Humans Behind the Badge: The NJSPBA and New Jersey Donuts

Mike Ham takes a ride-along journey with Patrick Colligan, President of the Policemen's Benevolent Association (PBA), and Vinny Rizzo, a respected PBA delegate and experienced police officer from Bergen County. With a combined 49 years of law enforcement experience, they provide a unique perspective on community engagement, dispelling stereotypes, and celebrating shared passions.

The episode kicks off with a focus on community policing and the crucial role played by the PBA in representing and connecting officers across New Jersey. As the trio embarks on their journey, they make a pitstop at Plainfield Donut Shop and Vicarro's Bakery in Clark, New Jersey. Mike, Patrick, and Vinny share their preferences and experiences with various donuts, weaving in the tradition that ties police officers and pastries.

Breaking stereotypes with a lighthearted touch, the hosts discuss their love for food beyond donuts, including pizza and hot dogs, showcasing their favorite spots across the state. The conversation emphasizes the human side of law enforcement officers, fostering a connection between them and the communities they serve.

Shifting gears, Mike Ham dives into a conversation with Patrick Colligan and Vinny Rizzo, delving into the history of the Police Benevolent Association, its role in supporting officers, and the multifaceted challenges faced by law enforcement, both in terms of crime and personal well-being. The hosts share experiences from different regions of New Jersey, humanizing police officers and bridging the gap between perception and reality.

Concluding on a lighter note, the hosts share their plans to explore more donut shops in the future, promising delightful discoveries and connections with local businesses. This episode goes beyond stereotypes, offering a genuine look into the lives of police officers, their dedication to communities, and their shared love for the simple pleasures of life.

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Transcript

(0:00) You know, whether I'm in my uniform or whether I'm in my street clothes, (0:03) that's my personality and that's really what we're trying to get, that we are (0:06) humans behind the badge and we all, you know, are (0:09) good people just, you know, looking to, you know, serve the public a little bit. (0:12) And looking for a good time. Yes, 100 percent.(0:15) The New Jersey Innovation Institute is the conduit that connects one of the (0:18) nation's leading polytechnic institutions, New Jersey Institute of (0:20) Technology, to the outside world. Created to leverage the vast resources (0:24) of NJIT, the New Jersey Innovation Institute is focused on fostering (0:27) innovation, building companies, and upskilling New Jersey's workforce. (0:31) NJII employs over 100 people and generates over (0:33) $35 million in revenue per year in industries such as defense (0:37) and healthcare.To learn more about the innovative strides being taken at the (0:41) New Jersey Innovation Institute, head to njii.com. (0:44) Entrepreneurs and small business owners, are you feeling overwhelmed by lack of (0:48) capital, growth challenges, or personal branding? (0:51) You are not alone. UCS Advisors is here for you. We're (0:54) professional capital raising advisors committed to helping you secure funding (0:58) and grow your business.Are you ready to impress investors? (1:01) Check your investor readiness with our free 45-second quiz (1:04) at ucsquiz.com. We believe in you. Visit ucsquiz.com and start your success (1:11) journey. And remember, always be willing to achieve your greatness.(1:36) All right, what's up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Greetings from the Garden State Powered by the New Jersey Lottery. I'm your host Mike Hamm. We are doing a little ride-along today with Pat Colligan, PBA President and Vinnie Rizzo.Guys, welcome to the show. (1:50) Thanks for having us. Absolutely.Looking forward to it. Yeah, so Pat, you and I met in AC (1:56) and at an event and when we talked about maybe doing an episode, I was really glad that you (2:02) pitched this idea because it's definitely not an idea that I could really ever pitch, you know? So (2:09) take us through what we're doing today because we're in the car right now. We just picked up (2:13) some donuts from Plainfield Donut Shop.What are we talking about? We're talking about donuts. Cops (2:18) and donuts. Perfect together.Yeah, perfect together. So let's learn a little bit about (2:24) you guys as we're going along here. So Pat, we'll start with you.Just give me like a (2:28) little bit of background about what you do and how it relates to the PBA and all that kind of stuff. (2:35) I'm a full-time police officer in Somerset County, New Jersey. I've been a cop for 31 years (2:41) and became PBA President back in 2014.PBA represents about 32,000 cops throughout the (2:48) state, all 21 counties. And Vinny here is one of my trusted delegates. He runs our Bergen County (2:55) PBA Conference.But we are the union representing police officers, law enforcement officers, (3:02) corrections officers, a little bit everybody. Great. And Vinny, let's learn a little bit about (3:07) you too because I know Pat.I don't know you much. I'm also a full-time police officer (3:13) up in Bergen County. I've been in law enforcement for 18 years.(3:19) I have a big agency training, the Port Authority Police. I was formerly from there. (3:25) So I like to think that I've gotten to see both sides of it, big agency, small agency.(3:30) I do the delegate stuff part-time. I'm not a full-time union rep, but it's definitely my (3:36) passion. I feel like in law enforcement, everybody finds their niche, whether it's being assigned to (3:41) the Traffic Bureau, whether it's being assigned to the Detective Bureau, something like that.(3:46) I found my passion doing the union relations. It's all about giving back to the membership, (3:53) really getting member benefits, excelling toward the future, and always trying to (3:59) grow on what we have today, just making it that much better in the future. (4:04) So over the years of doing this, I've been doing the delegate stuff for about a decade now, (4:09) over 10 years.I've just worked my way up every spot on various executive boards. So I've learned (4:16) the financial end of it, the logistical end of it, the analytical end of it. And I've finally (4:23) gotten to the top, and I've gotten to run my conference, which I'm really proud of, and (4:28) always being there for the membership.Yeah, for sure. And we discovered our love for food. Yeah.(4:35) So talk to me about that, because you guys spend, obviously, a lot of time on the road, (4:37) in both capacities of your job. So donuts, obviously, we're doing that today. And we just (4:45) stopped at the Plainfield Donut Shop.So we're going to hit Vaqueros here in a second. But what (4:50) are some of your favorite? What makes a good cop donut? I think we'll start with that, because we (4:55) talked about the lean. We talked about some tricks.But what makes a good cop donut? (5:02) Well, I'm totally against those gourmet donuts that have popped up in the last 10 years. (5:07) Bacon belongs with eggs. It doesn't belong on a donut.Maple belongs on pancakes. It doesn't (5:14) belong on a donut. I just want a good jelly, good glaze.We picked up some bow ties here at (5:20) Plainfield Donut Shop, which excited me, because I haven't seen them in a while. You're not going (5:24) to find them in most donut shops. We were talking about it before you guys got here.Crunchy outside, (5:30) soft inside. You don't want it to taste bland. You want it to have some flavor.