in the world of organized crime. The action is gritty, the emotion real, and the stories and characters grab you and hold your attention. Donna is currently trying to move the web series forward and turn Crossing Blood Lines (CBL) into a feature length movie.

Of all the work she has done and all the awards she has received the most powerful story she tells is her own. Donna is the survivor of domestic violence. Her movie “ The Ultimate Betrayal: A Survivors Journey” is the story of her own family and their battle to survive her fathers attacks on Donna and her mother.  The film doesn’t hold anything back. As the writer, director and subject matter, she revealed everything about those harrowing times and the situations that threatened not only her family but her very life. Once you see the film you will be amazed at Donnas strength, resilience and ability to survive such intense violence. To know her makes her even more amazing. She has a love of life and people that is overwhelming in its scope. Knowing where she has come from and what she lived through should provide hope for anyone in a similar situation as well as the rest of us as we celebrate her life and the spirit of hope the films leaves you with.

Some other films include “Fallen Blue Heroes” a tribute to the officers who have paid the ultimate price, and “Closure” an award winning short film about 9/11 and the effects of that day.  

Those achievements alone would be enough for most ordinary people, but not for Donna Roman Hernandez. She also writes a monthly column for the NJ Cops magazine, a magazine for police officers published by the NJ State PBA. Donna also hosts her own weekly Internet radio show, “The Jersey Beat”, where she discusses topics of interest to police officers and civilians alike. She is a one woman army.

On any  given night Donna can be found talking to women’s groups, survivors groups, shooting footage for her next film or helping a friend in need. Her life story is awesome, her energy is infectious and her optimism is a beacon for all who know her. She is one to watch in the future and you can say you heard about her here first. I am proud to call her my friend and inspiration. I am not ready to retire just yet, but I know when I do make that move there will be plenty to keep me busy if I want to follow Donnas lead.

If you would like to learn more about Donna and Blue Force Films or see her movies go to www.blueforcefilms.com   You can also see her web series by going to www.kickstarter.com and look up Crossing Blood Lines. You too will be inspired by a truly unique person and police officer, Donna Roman Hernandez.

Other places

“Behind the Badge”                            Other places

By Joseph Pangaro

Having spent my entire law enforcement career here in New Jersey I always assumed that police work was the same everywhere. I recently went to the state of Florida for a short period of rest and relaxation. I had the opportunity to meet officers from Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Tampa, Orlando, Cape Canaveral and the Highway Patrol.

We talked about their daily work and how they handled things down in paradise. As I thought, most of their job was the same as the work for any officer here in New Jersey. They handle traffic, drunk drivers, domestic violence incidents, robberies, drugs, and all the other aspects of crime in a modern society.

It was inevitable that the topic of citizen’s rights  and other constitutional issues came up. As a resident and police officer in the north east I am accustomed to the thinking that if someone robs you, give them your wallet. If they want your car, give them the keys. What I heard from the officers and residents in Florida was a bit different.

I also spoke to other people that live in various parts of the state about citizens rights, and their attitudes about crime and the ability to protect oneself. I was really surprised by the general atmosphere around the topic. Now to be sure, taking any high profile cases that might be in the news out of the equation, that is not a topic I want to comment on until all the facts are in so let’s not go there.

What I did find was the fact that since the year 2000, there have been over 880,000 concealed carry permits issued by the state of Florida to its residents.  And since that time only 162 of them have been revoked because the person with the permit was involved in some type of criminal action, not necessarily a gun crime.  That’s pretty astounding. When I asked about the process to get a concealed carry permit I was told “It’s simple” you go to a gun range, fill out some forms, test for proficiency on the weapon and if you can handle the gun, you get the permit. That’s it.

I was talking to a young woman, 26 years old who works in a doctors office in Jacksonville. She told me she had a carry permit and showed me the 9mm handgun she had in a holster. I asked her why she thought she needed to carry a gun, had she been the victim of a crime?  “No” she said she had never been victimized “but”, she added “why should I be, with this I can protect myself”.  

