I've made the statement many times before that we could literally hold a #BlueFriday recognition every segment of every show and still not cover all the positive things police officers are doing every day to keep our communities safe.

On Monday, former Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith joined me on the air to follow up on the unbelievable conversation we had on Friday honoring retired Irvington Police Officer, Ken Hogan. Officer Hogan was shot at 19 times by an assailant in 1994. He was struck four times with the last shot going into his head. He survived and, after two years of rehab, rejoined the force where he stayed on for another decade plus.

Wayne was an assistant to the mayor in 1994 and then went on to become mayor himself. He's a frequent guest on my nightly news show Chasing News and a very thoughtful and police supporting former elected official. He knows Officer Hogan and applauded his heroism.

Wayne also let me know about a program called All Star Project: Cops and Kids, which started in NYC and uses workshops with performances, games and conversations to help kids connect in a meaningful way to Police Officers.

I immediately liked what I heard and thought that efforts like this combined with aggressive police tactics and "Quality of Life" policing in places like Newark, New Jersey and "Broken Windows in New York" are not only making communities safer, but they are starting to change the narrative with regard to the relationship between cops and the public.

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea.

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