(5:35) You want it to be fresh. You don't want it to be sitting there for that one large chain. They (5:42) might be there for a day or two.And the minute you put it in, you pick it out of the bag and (5:48) you're just disappointed. So I've kind of sworn those chains off and just stuck with the local (5:55) shops. I drive 35,000 miles a year, represent cops in 21 counties.So I have the opportunity to (6:03) see a lot of donut shops. Yeah. And so, you know, like finding a place like we just we just did (6:09) Plainfield and sorry to YouTube, because we couldn't get any B-roll in there for some reasons.(6:15) But when you're finding these mom and pop shops or like these smaller shops that, you know, (6:21) like that place had four stools at the counter and no real other room to move around. Like, (6:26) how do you find those spots? And no social media, no social media, no website. So don't even (6:31) try to go find them.And a really angry owner. Yeah, right. Which sometimes is the best.Who (6:37) apparently doesn't want to sell many donuts. No, he doesn't want to sell many donuts. (6:41) But that's OK, because apparently these are good.So how'd you how'd you find Plainfield? (6:45) I found that I was I was doing something with with the Star Ledger, the old Peter Genovese show. (6:52) I was doing the donut ride. We hit about nine stores that day from here to Long Beach Island (6:57) and a few cops in the van that day.But we pull up to this place and I'm thinking, (7:03) well, I didn't bring a gun today. Maybe that was a mistake. (7:07) But we we all walk in and we get a bunch of donuts and they set up a little table.(7:14) And and to me, after the whole day, that was the best jelly donut I've ever had. (7:19) So fast forward a year later, I'm working at the state PBA office and I couldn't get these (7:25) donuts out of my mind. It just wasn't in Plainfield enough.So I said, you know what? (7:28) I'm going to wake up extra early. I'm going to take the ride out there. I'm going to get (7:32) two dozen donuts for the office and put them out in our kitchen.We have a big staff there, (7:36) 13, 14 people there a day. And I figured whatever was left over, I'd be able to take home. (7:43) So I walk in there and we met the same happy guy behind the counter.And I said I said, (7:48) hey, I need two dozen jelly donuts. And when I tell you this was the donut Nazi, (7:53) he goes, you can't walk in here and ask for two. Did you call ahead? And I said, (7:58) no, I didn't know I had to go.You're not getting two dozen donuts. (8:01) And I thought to myself, like, like Pat and the cop in me was like, go scratch, pal. Like, (8:08) but the donut lover me goes, OK, well, how many can I get? Because I'll take whatever I can get (8:14) and then I'll get other kinds of donuts.So it was a pretty pathetic moment in my life. I'm not (8:18) I'm not very proud of it. That's right.It's just on the camera forever. He gave me six donuts, (8:22) jelly. Yeah.And then I got some glaze and I got some bow ties and some powdered sugar. (8:27) And I left I left with two dozen donuts with my tail between. (8:32) Yeah.When you told me that before we got in the car and my pride. Yeah, right. Yeah.(8:37) Let that in there. When you told me when you texted me about that story before we got in the (8:43) car and what we got when we walked in there, even just like the vibe and the look to I was like, (8:49) holy moly, like that's that's right in the pocket like that. That fits so well.(8:54) It the place froze. Yeah. Everybody looked at these three strangers walking in looking to get (9:00) some donuts.So obviously, like we're talking about donuts today, but this like food love between the (9:08) two of you goes well beyond that. Right. So what are like the other things that you guys have (9:15) kind of had almost like a list of your top favorites, like the categories at least (9:20) pizza? Yeah.Yeah. What's your favorite speed pizza spot in Jersey? That's a good question. (9:25) All right.So I'm originally from North Jersey, so I've always flipped between Nelly's and (9:31) Kinsley's for I'm a bar like a bar pie thin crust theme. That's that's what I'm all about. (9:37) So, you know, that's kind of nostalgic to me.You know, I've done all the top list, (9:43) you know, the the star taverns and, you know, and all that stuff. But, you know, in the last (9:49) decade or so of being in central Jersey, I've actually really taken a loving to Federici's (9:54) and Freehold for, you know, for that bar pie. You know, if I'm going to pay some astronomical tolls (10:01) to go into other, you know, boroughs and whatnot, L&B, Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn, if I want to get (10:07) a nice Sicilian, the best I've seen that compares to L&B, Spumoni Gardens, their square would be (10:13) Brooklyn Square.He has, you know, a ton of ton of locations. Brooklyn Square was actually one of (10:18) our first 10 episodes we ever did. OK, so that was two over two years ago.Yeah. So that's definitely (10:23) it. I mean, but like the whole love of pizza for me, I could probably eat pizza every single day (10:29) and be perfectly happy.You know, we're so spoiled here in New Jersey. You could walk into really any (10:36) pizzeria and get a decent like, you know, like a C grade in school, like a 75 percent. You could (10:43) pretty much get that in every single pizzeria.But I'm always looking for those those A and A pluses. (10:49) But yeah, we frequent Scortinos a lot for their tray pizza. So, yeah, pizza for me, 100 percent.(10:58) Comfort, especially on days like today in New Jersey, warm you right up. Yeah, definitely pizza (11:03) for me. Yeah.Yeah. Pat, you got a favorite pizza spot? You know, unfortunately, the place closed, (11:08) the legacy place, Chiches and Boundbrook. My parents stayed there in the 30s.It was a constant (11:16) for us. We would drive the 35, 40 minutes just about every week. And and at Chiches and Boundbrook.(11:24) Look, these legacy places are closing. You know, it's COVID killed a lot of them. The economy killed (11:30) a lot of them.But, you know, for the state, if there was a place that I could move an hour closer (11:37) to my house, Reservoir Tavern up in Boonton is real good. You know, I like I'm like I'm like (11:44) Vinny. I like the bar pies, the tomato pies, DeLorenzo's.One of the DeLorenzo's down in Trenton (11:50) is is always good. So, you know, pizza for me. And then if I'm going to the electric chair, (11:57) I'm good.I'm going somewhere and getting a sobrette hot dog. Okay. No filet mignon, (12:02) no lobster.Just just get me just get me a sobrette hot dog with some good chili, no beans, (12:11) raw onion, mustard and and I'll be happy. That's an order. Yeah.And hot dogs for me are probably (12:17) like 1A, you know, next to pizza. Again, being from North Jersey, you know, you have about a (12:24) handful of excellent, like, quote unquote, famous hot dog joints within miles of each other. You (12:30) know, the Rutz Hutts, the Hot Grill, you know, a little bit smaller.Golf Grill in in Hawthorne (12:37) on Golf Road. And then actually one that's really not talked about that much, but I would put right (12:42) up there with all the the top the top notch ones is Jersey Johnny's in I guess it's right on Route (12:50) 46, like Woodland Park over there. Yeah.Excellent. You know, Texas Wiener all the way. (12:54) Just really, really good spot.So yeah, no, I love that. Hot dogs are definitely a thing that we (13:00) try to find me and my girlfriend a little bit because we go to Rutz quite a bit. I'm a Dickey (13:04) D's fan myself in Newark.I like what's the one it's like up in Buttsville. I think it's like (13:10) just called Johnny's hot dog. Johnny's hot dog.Johnny's with the warm buttermilk, I believe. (13:14) Yeah, I never had, which is why I'm really bad. (13:19) But OK, so you mentioned when we had that quick technical malfunction (13:23) that we have donuts sitting here.We have donuts here. Yeah. And I know you said you're (13:28) so sorry.So we could try them while we're while we're going along here. So I'm driving. I'm not (13:34) supposed to.All right. I'm going to go back here. I got.So in the spirit of not seeing you in a (13:41) while, we're going to go with the power. What did you call this? It's a boat. Come on, buddy.