Over and over again, from cops to citizens the one common thread in most of their comments was the same; We carry guns because we can and we protect ourselves and our families because we should”. This is very different from the way we do business up here. As a police officer I don’t know how I feel about that, the idea of everyone running around with guns is one I am not accustomed to. As a citizen of the United States I have a deep and abiding love of and dedication to the Constitution and the second amendment, but it just seems like everyone having guns would just mean more gun fights.

When I asked the local cops they said the number of gun fights is very low, while the number of people who protect themselves with their legal guns is very high. The officers said they definitely go to calls for service and other police responses more cautiously knowing that anyone involved in the call could be armed, but since its part of the culture they don’t worry about the good guys with guns. As one officer put it “Down here you have to be careful who you rob, the victim might have a gun and not want to be robbed. That doesn’t usually work out for the robber”.  And in that statement the general attitude was summed up. It seems the populace would prefer the criminals worry about what the good guys might do to them more than what they will do to the good guys.

By the time I was heading home it was clear, people are people everywhere and crime is crime. Cops everywhere face the same enemy; people who what to do bad things to other people. That’s one thing that the same up here in Jersey, and it’s our job everywhere as police officers to protect the innocent, stand up for the weak and do what’s right every time, every day.

Let me know what you think.  Email me at jpanagro194@yahoo.com and read my blog at www.jpangaro.blogspot.com         

Hidden Tragedy

“Behind the Badge”                Hidden Tragedy

By Joseph Pangaro

The room was dark. The sound of pumps and meters and all kinds of medical equipment hummed and clicked in the background. In the hallways the sound of muffled voices mixed with sounding alarms and the occasional crash of a dropped tray added to the overall feel of confusion.

The pain raced through her, overwhelming her. The shaking and the tremors came without warning. A wave of heat washed over her from head to toe, her stomach turned. Crying without end until she fell asleep, only to dream of more pain, alone and scared.  

Occasionally, usually after she finally managed to drift off for a few minutes, a nurse would come in and check her over again. The feeling of being too hot was replaced with intense freezing, then the heat would come again. The sick stomach never went away.

Her arms and legs contracted on their own timetable, often twitching uncontrollably. The medicine was forced into her mouth and down her throat, she gagged and did not like the taste. She had no understanding or comprehension of any of this or the endless pain that never let up.

Innocent, racked with pain, an angel living through hell. Lost in her own world of agony she is alone and scared in her hospital bed, but across the country this 3 day old infant is one of thousands of babies born, suffering, and addicted to illicit and prescription drugs.

The picture of this tiny child clinging to life as she goes through withdrawal is heartbreaking and one that is almost too hard to bear. Knowing children like the one in this column are actually going through this horror at all of our hospitals, even now as you read this is enough to shake me to my core.

We all know that people make bad choices and many suffer the consequences of those decisions, sometimes for a very long time. It is one thing to feel sorry for a young person that knowingly gets themselves involved in drugs and the lifestyle of drug use and finds themselves in very bad shape. Common decency demands that we, as good people, try to find some compassion for these misguided kids.

Finding that compassion is no easy task when these misguided kids start stealing, robbing, and destroying everything around them because of their addictions. But somehow we know we must be ready to reach out and help them whenever the moment of clarity comes and the chance to save them presents itself. This is the burden of good people. To do otherwise is to throw away our humanity as they have thrown their lives away. To anyone who knows a young person that has become addicted, you know you pray everyday for a chance to help them. Unfortunately that chance doesn’t always come and all too often you are left with broken hearts and an emptiness that cannot be filled; this is the suffering of the family and friends of the addicted. In time there is a numbness that overtakes them, it’s a survival mechanism. It’s acceptance.    

It’s another thing altogether to see these most innocent of all God’s creatures, fighting for their lives from the addiction passed onto them by their mothers who are addicted to drugs. We cannot accept the suffering of babies who had no choice in their misery. They may be someone else’s baby, but they are all our children. 

In a recent study the number of babies born addicted to heroin, prescription opiates, cocaine and other habit forming drugs has tripled! Babies are being treated with methadone, the withdrawal drug used for adult addicts. Their withdrawal is just as physically terrible as it is for an adult, but a baby cannot comprehend why there is such pain. Nor can I.

If you know someone who is addicted to drugs, try to get them to seek help, especially if they are pregnant. If you are pregnant and addicted act for the babies sake and get help.