BEYOND THE FUNDING FORMULA: THE FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN NEW JERSEY

A Public Response to the Conversation About the Future of New Jersey Schools

September 12, 2026

On September 12, 2026, NJ.com published the article, “There’s One Huge Thing That Needs to Change in NJ Schools, New Education Chief Says,” examining New Jersey Education Commissioner Lily Laux’s call for a fundamental rethinking of the state’s school funding formula and her broader concern with what it means to provide every child with a truly excellent educational experience.

The article prompted me to reflect on a question that extends beyond funding alone.

Adequate and equitable funding matters enormously. Schools cannot educate children effectively without the resources necessary to support teachers, transportation, special education, facilities, technology, student services, and the countless practical requirements of operating a modern educational system. New Jersey’s educational landscape is extraordinarily complex, encompassing hundreds of school districts and nearly 1.4 million students.

But after more than 25 years of working with educators, students, school districts, law enforcement professionals, security leaders, and communities, I believe the conversation must ultimately go deeper.

The question cannot simply be: How do we fund our schools?

It must also be:

What constitutes a great educational environment for the student, the community, and ultimately what is most beneficial for our country?

That question brings us beyond budgets and formulas and into the very purpose of education.

Education Is More Than an Institution

A school is not simply a building in which instruction occurs. It is a living community.

It is where young people spend an extraordinary portion of their formative years. It is where they encounter authority, friendship, competition, disappointment, success, conflict, responsibility, discipline, encouragement, technology, and increasingly complicated social pressures. It is where they learn not only mathematics, science, history, language, and the other academic disciplines, but also—whether intentionally or unintentionally—how to relate to other human beings.

For that reason, educational excellence cannot be measured exclusively by test scores, graduation rates, facilities, technology, or the amount of money invested.

Those things matter. But education ultimately asks a much larger question:

Who are we helping this young person become?

That question has always been at the heart of my work.

Since Columbine in 1999, I have worked with educators, students, school districts, law enforcement professionals, security personnel, and communities throughout the nation and here in New Jersey on school safety, violence prevention, character education, crisis preparedness, security, and educational leadership. My work in American school violence received national recognition more than two decades ago, and that work has continued and evolved throughout the years.

Here in New Jersey, that work has taken many forms. I have presented to educators and students and worked with school districts and educational organizations in communities including Hackensack, North Bergen, Union City, Cinnaminson, Teaneck, West Milford, Fort Lee, Tenafly, North Arlington, Bergenfield, West New York, New Milford, Wood-Ridge, Carlstadt, and others. I have addressed educational and law enforcement conferences and organizations, conducted school security vulnerability assessments, and worked directly with professionals responsible for protecting children and educational communities.

For more than 20 years, I also served the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association as a liaison and chairperson for school safety, working at the intersection of law enforcement and education.

That experience has taught me something that I believe deserves renewed attention as New Jersey considers the future of its schools:

Security, character education, and academic excellence cannot be treated as competing priorities. They must develop together.

The Three Foundations

Academic excellence gives students knowledge, intellectual discipline, and the ability to reason and contribute to society.

Security provides the environment in which students and educators can learn without being consumed by fear, disorder, or preventable threats.

Character gives students the internal compass necessary to use knowledge and freedom responsibly.

Remove any one of these dimensions and the educational mission becomes incomplete.

A beautifully equipped school can still fail a child if that child feels unseen, unsafe, isolated, bullied, or disconnected from the adults entrusted with his or her development. A highly secure school can still fail educationally if it produces compliance without character, curiosity, intellectual growth, or a sense of responsibility. And a school committed to academic achievement can still fall short if it neglects the physical and emotional security necessary for students and educators to thrive.

This is why I have long advocated an approach to education that does not separate security from character or character from academic excellence. They are part of the same ecosystem.

The quality of that ecosystem depends upon leadership, culture, prevention, vigilance, responsible adult presence, and human connection.

Prevention Begins Before the Crisis

One of the most important lessons I have learned through decades of school violence prevention work is that prevention cannot begin at the moment a crisis occurs.

By then, we are often already too late.

Prevention begins with the culture that exists before the warning sign appears.

It begins when an educator knows a student’s name and notices when something has changed. It begins when a student believes there is an adult who will listen. It begins when bullying is taken seriously rather than dismissed as a normal part of growing up. It begins when concerning behavior is recognized and responsibly addressed rather than ignored. It begins when families, educators, administrators, security professionals, students, and law enforcement understand that they are participants in a shared community rather than isolated components of a system.

The goal is not to create a culture of suspicion. It is to create a culture of awareness.

There is an enormous difference.