(13:47) You're on a donut trip and you're not you're not familiar with the boat. I know I am, but I wanted (13:52) to, you know, I got the jellies back here, which is a lot of pressure. This is just (14:03) this perfection.So as people make fun of me, (14:07) I got it all over my butt. When I eat things that are excellent, I actually get goosebumps. And like (14:12) this is.Yeah. Yeah, 100 percent. And that's where I'm like, you know, like where I have to go back.(14:17) So that instantly happened with this first bite. Yeah. So it's just like a pillow.Talk to me about (14:24) yeah. Talk to me more about a pillow. I mean, I I'm, you know, unfortunately being like an Italian (14:29) and having to deal with like the agita thing and, you know, like the acid reflux thing.I could tell (14:33) within one bite whether or not a donut is going to kill me later. And this one won't. It's not greasy.(14:39) It's like a pillow. It's air. I this one on the outside.Yeah. A little crisp on the outside. (14:43) Good glaze.Perfect glaze. Not too much. It's not sticking to my hands.Yeah. This is this is, (14:51) you know, a ten out of a ten. You know, when you retire, you might have a thing in (14:55) food reviews because that was the best donut review I've ever heard.(14:59) Also, this jelly donut is absolutely crazy. (15:04) Like just the the jelly itself is so good. Yeah, I'm kind of jealous that that bag is in the back (15:11) seat, but I'm not going to jump over.I'm going to finish my bow tie first. We'll do that. We'll do (15:17) the powder when we can do the the cop lean.Yeah, right. There's this whole trick that (15:23) when you're in a dark blue uniform and you're going to take the plunge and do a powdered donut, (15:30) you actually have to stand up and lean over and eat it. And occasionally the the cop who knows (15:36) the trick will come up and just blow the powdered sugar on your uniform.So your arm can't be long (15:42) enough. Your lean can't be long enough. You're going to get covered in powdered sugar.And (15:47) since we were beautiful polyester, it doesn't doesn't really come out too well. You pretty (15:53) much have to to go in and spray your uniform with water and get it get it clean again. Well, (15:59) I am going to put my jelly donut away because I realized that I am now covered in powdered sugar (16:04) like an idiot.So you teach me the lean when we get to the next spot. But so as we're going along (16:13) here, I do also kind of want to talk a little bit about what I think is interesting and funny (16:19) about the story or like how this episode got started and your pitch about it. I feel like (16:26) when I was talking about this episode to other people, they were like, you're really going to do (16:30) that because of like that stereotype.They're like, cops must hate that, you know. But Vinny, (16:36) you were telling us a story off mic before we got started, kind of about like a funny story (16:41) about cops and donuts. So tell me that one.Yeah. So 100 percent true story. When I was assigned to (16:47) the patrol division, I was in my beautiful dark polyester uniform standing at one of the, you (16:54) know, franchisee donut shops and I'm ordering my coffee and I feel a tap on my my left elbow.(17:01) So I turn and I see nothing. So I look down and there's a little kid staring up at me and his (17:10) mother's off to his left and he goes, you like donuts, right? Instantly, the mother's mortified. (17:16) Yeah.I'm like, it's OK. I'm like, I wonder where he heard that from. Look at me.I'm like, of course (17:21) I love donuts. I'm like, but kid, listen, I'm like, I'd much rather be on the hunt for a good donut (17:27) from a mom and pop shop than going to a franchisee. But this, you know, has to get the job done (17:33) eventually.It does get the job done. But again, I'd much rather be on the hunt for a good donut (17:39) with the crunchy outside and the perfect glaze. But yeah, that story will live with me forever.(17:44) I'm not ashamed to say that I like a good donut with a cup of coffee, everything in moderation. (17:49) But yeah, that happened. It's probably, you know, six, seven years ago that it happened.(17:53) That kid now is probably like, you know, a teenager running around getting his coffee after school. (17:59) A listener of the show. A listener of the show.And hopefully he reaches out and says, hey, that was (18:04) me. But yeah, it happened. It was hilarious.No offense taken. Sure. Yeah.All good. Look, no matter (18:10) where you go and no matter where you talk, if you're with the public or the general public, (18:14) you know, the donut joke is inevitable. There's always the donut joke.Of course. And you have to (18:19) roll with it. And I think the history, if you talk to the old timers, donut shops, bakeries would open (18:24) at five or six a.m. And that was it.You know, cops work midnights and there was no place to go. (18:31) The double D's didn't exist back then. You know, there weren't many diners throughout the state.(18:37) So that was it. And that was that was, you know, breakfast, lunch and dinner for the for the road (18:41) cops in the 60s and 70s. So I think that's where that whole donut, you know, stuff started.(18:48) You could spin anything as a negative. But, you know, again, I think it just it derived from, (18:53) you know, like, you know, at 4 a.m. when the bakery opened up and had the pot of coffee on, (18:58) you grab, you know, you know, a donut and a cup of coffee as you're finishing up your shift. (19:03) It wasn't because you dropped a dozen donuts in front of you and you wanted to eat every single (19:07) one.Listen, donuts are delicious. So, of course, people like them. And the fact is now most of our (19:12) cops, thankfully, are doing CrossFit today.Sure. Not eating donuts, not doing a donut show. (19:18) Not doing a donut show.It's a throwback episode. We encourage them to stay healthy and eat healthy. (19:25) I'm the picture of health and I only do this once, once a year, twice a year.