Shooting of Paramus Officer is a 'Definite Reminder' for Fair Lawn Police

While Paramus police officer Rachel Morgan  from being shot on a Garden State Parkway onramp, the incident is serving as a "definite reminder of something that didn't happen all that long ago" in Fair Lawn, Lt. Derek Bastinck said.

When 23-year-old Westwood man Michael Sean Carmody—who has been —allegedly shot Morgan Sunday night, it marked the first time a female officer had been shot in Bergen County since Fair Lawn's Mary Ann Collura was killed on April 17, 2003.

Collura, who died at age 43, and another officer were trying to arrest Passaic resident Omar Marti when she was shot. Despite the tragedy, "some positive things came out of it," Bastinck recalled in an interview.

Since Marti took control of Collura's vehicle that night, the safety switches on police cars in Fair Lawn are now completely hidden, Bastinck said.

"If you get into a police car in Fair Lawn, you're not going to be able to move it," Bastinck said.

Prior to Collura's death, Fair Lawn officers took time out of their workdays to meet the semi-annual state requirement of qualifying to use a pistol, but now Bastinck said officers "spend more time with it" and get a full day off for training at Fair Lawn's pistol range.

The  also instituted simunition training—which Bastinck compared to paintball rounds with a real weapon—after Collura's death, but that training won't take place this year because of the department's , Bastinck said.

Fair Lawn's first female police officer, Collura served in the department for 18 years, working as a firearms officers and armorer as well as a delegate to the New Jersey Policemen's Benevolent Association. She received the Hackensack University Medical Center EMS Excellence Award for saving a life with a defibrillator, in addition to a number of commendation letters from the community for her "prompt, courteous, and thoughtful service," according to the department's webpage in her memory.

Seeing Collura's picture at police department headquarters brings back memories of the past, especially in light of the recent events in Paramus, Bastinck said.

"It's just a reminder to everybody [in the Fair Lawn Police Department]," Bastinck said.