A preventive culture does not look at every student as a potential threat. It looks at every student as a human being whose behavior, circumstances, relationships, struggles, talents, and needs deserve attention.

That distinction is fundamental.

Years ago, my work in New Jersey school safety led me to speak extensively about the importance of moving beyond a purely reactive approach. In a 2020 presentation at Passaic Arts and Science Center Middle School, I wrote that schools must be both safe havens and places where students develop character and academic excellence. The program deliberately went beyond physical security, personnel security, procedural security, and cybersecurity to examine the social conditions surrounding violence, including dysfunctional relationships, substance abuse, gang culture, family difficulties, and a broader crisis of character and leadership.

That remains my conviction today.

The Human Being at the Center of Education

There is another reason this conversation matters.

Education can become so consumed by systems that the individual student disappears behind the system.

We discuss formulas, enrollment, staffing, transportation, facilities, technology, artificial intelligence, testing, budgets, regulations, and accountability. All of these subjects have legitimate importance.

But behind every number is a young human being.

And that young person needs more than resources.

He or she needs competent teachers, responsible adults, intellectual challenge, encouragement, boundaries, security, friendship, belonging, accountability, and the experience of being treated with dignity.

That is why I was particularly interested in Commissioner Laux’s questions in the NJ.com article concerning “what is good instruction?” and “what does a great instructional experience look like for students?”

Those are important questions.

But I would respectfully broaden them:

What does a great educational environment look like?

Not merely what does good instruction look like, but what happens when instruction exists within a culture of safety, character, excellence, trust, vigilance, and meaningful human connection?

That is where education becomes transformational.

The Preventive Educational Pedagogy

For decades, my work has been informed by an educational pedagogy that emphasizes presence rather than distance, prevention rather than reaction, guidance rather than humiliation, and human connection rather than bureaucratic detachment.

At its center is a simple proposition:

People are more likely to respond positively to authority when authority is exercised with dignity, fairness, reason, consistency, and genuine concern for the person.

This does not mean the absence of discipline. Quite the opposite.

Real preventive leadership requires authority. It requires boundaries. It requires intervention. It requires the courage to address inappropriate conduct before it becomes something more serious.

But authority becomes more effective when it is connected to relationship.

A teacher who is respected because students know that teacher genuinely cares about them possesses a different kind of influence from someone who relies exclusively upon rules and punishment. A school administrator who walks the building, knows the students, speaks with staff, notices changes, and remains approachable is positioned differently from an administrator who appears only when something has gone wrong.

Presence creates awareness. Awareness creates opportunity. Opportunity creates prevention.

And prevention, when practiced consistently, becomes part of the culture.

My 2026 Law Officer article, “Preventive Leadership & Human Encounter Model™,” develops this concept as a contemporary framework for schools, colleges, and universities. It describes educational institutions as living communities in which safety, character, academic excellence, and security are inseparable from culture, leadership, and ethical engagement.

That philosophy is not a substitute for funding.

It is what we do with the human resources, financial resources, professional expertise, and institutional authority that funding makes possible.

Artificial Intelligence, Technology, and the Human Encounter

The discussion about educational excellence must also confront the rapidly changing technological environment.

Commissioner Laux’s comments about artificial intelligence and what she described as “dangerous cognitive offloading” deserve serious consideration.

Technology can be an extraordinary educational tool. Artificial intelligence can assist educators and students in ways that were unimaginable only a few years ago. But technology must remain a tool in service of education—not a replacement for thinking, effort, judgment, creativity, or human mentorship.

A student can obtain an answer without learning how to arrive at the answer.

A teacher can receive assistance without necessarily understanding whether a student’s work reflects genuine comprehension.

An institution can become technologically sophisticated while simultaneously becoming relationally impoverished.

That would be a profound irony.

The more technology becomes capable of performing tasks for us, the more important authentic human encounter may become.

Students still need teachers. They need mentors. They need adults who recognize their potential.

They need people who will challenge them, encourage them, correct them, listen to them, and believe in them.

No algorithm can replace the moral significance of a trusted adult looking at a young person and saying, in effect, “I see you. You matter. I expect something from you because I believe you are capable of it.”

That is education.

The Responsibility We Share

Schools do not exist in isolation from the communities they serve. The responsibility for creating a safe, constructive, and intellectually serious educational environment extends across the entire community surrounding the student. Teachers, principals, counselors, superintendents, parents, security professionals, school resource officers, students, and community leaders each encounter different dimensions of a young person’s life. When those encounters remain disconnected, important changes in behavior, emerging concerns, or opportunities for intervention can easily be overlooked. When those who care for and serve young people communicate with one another and operate within a culture of trust, however, the collective capacity for prevention becomes considerably stronger.