(19:29) Right. But I also think, too, you know, before we take our break for the audio version of this (19:33) episode, before we go into here and to Vicaro's, but also when you're frequenting these local (19:41) shops, I think a lot of times that kind of just helps endear yourself with the community also, (19:46) too. Right.Like to go into those places that are part of the fabric of a community, as are (19:50) police officers and all that kind of stuff. I think like that's a really important thing to (19:54) kind of that whole intertwine. It's community policing.Park the car, turn it off. And here (20:00) we're in the middle of a strip mall in Clark and there's 20 businesses. So, you know, have your (20:06) cards out.Let the people know who you are. It's hard in 2023. You know, a lot of we're in the (20:13) middle of a recruiting crisis.A lot of departments are down and they're going from call to call. (20:17) But when you're when you have time, park the car, go say hello to your businesses, (20:22) even one that you wouldn't normally frequent and make sure you stop in and say hello. (20:26) Yeah, for sure.And have a donut. (20:28) 100 percent. And even like, you know, about the whole thing about being inside of a donut shop, (20:32) you know, whether it's a franchisee or a mom and pop place, my story where the kid taps my elbow, (20:37) I didn't turn like a robot and be like, why are you asking me that? I was myself.That was my (20:42) personality coming out in an honest way. And the mother saw that. She sees that I'm not just some (20:49) police officer in a uniform with a badge, that that was truly my personality, that you would (20:53) get if I was in street clothes off duty, you know, whether I'm in my uniform or whether I'm in my (20:59) street clothes.That's my personality. And that's really what we're trying to get, that we are (21:02) humans behind the badge and we all, you know, are good people just, you know, looking to, (21:08) you know, serve the public a little bit and looking for a good time. (21:10) Yes, 100 percent.So we're going to take our break for the audio version of this episode. So (21:15) this is the Greensburg Garden State Podcast powered by the New Jersey Lottery. I'm Mike Hamm, (21:18) we're here with Pat Colligan and Vinny Rizzo.We'll be right back. (21:24) The Mayo Performing Arts Center is the heart of arts and entertainment in Morristown, New Jersey. (21:28) MPAC presents over 200 events annually and is home to an innovative children's arts education (21:32) program.To see MPAC's upcoming schedule of world-class concerts, stand-up comedy, family shows, (21:37) and more, head to mayoarts.org or just click the link in our show notes. (21:42) Hey folks, I want to tell you about the crew over at Make Cool Shit. These are the magicians who (21:46) recently gave our podcast a jaw-dropping makeover.You know how we roll here at Greensburg Garden (21:50) State Podcast, right? We're all about that Garden State attitude. Well, Make Cool Shit (21:54) shares that same vibe and they've got something absolutely epic to offer. It's called the Unlimited (21:59) Cool Shit Design Subscription.It's a game changer, my friends. Imagine this, unlimited creativity, (22:03) one flat monthly fee, and none of that boring stuff. 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All right, so we're here at Vicarro's Bakery in Clark, (22:49) New Jersey.So in the car, I got powdered sugar on my pants. You can already see (22:53) from the Plainfield Donut Shop. It's because I'm a rookie, so I don't really know.(22:58) But you guys have both dark shirts. We're brave. Yeah, I got the dark pants on, (23:03) but we talked about the lean.So can you teach us the lean with the powdered jelly? (23:07) Can we unveil the Vicarro's? Yeah, get in there and get some donut shots. (23:13) Make sure you get one with extra powdered sugar. Yeah, this is... (23:22) We might have cornered the sugar market here.The sugar futures (23:28) were affected by these four donuts. Yeah, heavy donut. (23:35) Look at him.You got to carefully, carefully move it. So you're in full uniform. Yeah, (23:41) you're in the public and you just... I mean, yeah, this is a tough one.A really tough one. (23:54) Cops and Clark. Cops and Clark.(23:58) Yeah. So I want to just add about this donut. When you go to certain donut shops that are (24:09) all over the nation from coast to coast with those franchise names, you have to search (24:15) for the filling.So my biggest pet peeve with a donut is it needs to be filled. I know that this (24:21) donut, every single bite is going to have a phenomenal amount of jelly. If I'm going to eat (24:26) a jelly donut, I want jelly in every single bite.You don't get that in the franchise places. Mom (24:32) and pop places, the jelly is in every bite and I will be a happy person when I'm finished. Not (24:38) only does it have a lot of sugar.The floor has suffered. Yeah, now I feel really bad. But you (24:42) can see.Yeah, you're clean as a whistle. It looks like a snowstorm over here. Clean up on aisle 11.(24:52) This is what we call a crime scene in policing. I think my goatee is completely white now. (24:59) I mean, that's just that's just really good.I mean, ridiculous. Yeah. (25:15) Yeah, make sure you get that on camera.Evidence. (25:20) Evidence. This is called spatter evidence in a crime scene.We can tell where the jelly came from, (25:27) which direction he was chewing. But if you notice, there is not even a drop of jelly, (25:34) I mean, or powdered sugar on our dark shirts. Yeah.(25:42) Ridiculous. Of course, Bagheera never wants to see us here again. (25:47) Our first and last episode ever at Baccaro's.(25:54) This probably happened to Plainfield years ago. Yeah, that's why that's why he's the way that (25:59) he is. He doesn't want us back.Yeah. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.This is probably the best (26:05) I've ever had. So good. Don't they look good? (26:15) Goods and under.Do we have a mop? I really feel bad. I don't know. There's a lot of jelly here.(26:21) You even dropped a little bit. I know. I mean, I dropped a huge amount of jelly in every bite.(26:26) I was going to say, I dropped a huge amount. It was still an amazing amount of jelly. (26:29) Yeah, that's what I was saying.My pet peeve is when you go to a franchise type spot, (26:39) you have to search for that one little bite of jelly. This is every single bite. (26:45) I mean, I believe I got plenty in my mouth.(26:48) Even down the floor, you still got it every bite. Amazing. (26:56) Wow.That was so good. I don't think I took a breath the whole time I was eating it though. (27:06) I know.Because I was ready to be like, (27:08) the one breath I did take, I almost choked on the sugar. So I was like, let me just hold my breath. (27:14) I've been making a mess the whole time.So all right. So we did the jelly and the jelly is (27:18) amazing. We do the glaze, because you guys got the bow tie in the car.I didn't try a bow tie. (27:24) So I've had two jellies basically so far, but let's- (27:27) We know. (27:27) Yeah, right.But I did okay. I did better, but I just- (27:30) Because you learned to lead. (27:32) Yeah, of course.(27:32) Yeah. You're now properly trained. (27:34) Yeah.I was more nervous about getting it on the car than I was about getting it on myself. (27:38) So I was like, I'll just use myself as a buffer. (27:40) We'll charge you.(27:41) Okay. That's fine. But all right.Glazed donuts. What makes a good glazed donut? (27:48) It's got to be that almost like you're holding a cloud in your hand. (27:54) A good amount of glaze.You want the glaze to be, in my opinion, you want it to be dry. (28:01) You don't want a glaze where you have five sticky fingers when you're finished. (28:05) Pillowy soft, something that you almost could take a bite of and it'll just (28:08) dissolve on your tongue without having to chew it too much.(28:14) These look absolutely amazing. (28:17) They look like they fit the description. (28:20) Yeah.They look airy. They're puffy. (28:24) They need eight seconds, nine seconds in the microwave, but not my office, so we'll suffer (28:30) through it.But again, that's the great thing about food. He's an eight, nine second in the (28:33) microwave and I'm a, what would it be? A true blue cold out of the rack person. (28:39) Yeah.Well, they were telling me that they make them for the donuts here, (28:42) they make them in the morning once and that's it. So when they sell out, they're done. (28:45) And I think in Jersey, we kind of have that phobia of, we go to diners all the time, (28:52) things never run out.You can get a shrimp scampi at four o'clock in the morning, but for this kind (28:59) of stuff and certain foods, the sellout is what you want. You want to get there before it sells (29:03) out. So let's try these since we're here.All right, Pat, after you. (29:10) Thomas, you want to try a donut? (29:11) This might actually be the biggest glazed donut I've ever held. (29:17) Right.Yeah. (29:27) I'm going to give it one thumbs up because I'm holding it, but it would be easily two thumbs (29:31) up. Again, it's perfect.First bite. I know that this isn't greasy. I'm not going to be (29:35) struggling with this later where it's going to be sitting here the rest of my day.Amazing. (29:40) I was also an acid reflux guy. I know exactly what you're talking about.