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Fresh from being reelected by an overwhelming margin to a second four-year term, Pat Lynch and the executive board members welcomed more than 400 delegates and guests to the 109th PBA convention at the Hudson Valley Resort & Spa Aug. 28-30, expressing satisfaction over their victory and a vision for the future.
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| Rabbi Alvin Kass (l) says the opening prayer. In silent reflection are (l-r) Det. Ann Marie Maloney of the Ceremonial Unit, PBA President Pat Lynch, and New York Secretary of State Randy Daniels. |
In his speech at the traditional Thursday luncheon, Lynch paid tribute to “the support and difficult work our PBA delegates give us each and every day” and indicated that he anticipated a tough battle ahead on the contract-negotiating front.
“When others say give back,” Lynch said, “we say step back, because we’ve already given. Every 57 hours a police officer gives his life in this country. We must work hard to achieve our goals, not just for us ourselves but for those family members who have lost loved ones.
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PBA
President Pat Lynch would like to thank Coach USA and Gray Line
New York Sightseeing for their generosity in helping to provide
transportation so the PBA widows and children could enjoy their
winter weekend at the Villa Roma last January. Coach USA and Gray
Line New York Sightseeing are the kind of friends the PBA appreciates.“We’re in for a fight,” he continued. “Unfortunately, we’ve been there before. They want us to take zeroes again. But it’s time our families got what they are owed. It’s time that the city gives and we get.”
In introductory remarks, PBA First-Vice President John Puglissi sounded a note of triumph: “After just coming through the PBA elections, it feels great to be back here. The membership showed total faith in Pat Lynch and his team by returning us to office by the highest margin in the history of the PBA.”
Special guest, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, also addressed the gathering. “Pat Lynch and I don’t always agree on everything,” he said, “but the one thing we do agree on is that the NYPD is the best police department in the world.”
The guest speaker was New York Secretary of State Randy Daniels, who cited the continuing crime-rate decline, saying that cops “don’t get enough credit for that,” and praised Lynch as “a strong leader in a remarkably difficult time in New York City.
“The civil chaos in Iraq,” he added, “shows what goes wrong in a society when police officers are not allowed to do their jobs or when people lose confidence in the quality of security.
“It is critical,” he concluded, “that police officers be
given the benefit of the doubt.”
