Hudson County Chiefs of Police Association Responds to Joan Quigley’s Letter

On July 30, 2024, a letter to the editor was posted on NJ.com by former Assemblywoman Joan Quigley (D) Jersey City, who is the current President and CEO of North Hudson Community Action Group. In her letter, which was clearly intended to criticize a certain faction of US Supreme Court justices, she made derogatory and misrepresenting assumptions about the term, "Thin Blue Line", to further a political agenda, one that is currently being discussed in the mainstream media. However, in the interest of professional etiquette, we will refrain from engaging in any political discourse with the former Assemblywoman.  This statement is issued on behalf of the Chiefs of Police Association of Hudson County.  

Ms. Quigley opines that the "Thin Blue Line" is symbolic of police officers remaining silent when other law enforcement officers commit acts of misconduct. She also alleges in her editorial that certain police officers’ desire of financial gain through filing lawsuits against their superiors somehow outweighs their loyalty to their department and fellow officers.  Ms. Quigley’s careless commentary, with no factual basis to support it, has painted the entire law enforcement profession with a very broad brush, and gives the impression to the readers that most police officers are corrupt, which we deem both offensive and a perversion of the truth.

What is the "Thin Blue Line?"  “The term "thin blue line" traditionally refers to the concept of the small community of police protectors standing guard as a line between law and order and chaos in society.”  Police officers stand ready day and night to answer every call, regardless of who makes it, and are prepared to give their all, including their own lives, to keep the public safe from those who prey upon them.  In Hudson County, what the "Thin Blue Line" truly represents is ever so evident: over eighty (80) law enforcement officers across the county have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty for the residents of Hudson County and their families continue to relive that nightmare for the rest of their lives.

Furthermore, in a time when police-community relations are fragile, recounting the George Floyd incident to further a political agenda only incentivizes the divide between us and is irresponsible. Instead of shedding light on the good that police officers do on a daily basis, which far outweighs the acts of misconduct that are committed by a tiny percentage of police officers, Ms. Quigley has chosen to highlight the bad and use the police as pawns to further her argument against the supreme court justices.

Like in any other profession, we acknowledge that we are not all perfect. We also acknowledge that an extremely small percentage of police officers commit acts of misconduct, and we stand behind holding those individuals accountable when they do.  What many do not realize is that nobody dislikes a bad cop more than a good cop does because their actions destroy the bonds that are built between police and community, which takes many years to build.  However, those individuals do not represent the "thin blue line."  The overwhelming majority of our officers are courageous, humble, dedicated, and honest civil servants who are willing to lay down their lives for others they do not even know.

The degradation of the police should never be used as an analogy to promote a political agenda.  Former Assemblywoman Quigley: do not let our fallen officers' sacrifice be in vain, and do not degrade all of the hard work our departments do to build trust in the communities by painting our profession with a broad brush, as you have done in your letter. We are proud to stand together on that “Thin Blue Line” and ensure our citizens that we are prepared to confront evil head-on and allow no harm to come to them or their families.

We welcome the opportunity to meet and discuss policing with any current or former member of the legislature and we hope that Ms. Quigley will come to her senses and apologize for her careless choice of words.