(29:45) You know, it's slightly in the glaze. You don't have to go all the way out. (29:48) Yeah, right.(29:49) Yeah. (29:52) You've now been trained properly, but with us, it just automatically happens. (29:56) It's almost like this weighs me forward a little bit. (0:00) Amazing. I mean, like, this isn't even, like, slightly dense. This is, this is air.I mean, (0:08) complete perfection. Wow. We did pick the two, two top shelf donut shops.Oh yeah. (0:23) Another funny thing about this is, and this is in the best kind of way, it's not, like, overly sweet. (0:30) Like, it's, it's, it's, it's, the glaze is doing the talking.I mean, it's, you know, sometimes you (0:36) take a bite of a donut, you know, your, your jowl will start, like, almost, like, cramping up because (0:40) it's so sweet. Yeah. This is, um, just, it's, like, perfect balance.This is a great job by you, though. (0:46) You were the one that picked the spots, so all the credit goes to you. We're not going to lousy (0:52) donut shops.No, that's for sure. If I'm giving up a morning, we're gonna eat. Yeah.I'm, like, (0:57) fascinated by how this donut, I mean. Yeah, it's engineering, science, the whole thing. (1:03) It's years and years of, uh, probably, you know, perfecting it.Right. And they definitely have. (1:15) I didn't want to finish this, but I'm going to finish it.The cool story about this place is, (1:19) Port Authority Police, it kind of saved it during COVID. Yeah. They took up a collection, (1:24) she just told the story.They were struggling, they were having difficulty paying rent. (1:29) Place been around for a long time, and Port Authority did a, I guess, a GoFundMe, and (1:35) we're still here. Yeah.Enjoying their donuts. Yeah. And I think that goes back to what we (1:38) were talking about in the first segment, too, in the car, about, like, the community side of it, (1:42) you know, because, like, you know, the rising tides raise all boats kind of thing, and (1:47) you're just around good people doing good things, then, you know, good things happen for those (1:52) people.So she was doing a lot of stuff for the Port Authority, which is great, you know, (1:56) and now here we are having some donuts, which we weren't, would not have been if not for just the (2:02) outpouring of support from the community. Yeah. Right.And recording a terrible episode, you (2:08) know. You know, the funny part about, like, you know, like now with, like, the internet and (2:11) Instagram, and everybody wants to be an amateur influencer, you know. Here we are.And that's (2:18) great. It's our, you know, your platform is allowing that next generation to come in and (2:22) try products like this so they don't go away forever. As a, you know, a foodie, my biggest (2:27) fear is eating something that gives me those goosebumps.I'm like, oh my god, that's, like, (2:31) one of the best things I've ever eaten. And then, you know, pulling up a week, a month later, and that, (2:37) those doors are closed because not enough people have gotten to see, you know, that, you know, (2:42) not enough of a word has gotten out, so to speak. You forgot the milk.Oh, there you go. So it's, (2:47) you know, mouthful. Yeah.That's why it's on, you know, like, we have to do these kind of things (2:51) because we want to get the word out for the next generations for years and years to come so the (2:55) next group of, you know, crop of people could come and try a donut like this. So it's available for, (3:00) you know, generations to come. And that's really well said because, you know, like, (3:04) I've noticed it in certain towns where, like, you have the hardware store.Yeah, exactly. Like, (3:10) little, like, downtown areas that still have places like this and those places that, you know, (3:14) I went to when I was a kid with my dad and all that kind of stuff. And then there's other towns (3:17) that are kind of going the other direction where, like, all the restaurants are owned by, like, (3:21) one group, you know, and all the liquor licenses are owned by one group.And, you know, you just (3:25) start to see kind of like a corporatization of certain downtowns in Jersey. And but having (3:31) places like this and doing this kind of stuff and getting those things out there for people to see (3:35) is super important because the people like they work super hard here, you know, and just to get (3:40) that. And not that everyone doesn't work hard, but it's just like a different kind of thing for (3:45) as long as these guys.How long have you been here for? Forty years, right? (3:50) Fifty years next year. So it's true, though. I mean, like you have a baker in the back that's (3:55) kneading this dough or maybe using a small mixer to do something that's not on, like, (4:00) a corporate level where it's just a robot pumping it out.You know, that labor of love is really (4:06) shown in something like this. You're not getting this by a robot pumping out something that's (4:10) and going into this gigantic fryer to then be flash frozen, to be shipped somewhere. (4:16) Yeah, you're getting this because someone's back there with that labor.(4:19) We talked about pizza before you go down. I travel the country. You know, there's places (4:25) you go into a town.There is just those couple chains, the hut, you know, and they don't know. (4:32) You know, the joke is come to New Jersey for real pizza. I was in the Outer Banks.I walked (4:37) into a place called New York Style Pizza, and the guy grabbed the dough off the shelf, (4:42) put it down, did the tube. It was yeah, it was handmade, but it was terrible. Oh, my God.I (4:49) should have just gotten a Ilios out of a freezer. I have a funny story like that. I was years ago, (4:54) I was out in Pittsburgh, traveled over to Ohio one morning with a friend of mine, (4:59) and I was asked, you want to get a bagel for breakfast? Oh, yeah, sure.You know, (5:03) you know, bagels are another one. Bagels are up there as well. And again, we're spoiled here in (5:09) New Jersey.Every town has a above average bagel shop, let's be honest. But we're obviously on the (5:15) hunt for the best one. But anyway, yeah, I'll get a bagel.We went into like a Kroger. I'm like, (5:20) all right, this is a little weird going to the bakery. They, you know, long story longer here.(5:25) I get the clamshell plastic with what looked like a Kaiser roll with a hole in it. And that's pretty (5:31) much what it was. So again, you're not getting that everywhere.We do. We are kind of lucky to (5:36) live where we live and kind of have everything at our fingertips. For sure.Awesome. Well, (5:42) let's get back in the car. Hi, we're back.Segment two, technically of this episode of (6:16) Greenest of the Garden State powered by the New Jersey Lottery. I'm Mike Hamm. We're here with (6:19) Pat Colligan and Vinnie Rizzo.So we just had donuts at Vicaro's. I learned Vicaro's and Clark, (6:26) make sure we plug them the right way. They were phenomenal.Jelly, great. Learned how to do the (6:31) lean, even though we made the cop lean, even though we made a total mess of their floor. (6:37) But she was cool with it.She was just happy to have us there, which was great. And the glazed (6:42) donuts were also good. Thomas also was able to try one finally.But what do you guys think? (6:49) These are like two pretty good stops for us to make on this tour, right? (6:51) Yeah, if you're going to do two stops. Yeah. And yeah, those are two premier stops for sure.