One Bergen Woman's Quest: A Blue Line In Every Town

MAHWAH, N.J. — Susan Larsen is on a mission. The mother of three is not satisfied with the thin blue line she helped get painted downtown in honor of the police department.

She wants one in all 70 towns.

"It's recognizing that police everywhere, across the entire county, they all keep us safe," said Larsen, a lifelong county resident. "They all go above and beyond the call, all the time."

Mahwah is one of the latest municipalities to show support to their police department by painting a thin blue line near their police headquarters. Wayne was one of the first North Jersey communities to do it. Others — including Wyckoff, Fair Lawn, and Glen Rock — followed. Glen Rock went one step further and painted red and white lines lines in support of their fire department and ambulance corps.

"I'm not a planer or a strategist," Larsen said. "I'm just someone who wants to honor these people for sacrificing so much to help others."

Larsen spoke with Mayor Bill Laforet, who spoke with police Chief James Batelli, about getting the line painted.

Batelli said that the officers are "very thankful and proud to work in a community that is so supportive of their police department," he said.

Larsen said she hopes getting blue lines painted detracts from all the negative publicity that is out there surrounding local police officers.

"There's so much negativity around police nowadays and that's not right," Larsen said. "These people put their lives on the line everyday for us."

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Photo, from left: Chief James Batelli, Officer David Sinisi, Officer Rosario Zito, Susan Larsen, Freeholder Tracy Zur, Mahwah Mayor Bill Laforet, Department of Public Works Director Glen Dowson, DPW Superintendent of Roads Tony Simonelli. — Courtesy of Susan Larsen