COURT HOUSE – When Patrick Fay graduated from high school in 1969, his father gave him the “option of four colleges: the Army, Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard.”
“My Dad had been in the Army, so I picked the Marines,” Fay said.
The two years he served in the Marine Corps, with 10 months in Vietnam as a machine gunner detecting ammunition storage areas, were the start of a 30+ year distinguished career in law enforcement and public service. He’s also been involved in recruiting for the Marines and acting as a career adviser for new recruits.
Fay doesn’t like talking about his time in Vietnam, calling it a “very personal experience” that he doesn’t share, even with his family. But ask him about his law enforcement and public service career, and his face lights up as he recalls many programs he helped found that still exist today.
He retired from the Hackensack Police Department in 2009 after a 33-year career that covered a wide range of responsibilities, including being a crime prevention specialist and domestic violence liaison between the Police Department, courts, Prosecutor’s Office and domestic violence shelter representatives.
He was a crime prevention adviser for the Hackensack School District, establishing and organizing the first Youth Academy at Hackensack High School. “We would take youths from grades 8-12 for a week and take them to the firing range, they’d have to wear uniforms and do other tasks like a mini-boot camp,” he recalled. “My one daughter went through it, and the kids loved it. It was a big night when they graduated, and it’s still being conducted today.”
Through the years, he became aware of the impact he had on many of the Youth Academy’s graduates. “Many became police officers and firemen,” he said. “Some joined the military, others became nurses and worked in other fields they had been exposed to during the Academy. “
The Bronx-born Fay was one of the first community police officers in New Jersey and coordinated a 2,000-member Neighborhood Block Watch Association. “I remember one of my first meetings was in a well-to-do neighborhood, with bagels and coffee at the meeting, where we had a nice discussion about things in the neighborhood,” he said.
“Then I was invited to another neighborhood meeting where I was the only white face in attendance. It was the best meeting ever. I remember one woman bashing the Hackensack PD at that meeting, but over time, that woman became one of our best allies. In fact, I got a call about six months ago from one of the folks who said they really missed me.
“I was one of the first 10 community officers in the state, but how we worked together with the community and other departments was something I was always proud of,” he added. His work with the Neighborhood Block Watch Association garnered him White House recognition.
He’s a certified crime prevention practitioner and domestic violence liaison, speaking to numerous schools, hospitals, community organizations and others about personal safety, domestic violence and community organizations.
“With personal safety, you never really know what kind of impact you have on anyone,” Fay said. “I did hear from one lady who told me she was late for the bus one day, and a car pulled up offering to take her to where she needed to go.
“The woman told me one of my lessons echoed in her thoughts at the time, and she didn’t get into the car. But she told me if she hadn’t been to my class, she probably would have jumped in the car without thinking. You just don’t know what might have happened then.”
He co-founded a professional development training school providing certified training to employed and retired law enforcement, public safety and security professionals in the areas of homeland security, incident command systems, report writing, use of force, theft protection, ethics, criminal street gangs, first aid, CPR and AED use.
Even today he maintains strong ties with retired police officer groups, because “I met a lot of great people and made some great friends along the way.”
Fay and his wife moved to the area about eight years ago, after his wife asked him one day, “Do you want to move to the Shore?” She found their current home in Court House, and they enjoy it with their autistic son and families of their two daughters, who also each have a child and live nearby.
“I spend my time with my grandkids and honey-do list,” he joked.
He’s also a member of the Knights of Columbus, having gotten back to his faith after his grandson was born about two years ago.
“There was something wrong when the baby was born,” he recalled, “and I remember going to the church and finding the doors unlocked. They were usually locked, and I took it as a sign. I prayed to God that day, and my grandson was taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he underwent a seven-hour operation and had to wear a colostomy bag for seven or eight months.
“That surgery saved his life. He then underwent another seven-hour operation and today, the only thing he has is a scar. I went to church and prayed, and God helped my grandson and brought me back to my faith.
“My Dad always told me everyone puts their pants on the same way, and that’s the way I always was with people. I really enjoyed what I did in the communities where I worked, helping others as a coordinator, emissary, liaison, educator and supervisor.”
Contact the reporter, Karen Knight, at kknight@cmcherald.com.