(6:58) Vinnie, happy? I'm going to take a little nap right now. That means I'm more than happy. (7:05) Like Pat said, if you're going to go to two donut shops, you really can't pick any better, (7:11) you know, or find any better.Excellent. Absolutely. Excellent.I had a huge glob of my jelly (7:18) at Vicaro's hit the floor. And honestly, that's probably more than was that would be in a jelly (7:25) donut at a non mom and pop place. A thousand percent.That was a great point about the (7:30) jelly in every bite type of thing and how that one had it in every bite, even with the stuff (7:35) that we dropped on the floor. I'm not searching, you know, my first bite of a jelly donut somewhere (7:39) else. It's like, oh, that's it.Now I just have like a, you know, a powdered glazed. Boring. If (7:44) I order a jelly donut, I want jelly in every bite.Yeah. Excellent. Excellent.Excellent. (7:49) Jelly donut. And that glazed donut was, I mean, it was like a masterpiece.I was looking at it like, (7:56) you know, someone look at a fine piece of art. Is this donut porn? (8:07) There's a lid for every pot, as they say. But so, Pat, I do want to talk with both of you, (8:12) but I do want to talk a little bit about what the PBA does, just that people are like unfamiliar (8:16) with it, like who it covers, like the, you know, the precincts that it covers, like all that kind (8:21) of stuff.So take me through a little bit about the background of the PBA, just we make sure we (8:24) touch on that on this episode. It's the Policeman's Benevolent Association. We've been around since (8:29) 1896.So we have a little history. We represent nine out of 10 law enforcement officers in New (8:34) Jersey. Most municipal police departments, vast majority of county jails, vast majority of county (8:42) prosecutor's offices, a few small federal groups.We help them with the collective bargaining, (8:50) bargaining their contracts. We help them with grievances. We help them get through (8:54) their, quote, PERC, Public Employment Relations Commission issues.(8:58) So we just, we give them the tools to be, you know, go up against their towns or their counties (9:06) in disputes, negotiations. You know, we prefer peace, but some towns don't like to (9:16) fairly negotiate. So we just, again, we give those officers and the delegates and the presidents the (9:22) tools to become the strongest police union they can be.We run two conventions a year. (9:27) We run a collective bargaining seminar. We have, in our office in Woodbridge, (9:32) we have a classroom in the basement.We'll teach them how to fundraise. We'll teach them how to (9:38) use, you know, social media to their benefit. We'll teach them how to use, you know, (9:45) QuickBooks for those treasurers, make sure that everything's being done on the up and up.(9:49) So we're, again, we represent about 32,000 members, proudly, and just want them to be the best, (9:57) the safest officers and the, you know, the best prepared officers that we can make them. (10:05) Yeah. And so how does one get, in your case, involved in that? Obviously, like you get (10:13) involved with it as a cop, you know, being part of the union, but then to get to something like (10:17) the role that you have in particular, like, how does that happen? (10:20) It's not always, you're not always the most popular person in the department.You're, (10:26) if you want to be, if you want to move up, become a Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, (10:30) it's not always the best spot to be in because you're usually at odds with your department. But (10:35) when I got hired in 1992, we had five officers under indictment from a crooked prosecutor. (10:42) They were being unfairly railroaded.And my PBA delegate at the time was my coach. I literally (10:49) got out of the academy and these five guys were, you know, facing jail and facing serious charges. (10:58) And I saw what the union did.You know, I will say proudly, if you're a dirty cop, (11:05) you're a dirty cop. There's no room in our profession in 2024 for cops who don't want (11:11) to be cops or not follow the law. And I knew early on, I came from private industry.I was never (11:17) really pro-union. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure if my coach wasn't the union delegate that (11:22) I would have ever even gotten to a PBA meeting. But I did.I was, he made me go. And I saw what (11:28) the union did for these five guys. And actually they were all exonerated fairly because again, (11:33) it was a corrupt prosecutor who ended up getting indicted himself and shooting himself in a, (11:40) killing himself in a dispute, not a dispute, the marshals were trying to arrest him.(11:48) Yeah. (11:49) And all five guys went back to work. So, you know, in cases like that, even in cases where (11:56) a guy's suspended without pay, unfortunately we have chiefs who choose to weaponize our New Jersey (12:01) internal affairs process.Look, cops make mistakes. And if they make mistakes, they pay for them (12:07) fairly. But if you're going to, if you're going to, if it's a stupid mistake or the chief doesn't (12:13) like you and you're unfairly targeted, that's where we come in and protect that member.(12:19) Yeah. Which I think is great because, excuse me, especially nowadays, you know, like you said, (12:25) 1992, I'm sure police departments, relationships with towns and counties and the state overall, (12:33) you know, I think that that's really evolved quite a bit in that 30 year period, (12:39) 32 year period to where we are today. And kind of like keeping up with those changes and like (12:44) the demands on the profession really, I think is a super interesting way to kind of like frame it.(12:51) Because, you know, at the end of the day, like everyone needs some help, you know, (12:55) a little representation, some help. (12:57) Even if you hate the police, when you're in trouble, you're calling 9-1-1. (12:59) Yeah.Right. (13:00) And I got hired with eight people in my town. And if I didn't have that guy as the coach, (13:06) I wouldn't be sitting as a state PBA president today.I would just be another, you know, (13:10) just another member. But I got involved in the PBA early on in my career and never looked back. (13:17) It's been a, you know, could I make more money and have been a lieutenant or a captain? Maybe.