This is one of the reasons I have always viewed school safety as something broader than physical security. A locked door, surveillance system, access-control procedure, or emergency plan may be necessary, but none of these measures can substitute for an attentive and engaged educational community. Security is strongest when it is accompanied by awareness, responsible leadership, meaningful relationships, and a willingness to recognize problems before they become crises. The most sophisticated security program cannot compensate for a culture in which people are disconnected from one another.

That principle should also inform the way New Jersey evaluates educational success. As the state considers changes to school funding and educational policy, it is understandable that considerable attention will be given to resources, facilities, staffing, transportation, special education, technology, and other measurable indicators. Those measurements are important. Yet educational excellence cannot be reduced to what can be most easily placed into a spreadsheet.

The more consequential questions are often more difficult to quantify. Do students feel sufficiently safe and respected to engage fully in learning? Do educators have the support and authority necessary to teach effectively and to serve as mentors? Are schools intentionally cultivating character alongside intellectual development? Are families meaningfully connected to the educational community? Are concerning behaviors recognized early enough for responsible intervention? Are students developing the judgment, responsibility, resilience, and respect for others that will remain with them long after they leave the classroom?

These questions are not peripheral to education. They are central to it.

A school may possess excellent facilities and substantial financial resources and still struggle to create an environment in which students flourish. Conversely, even when resources are constrained, a committed educational community can accomplish extraordinary things through leadership, creativity, collaboration, personal presence, and a genuine commitment to the young people entrusted to its care. Funding provides the capacity to accomplish much; leadership and culture determine how that capacity is translated into the daily experience of students and educators.

This is why I believe the present conversation in New Jersey should extend beyond the funding formula itself. The state has an opportunity not merely to reconsider how educational resources are distributed, but to examine more fundamentally what those resources are intended to accomplish. The objective should be an educational environment in which academic excellence, security, character formation, and healthy human relationships reinforce one another rather than compete for attention.

The ultimate measure of education is therefore not simply what a school owns, how much it spends, or how efficiently it operates. Its deeper measure is what it develops in the lives of its students. Education should leave young people better prepared to think critically, act responsibly, relate respectfully to others, withstand adversity, contribute to their communities, and assume the responsibilities of citizenship. In that sense, the quality of our schools becomes inseparable from the quality of the society we will inherit from the generation now being educated.

Beyond the Funding Formula

None of this diminishes the legitimate importance of funding. On the contrary, adequate and equitable resources are essential to the educational mission. Schools require qualified teachers, appropriate facilities, transportation, special education services, counselors, security measures, technology, and countless other resources to function effectively. The question is not whether funding matters. It unquestionably does.

The question is whether funding, by itself, can produce educational excellence.

It cannot.

Financial resources can provide the conditions in which excellence becomes possible, but they cannot by themselves create the culture that makes those resources meaningful. They cannot manufacture trust between a teacher and a student, instill character, create moral courage, or guarantee that an adult will recognize when a young person is struggling. They cannot replace the human encounter through which a student discovers that someone believes in his or her potential and is willing to provide both encouragement and accountability.

Those dimensions of education require something more fundamental: leadership and human commitment.

That is why the funding discussion should become part of a larger examination of the educational environment New Jersey wants to create for its children. The objective should not simply be to determine what schools need to purchase, but to consider what schools must ultimately inspire, develop, protect, and form.

A truly excellent school should be a place where academic achievement is taken seriously because knowledge matters; where security is taken seriously because students and educators cannot learn effectively without a sense of safety; where character is cultivated because intellectual ability without responsibility is insufficient; and where human relationships are valued because prevention, mentorship, trust, and belonging are indispensable elements of a healthy educational community.

These dimensions are not competing philosophies. They are mutually reinforcing.

The better question, therefore, may not be whether New Jersey should invest more in one particular component of education, but whether it can develop an educational vision sufficiently comprehensive to recognize how these components depend upon one another.

That is the perspective I hoped to offer in writing to NJ.com.

After more than two decades working directly with schools, educators, students, law enforcement professionals, and communities, I have come to believe that prevention is most effective when it becomes part of the culture rather than something introduced after a problem occurs. Character is most powerful when it is practiced rather than merely taught. Security is most effective when it is integrated into the life of the institution rather than treated as a separate function. Academic excellence becomes more meaningful when students are given not only knowledge but also the character and judgment necessary to use that knowledge wisely.

