Two minutes with Jim Carver
Team captain
Jim Carver, 46, was elected president of the Nassau County Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association in May after former head Gary DelaRaba retired following 20 years on the job. He has big shoes to fill. Under DelaRaba, the PBA worked to make Nassau County’s police officers one of the highest paid in the nation, with an average starting salary at close to $150,000. While the PBA just renewed its contract with the county through 2012, Carver isn’t standing pat. He’s fighting for updated equipment and cars and proper training for Nassau County’s cops.
Why did you become a police officer?
My father was a lieutenant in the Nassau County Police Department. He was the commanding officer of the (police academy’s outdoor shooting) range. He was in charge of the physical training, firearms training and defensive tactics. That’s where I get it, since I was a kid.
I became a delegate in the PBA in 1994. I was a trustee in the fourth precinct in 1998. I became the first vice president in January of 2005. And when Gary retired, there was an election to take his spot, and I took over as president on May 18.
Why did you become a delegate? What does it entail?
When you become a police officer, one of the things that drives you is that you want to help people. You enjoy working with the public and you enjoy helping people out. When you become a delegate, it’s the same thing. You’re still doing your job as cop out there, taking care of the public, too.
There is no better job in the world than representing people who go out there and take care of the public. I was interested in contracts and that kind of stuff. Just fighting the fight, if something was wrong, I wasn’t one to keep my mouth shut and just sit there. I was vocal.
What sort of things are you fighting for now?
We have a stake in this county too; we have a stake in these communities.
We have a contract through 2012. My job for the most part, like anybody else’s job once the contract’s secured is to make sure the benefits that we have are maintained and to make sure the cops on the street have tools that they need. That includes proper training and making sure equipment, such as cars and weapons, are safe. We are going through a radio system upgrade now. We’ve been working on this for years, to get a better radio system. It’s just anything. We want to make sure they have the tools they need to do the job out there.
What was it like to work with Gary DelaRaba? He was a huge figure for the police for many, many years.
Working with Gary has its ups and downs. Gary can drive anybody in the world crazy but at the same time, what people don’t understand about him was that he was a very compassionate guy. He really cared about people. He really cared that the right thing was being done. He did not want to see anybody getting screwed.
Gary and I agree on a lot of issues. The way we go about it is different.
What did you learn from him?
You learn it’s not all take. You’ve got to give, too. Some people are of the opinion it’s not the union’s worry what the county’s finances are like. We just get whatever we can and that’s it.
We have a stake in this county too; we have a stake in these communities. It’s very easy to say we got ours and that’s it. We can’t close the door and say that’s not our problem. It is our problem.
What are your plans for the future of the PBA?
One of the biggest things is that when a contract is done everybody thinks your job is done. It’s not done. It’s maintaining to make sure the contract is enforced.
Maintaining that the cops continue to get the equipment, the tools they need to work. Once you’re done with the contract, you can start correcting the little things.
Like what?
I’ll give you an example: We just did this thing at the Legislature honoring our Top Cops. Everybody needs a pat on the back every once in a while.
Even cops need to be recognized, and we started with help from Presiding Officer Diane Yatauro and (Legislator) Joe Scannell. Once a month at the Legislature meeting, they will honor the top cops of the month. It’s a good thing to see cops recognized by the legislative branch. They appreciate it. It’s good for morale. It shows the guys people do care about them.
Posted Monday, August 18, 2008
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