Winslow Resident Vince Borrelli hosting his radio show Chief's Corner which airs on Thursday Evenings 9-11 P.M. on WVLT 92.1 FM
Top PATCO cop turns talk-show host to vent, inform
Thursday, December 2, 2004 By WHITNEY McKNIGHT For the Courier-Post
As a 40-plus-year veteran of law enforcement, including a stint with the U.S. Marshals dignitary-protection program, Vincent Borrelli knows that taking a bullet sometimes is part of the job.
But when the 61-year-old Winslow Township resident takes calls from listeners to his radio talk show, Chief's Corner, which airs from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursdays on WVLT (92.1-FM), this top cop says friends wonder about his chutzpah.
"They ask me, `Are you crazy, putting yourself out there like that?' " says Borrelli, now the chief public-safety officer for Delaware River Port Authority/PATCO in Camden.
"I tell them, `So, what?' I gotta get it out there. It's not good to keep it all inside," the chief says.
The show is Borrelli's outlet for the frustration he says he sometimes feels over the public's ambivalence, and often antagonism, toward law enforcement.
Borrelli believes, "You have to be very dedicated (to be a cop) in today's world. There's always somebody ready to sue you, always somebody telling you their rights are getting violated."
Borrelli cites several examples of murderers and drug dealers who were set free because of some technicality, such as a policeman filing the wrong paperwork.
"That is wrong. That is immorality supported by a lack of common sense," Borrelli says.
Acknowledging that even though "officers are trained, they have their good and bad days," Borrelli says, "Law enforcement is a stressful job. Sometimes we embarrass ourselves or we make mistakes."
For that reason, he says, "The public has valid concerns and they need to air them."
Borrelli says he hopes his show helps improve the understanding and good will between cops and their communities.
"The anonymity helps. People can offer their suggestions more candidly," he says.
DRPA/PATCO Sgt. Michael Yip is the show's co-producer, and he researches current events and gathers information about any law-enforcement and fire-company charity events to announce on the air.
Special guests, such as Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson and Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi, come to the show, and Borrelli also brings in local police chiefs to discuss law-enforcement issues in their communities.
Borrelli says that while drug trade in South Jersey and homeland security generate the most interest from callers, he also tries to invite an array of guests to provide listeners with practical information, such as whom to contact and where to go if they are faced with a crisis.
Past guests have included Barbara Price of the New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women, who discussed domestic abuse and where to go for help.
Chief's Corner also offers advice on favorite police topics, such as best practices in policy and procedure, career paths in public safety and what to expect when retiring from the force.
"Re-entry into civilian life is not easy," Borrelli warns. "I tell (law-enforcement personnel) they should not retire just because they can. They should retire when they're ready. If they're not ready, they need to stay in."
He advises retiring officers to learn a skill and keep busy, and he also tells them to seek help from a counselor if necessary.
"Law enforcement is like a big family. You have to be prepared to lose that sense of camaraderie and the thrill of chasing the bad guys together. It can be a real shock," Borrelli says.
A South Philadelphia native, Borrelli first worked with that city's highway patrol and was a bodyguard to former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo.
Borrelli also served terms with various other public-safety departments in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and was chief of police in West Wildwood, before retiring.
After he retired, Borrelli says that a combination of boredom and his lack of other trade skills led him to enroll in a training course for the U.S. Marshals Service and led him back into law enforcement.
He was assigned to protect various federal judges in Philadelphia before leaving the marshals in 1994 to become DRPA/PATCO's top cop, overseeing the safety of the Betsy Ross, Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman and Commodore Barry bridges as well as the PATCO commuter lines.
His fledgling career as a broadcaster began this April, after he asked WVLT's station manager, Carl Himer, why, if there were so many call-in shows about personal finance and gardening, there couldn't also be one for law enforcement. Himer responded by asking Borrelli to create one.
Himer has been so pleased with the show's popularity, he recently moved Chief's Corner from Monday night - a blessing for football fans, chuckles the chief - to its present slot on Thursday night, and increased its length from one hour to two.
Tonight, the chief's scheduled guest is state Assemblyman David Mayer (D-Gloucester Township), who will take calls about homeland security and the impact of recent state legislation on local law enforcement.
Whitney McKnight is a freelance writer who lives in Evesham. She can be reached through the `Courier-Post' at (856) 486-2404 or at wordbirding@yahoo.com. WHERE TO CALL