Ultimately, the future of New Jersey’s schools will not be determined by a funding formula alone. It will be shaped by the collective vision of what education is supposed to accomplish and by the willingness of adults throughout the educational community to accept responsibility for that mission.

We are not simply funding schools. We are forming the generation that will inherit our communities, our institutions, and our nation.

That is why the conversation matters.

And that is why it deserves to be larger than the funding formula.

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A LETTER TO NJ.COM — PUBLIC RECORD

September 13, 2026

Because the NJ.com article prompted these reflections, I sent the following letter on September 13, 2026, directly to Liz Rosenberg, Senior Education Reporter for NJ.com, The Star-Ledger, and affiliated New Jersey newspapers.

I am preserving the correspondence here as part of the public record—not as a demand for a response, but because public conversations about education benefit from hearing multiple perspectives, particularly from those who have spent decades working directly with schools, educators, students, and public safety professionals.

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Subject: Beyond the Funding Formula: The Foundations of Educational Excellence in New Jersey

Dear Ms. Rosenberg,

Thank you for today’s thoughtful NJ.com article, “There’s One Huge Thing That Needs to Change in NJ Schools, New Education Chief Says.”

For more than 25 years, since Columbine, I have worked with educators, students, school districts, law enforcement professionals, and communities throughout the nation and right here in New Jersey on school safety, violence prevention, character education, crisis preparedness, security, and educational leadership. My work in this field was recognized by the United States Senate more than 20 years ago as a nationally acclaimed expertise in American school violence, and that work has continued throughout the years.

Here in New Jersey, I have had the privilege of presenting to educators and students in school districts including Hackensack, North Bergen, Union City, Cinnaminson, Teaneck, and West Milford, as well as before educational and law enforcement organizations and regional conferences. For more than 20 years, I served the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association as a liaison and chairperson for six schools, continuing to work directly at the intersection of law enforcement and education. My work has also included conducting school security vulnerability assessments.

I mention this background simply to provide context for the perspective I would like to offer.

Adequate and equitable funding is certainly important and practical. But I believe several other elements are equally critical and, alongside necessary funding, are vital to educational excellence.

In my experience, three essential elements must develop together: security, character education, and academic excellence. These should not be viewed as separate initiatives. They are interconnected through prevention, positive human connections, responsible adult presence, and the partnership among educators, students, families, and the broader school community.

This raises a question that I believe deserves consideration as New Jersey examines the future of its schools:

What constitutes a great educational environment for the student, the community, and ultimately what is most beneficial for our country?

Even when resources are constrained, schools can still cultivate character, pursue academic excellence, strengthen security, and create positive human connections. Funding provides essential resources, but leadership, prevention, character formation, collaboration, and the daily commitment of educators to the young people entrusted to their care are also fundamental.

I was particularly interested in Commissioner Laux’s comments about defining “what is good instruction?” and “what does a great instructional experience look like for students?” I would respectfully broaden that question:

What does a great educational environment look like—not simply for academic achievement, but for forming the whole student and strengthening the community around that student?

For more than 25 years, my experience has convinced me that prevention must begin long before a crisis. It begins with education, character, security, positive human connections, vigilance, and a culture in which educators, students, and families recognize their shared responsibility for one another.

Ultimately, I believe the quality of a school is measured not only by what it is able to purchase, but by what it is able to inspire, develop, protect, and form in the lives of its students.

Thank you again for bringing this important discussion to the public. I simply wanted to offer another perspective from more than two decades of working directly with educators, students, school districts, and law enforcement in the field.

Respectfully,

Vincent J. Bove, CPP
Author of Four Books and More than 400 Published Works
National Speaker on Leadership, Ethics & Public Safety
FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award Recipient
NYPD Honorary Law Enforcement Motivational Speaker
Founder, Reawakening America LLC
vincentbove.com/aboutvincent.php
Law Officer Articles: https://www.lawofficer.com/author/vbove/

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RELATED RESOURCES AND FURTHER READING

The perspective presented here is part of a body of work developed over more than two decades addressing school violence prevention, character education, security, leadership, and the importance of preventive human engagement.

American School Violence Demands Moral Courage

February 14, 2020 / The Sentinel

An examination of school safety, character education, academic excellence, preparedness, community responsibility, and the preventive educational approach, including extensive documentation of work with New Jersey schools, educators, and law enforcement organizations.

Violence Prevention: Securing Our Public Spaces and Schools

October 2019 / The Sentinel

An examination of violence prevention, school security, threat awareness, the role of educators and law enforcement, and the responsibility of institutions and communities to recognize and address threats before they become crises.