(13:23) Yeah. (13:24) I just, you know, it became a passion, like Vinny said earlier. And you make that decision, (13:31) you come to that fork in the road because you can't become a supervisor and stay active in (13:37) the PBA.And we just, you know, both of us made that decision in our careers. I never took a (13:42) promotional exam. And again, I've never once looked back and regretted that decision.It's been (13:48) very, very rewarding. (13:50) Yeah. Vinny, same thing I'm imagining, right? (13:52) I share the same sentiments.Obviously, I'm not at the, you know, I'm not the PBA president. (13:56) Sure. (13:57) But the passion is there.Again, I too have not taken a promotional exam because I've come to, (14:05) not even come to terms or come to peace with it. I've realized that this is my passion. (14:10) I'm there.You know, I like being in the middle of everything. I like my phone going off because (14:14) people have a question that I can either answer or get them the answer to. I like to feel, you know, (14:19) just as quick or quicker than most people, get them valid information.You never want to lie to (14:23) your members. We're all cops. You know, they'll see through a lie instantly.And you know, (14:27) as soon as you lie to one of your members, your credibility is gone. So I've always, (14:31) coming from a two-town locals, meaning, so I'm the delegate for two different towns as one, (14:38) you know, one PBA. The other town that I don't work for outnumbers my department.So at any point (14:45) over the last 10 years of me being a delegate, they could have said, hey, you know what, (14:49) we're going to stack the meeting. They have more votes than my department. They could have voted (14:53) me out.So I always like, I have to work harder than the next person. I have to work hard. I have (14:57) to give my membership what they're looking for.And if not, you know, you know, better than the (15:01) last person. And that's coming from a previous delegate who was a delegate for like 18 years. (15:05) He told me when he got promoted to sergeant and had to give up delegate, just get involved, (15:10) get involved.So that's what I did. I started volunteering to be on state committees. (15:14) That's when your network really grows.You know, policing could be very clicky. You know, (15:20) you sit at a table with just your department, you know, at my local meeting, there's, (15:26) you know, one table of my department, another table of the other department. (15:30) We're all friendly and everything, but that's just the way it is.You feel comfortable around (15:33) your immediate peers. I've always enjoyed branching myself out, having friends that (15:39) are in Cape May County, having friends that are up in Sussex County, because we're all (15:43) dealing with similar things. It's just, you know, different geographical locations in New Jersey.(15:48) Different donuts. (15:49) Different donuts. (15:49) Different donuts.Yeah. Because when you do wind up in Sussex County or Cape May County, (15:54) you want to know where to go. (15:55) They're searching.Exactly. (15:56) Yeah. Always searching.(15:57) But yeah. (15:58) That also brings up another question too, as far as like, you know, in Bergen County, (16:03) you know, Pat covering the entire state, I would imagine like a lot of precincts, (16:07) you know, while there are similarities in some of the challenges that they face, (16:10) there are also like a lot of differences in sometimes like the communities that they're (16:14) serving. Also, does that kind of come into play with the stuff that you guys deal with? (16:18) Because like, if you're in, let's just take Newark, because I was just in Newark yesterday, (16:22) or you're in someplace in Sussex County, like those are two totally different (16:25) areas.And like, how do you kind of navigate those, those different challenges? (16:31) I think there, you know, are they different challenges just on the crime end? (16:37) Sure. (16:38) Thousand percent. (16:39) Yeah.(16:39) But on the, on the PBA end or on the union end, you know, you're still trying to get the best (16:44) pay for your members. You're still want to make sure they're, the officers are safe. (16:48) The equipment's the best.(16:49) Yeah. (16:49) So those challenges are the same. (16:51) Gotcha.(16:52) Just under different, you know, a different circumstance. We represent Patterson, (16:58) you know, the cops in Patterson know they're never going to be the highest paid in the state. (17:02) Yeah.(17:02) You know, you can drive through Alpine, New Jersey and say, (17:05) okay, well, those, those cops do pretty well. (17:08) But, you know, and, and, and on kind of along the same lines, you know, our officers, I always hear, (17:16) oh, a cop in Allendale doesn't pull his gun. Well, that's, you know, getting shot (17:21) isn't what always kills us.What kills us is the stress of, you know, working a midnight shift, (17:26) doing CPR on a dad in his, in his family's living room with the kids there, (17:30) doing the death notifications of a 12 year old or an 18 year old that just got into a horrific car (17:37) accident. That's what kills us over time. So those are the issues we, we, we take passionately to (17:42) protecting our members, peer liaison, making sure, you know, if they're having an alcohol problem (17:49) that we're getting them alcohol treatment.If they're having a psychological problem, (17:53) we have a, we have a staff psychologist two days a week in our office that you can come talk to. (17:58) Um, so, you know, statewide, nationally, I was just in Israel. Those officers are facing (18:06) pay disparity problems.Uh, certainly now after the October 7th, uh, the PTSD, (18:12) they lost 57 officers in one day. So, you know, you, you can take, you can take a cop from, (18:19) from Cape May, New Jersey and, and plop them in Istanbul, Turkey and talk to a cop there. (18:24) And it's going to be a similar story.Sure. Yeah. And I think that's another interesting (18:28) thing too.Like we're talking about, uh, earlier, we're talking about the changes almost (18:32) and the evolution for sure. Like in 1992, I would imagine it was less likely that there (18:38) was going to be like a psychologist and on staff and some of these focused. It was a huge stigma.(18:43) Yeah, for sure. And how that's evolved and why that just makes it better. Now, (18:47) if a cop came in and sought help because of, uh, you know, uh, I look at one of the towns near us, (18:55) uh, East Brunswick had a child drown one day and a family drowned the next day, (19:00) you know, uh, and, and literally in front of these officers, uh, one, one, uh, I don't want (19:07) to get into the story, but you want to get those officers, make sure they're all right.Yeah. Uh, (19:11) come in and do a group session and then make sure individually they're okay. (19:14) Uh, if that, if that was done 30 years ago, Oh, you're weak kid, get it back out there.(19:19) Yeah. Grab a cup of coffee and then let's, let's do choir practice. Yeah.Choir practice (19:25) isn't singing at 11 o'clock at night. It's going out to the parking lot and, and drinking to (19:30) excess. So, uh, all those things are now accepted.You can go to your chief, you can go to your (19:35) command staff and say, Hey, I'm having some, some difficulty dealing with this issue. I just had (19:40) with this car accident where two, two children died. So, um, that we're proud of.I mean, I, (19:47) I know the PBA was, was in the forefront of the peer liaison stuff. So, uh, it's, it's, (19:53) it's just really good to see now. Yeah, absolutely.And I think like, you know, (19:57) obviously all the stuff that we've talked about today and like, when we, you know, made it, (20:01) uh, light in the sense of like, we're talking about donuts most of the day, (20:05) but obviously like the stuff that you guys do is super important because it's what keeps (20:09) everybody safe and everybody, you know, uh, the community side of it. Like we talked about, (20:13) there's so many important things that are kind of connected to this episode that we did. And I was (20:18) like, just really pumped.It's important to humanize us. We're not, he said it earlier. (20:22) We're not robots.Uh, we, we, we put our, our pants on the same way. Uh, we go home and have (20:29) difficulties with the family the same way, uh, that everybody else does. Uh, you know, (20:34) there's always struggles financially and wondering, you know, if your payment, (20:37) if your, if your mortgage is going to be made.So we, we share the same problems and, and I always (20:44) feel like, you know, we're in this capsule called the police car and the average citizen has no (20:51) contact with the, with the cop, with the police officer. Yeah. You may have gotten pulled over (20:54) a year ago or five years ago or 10 years ago.Uh, but nobody calls 911 when their kids are on (20:59) the honor roll. Nobody calls 911 when you're, your husband got a promotion. We're, we're, (21:05) you know, we're usually there when something bad is happening.Yeah. And I always, (21:10) as a patrolman, when I was in patrol, I always wanted to look approachable. I would always (21:15) wave at the kids and from the patrol car.Uh, it's disappointing to me to even see an officer (21:21) sometimes just not even looking around at a traffic light or, uh, it's just, we have to (21:27) humanize ourselves. And it's part of, you know, before you got there, I even talked to Vinnie (21:31) about it. Like I do a lot of radio stuff and, uh, and TV and I just, I want to, I want people (21:37) to realize that, that we're normal.Yeah, for sure. And like you said, yeah, great. But that's, (21:43) that's everybody really.Um, and that's, that's really when we met in AC, like I said, in the (21:48) first segment, that's just like the vibe that I got. And then when we talked about doing this (21:52) episode and I was like, this is going to be great. And I wanted to make sure that we did, (21:56) we did a good job, like at least telling that story and making sure that people saw that, (22:00) um, like the humanizing side.So we are going to the gym right after this, right? (22:05) Uh, yeah, you guys are right. I have a date with a treadmill. I wanted to open up a bar called the (22:11) gym and, uh, thought it would go over well with some of the cops.Um, so, uh, I do also, because (22:19) you did put a couple other spots and I do want to make sure we'll, we'll shout those out. So we hit (22:23) the carrows today. We hit Plainfield donut shop.Uh, do other, other ones you would say are like (22:29) some of your favorite donut shops, maybe in different parts of the state. (22:34) There's a bunch of them. There's, uh, I know we're trying to get to op co's down in Tom's river.It (22:39) just, it would have been a long drive, but, uh, um, look, there's the names escaped me, but I know (22:46) I was heading to a, uh, I was heading to a PBA meeting, uh, an early morning PBA meeting up (22:52) in Passaic. And I was actually with my daughter. It was during, during her school break.And I got (22:58) excited because I was on one of the, one of the state roads and I go, Oh my God, there's a great (23:04) bakery up here on the right. Yeah. And she looks at me.She goes, how do you know that we're an hour (23:08) and a half from home? And I go, trust me, I know. And it was literally where we were getting off in (23:13) Clifton. And I pull in and I'm, I'm now I'm excited because I'm going to have breakfast and I pull up (23:19) closed on Mondays.Uh, she said, now what dad? And I was like, I don't know. I'm a little out (23:25) of my element, but now I'm in the mood for a donut. So you go to, you know, you go to Google (23:29) and look for those high rated donut, donut places.Yeah. Yeah. To, to, to Pat's point, like (23:34) I can't even think of, you know, another handful of specific name places, but my, the one thing I (23:40) will say is just trust, trust your gut.If you walk into a place again, everyone carries around (23:45) a phone. Now it's a, it's a mini computer in your hand, Google search, whatever. If it's a mom and (23:50) pop place, it's probably 99 times out of a hundred going to be a lot better than the donut you would (23:56) get at a, at a franchise.Yeah. So just try it, get your favorite donut that you would get at (24:02) that franchise. Try it at that mom and pop place and support your local business and support your (24:05) local businesses.That's probably, you know, you're, you're going to have a good experience. (24:09) Uh, again, we were a little quote unquote spoiled today going to two of the best, but you're going (24:14) to still have a really good experience at a mom and pop place, trying that donut that you would (24:19) normally get at a franchise. Yeah, for sure.Excuse me, ma'am. Um, yeah, well, this has been (24:26) amazing. Uh, and I appreciate you taking us around.This is my first time ever actually in a (24:30) cop car, technically a union car, but we're close. There's a union car. We can hit the siren though.(24:36) Do you guys ever do that? Well, not with the cop over there. (24:43) There is a lot more room in a union car than a police car. I would not be able to sit here (24:48) comfortably.I'd be like kind of hanging out the window or, but there would probably be (24:52) powdered sugar on the seat of a police car. Yes. Uh, evidence of a prior crime.Yes. (24:59) Prior crime. Um, is there anything that you guys want to like the listeners of our show? I'm sure (25:04) there are cops, uh, that listened to the show, but non cops, anything that you want to like, (25:09) leave people with before we kind of wrap this episode up as we get back to our home destination (25:14) here.We, we, we did have some fun today, but this, it is kind of a play on the cops on donuts. (25:21) Um, you know, I just, I thought it'd be fun to kind of poke fun at ourselves, (25:25) but, uh, look, it is a big part of our, of our eating, uh, eating library. So, um, you know, (25:32) it may not be the healthiest, certainly want everybody eating healthy out there.(25:37) Everything in moderation. Yeah, right. Exactly.Um, and then if people are interested in learning (25:43) more other places that they can go to do that, uh, like any, like a website or something like (25:48) that, we have a website, uh, NJSPBA.com and we have a huge, uh, nonprofit it's called NJSPBA (25:56) survivor welfare. Uh, it supports our, our officers who are, uh, you know, out of work, (26:04) unfortunately killed in the line of duty. We, we provide a death benefit.Uh, we also, (26:09) we also provide a $20,000 reward. It's called New Jersey cop shot. Uh, if a police officer, (26:16) regardless of who, what union they belong to gets seriously hurt or injured in New Jersey, (26:20) we immediately put out a $20,000 cash reward.So, uh, it's survivor welfare.com or NJSPBA.com. (26:30) And you can get a link to that website. So awesome. Yeah.I'll make sure that I put that in (26:34) the show notes. People would just go click that along with greetings from the garden state.com, (26:37) which is the website for the show. Uh, so I want to thank Pat Colligan, PBA president (26:42) and Vinny Rizzo for helping us out today and giving us these great spots and eating some (26:46) donuts.Vinny, we got to talk more. I feel like, I feel like you and I need to become a little bit (26:50) more close. I, uh, I could foresee that for the future.Um, maybe a savory episode. Yeah. Well, (26:57) we were talking, we talked a lot about hot dogs today and that really started scratching me.(27:01) I need to be in on that. Yeah. I mean, listen, you're, you're in, we'll still drive.Yeah. (27:05) That's even better. Um, so we'll make sure we'll put the websites that, that Pat mentioned in the (27:10) show notes.Um, like I said, along with greetings from the garden state.com. Uh, we were today, (27:14) we visited the Plainfield donut shop in Plainfield and Vaccaro's bakery down in Clark, New Jersey. (27:19) So make sure to go check those out. Uh, thank you for them for some awesome donuts.Uh, we (27:24) appreciate it quite a bit. Uh, this has been the Greensburg Garden State Power, Greensburg Garden (27:28) State podcast powered by the New Jersey lottery on my cam. Uh, thank you again for listening and (27:32) we'll catch you next time.