Preventive Leadership & Human Encounter Model™

February 14, 2026 / Law Officer

A contemporary framework extending these principles into 21st-century schools, colleges, and universities, emphasizing preventive leadership, human encounter, vigilance, dignity, trust, character, and early intervention.

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A CONTINUING COMMITMENT

The conversation about New Jersey education will continue long after this particular article disappears from the news cycle.

So will the responsibility to protect and educate the next generation.

My hope is simply that this conversation will remain broad enough to include not only how we fund education, but how we form human beings.

Because ultimately, the strength of our schools will become the strength of our communities—and the character of those communities will help determine the future of our nation.

Photo: 1. Bergenfield High School Evacuation drill for security vulnerability assessment as conducted by Vincent J. Bove, November 9, 2009. (Vincent J. Bove for Reawakening America LLC)

2. School Violence Issues and Concerns Collage. (Vincent J. Bove for RALLC)

3. Bergen County Police Chiefs Association president's testimonial for Vincent J. Bove - 20 years of service as Chairperson and Liasson for school violence prevention, March 5, 2024.

About the Author

Vincent J. Bove is a nationally recognized authority on ethical leadership, violence prevention, and law enforcement resiliency.

A sought-after speaker and prolific author, his work has influenced agencies and institutions across the United States for more than 25 years.

Bove has authored more than 400 published articles and four books addressing critical issues in public safety, leadership, and moral courage. 

His book Reawakening America© was named a finalist for ASIS International’s Book of the Year. Listen to Their Cries© was selected and sponsored for distribution to all attendees—students representing institutions from across the United States—at the National Conference on Ethics in America by the Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic at the United States Military Academy, at the request of a coalition of West Point graduates involved in the conference.

He was appointed the first-ever Honorary Law Enforcement Motivational Speaker by the New York City Police Department, conducting leadership and resiliency initiatives across all five boroughs of New York City.

Bove is also the author of more than seventy articles published in Law Officer, a national publication serving law enforcement professionals across the United States. His work emphasizes ethical leadership, preventive strategies, officer resilience, and the preservation of public trust in modern policing—drawing on American history and enduring leadership traditions to reinforce the importance of character, accountability, and moral courage.

He is a trusted voice at Federal Bureau of Investigation venues, United States Military Academy, and numerous U.S. military facilities. A longtime author for the National Association of Chiefs of Police, he has written 18 cover stories and contributed to shaping national law enforcement dialogue through feature articles and reports.

“Vincent J. Bove is considered one of the foremost national experts on school and workplace violence prevention, specializing in facility protection, evacuations, terrorism prevention, and leadership training.” — U.S. Senate

PHOTO: Vincent J. Bove conducting an ethical leadership, morale, and resiliency initiative at the NYPD 75th Precinct, Brooklyn, August 13, 2026. (Photo by NYPD Officer Justin Constantino for RALLC)

Twenty-Five Years Later: The Greatest Tribute to 9/11 Is How We Care for Today’s Protectors

Remembering the Fallen, Honoring Their Sacrifice, and Protecting Those Who Serve
 
Statement of Record
 

Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, the responsibility to remember has not diminished—and neither has our responsibility to those who protect us.
 
I will never forget standing atop my office building in Hackensack, New Jersey, watching the Twin Towers burn. The sight was heartbreaking and almost impossible to comprehend. From that distance, I could only imagine what the people inside those buildings were experiencing as they desperately tried to escape. And as I watched the smoke rise over lower Manhattan, I found myself praying for the first responders I knew would be heading toward the site, despite the unimaginable danger. They were going in while others were trying to get out.
 
That memory remains with me. So does the realization that September 11 was never simply an event that happened to America. It happened to people—to families, communities, colleagues and friends—and it forever changed the lives of those who survived and those who were left behind. Among those who answered the call were NYPD officers, FDNY firefighters, EMS personnel, Port Authority Police officers, and countless other first responders who ran toward the danger, placing their own lives between those in peril and the people they were sworn to protect.
 
My work in the years since has brought me throughout America and, increasingly, alongside the NYPD. As the Department’s Honorary Law Enforcement Motivational Speaker, I have had the privilege of standing with officers and leaders across New York City, speaking about ethical leadership, morale, emotional fortitude and suicide prevention. I have also had selected opportunities to extend these principles to the FDNY through visits to firehouses and work with FDNY Peer Support professionals.
 
Those experiences have reinforced a conviction that has become central to my work: protecting the public requires us to protect the people who have accepted the responsibility of protecting the public.
 
That is why Never Forget must mean more than remembering a terrible morning. It must mean remembering the human beings who were lost, honoring the families who have carried their absence, and recognizing the men and women who continue to carry the responsibility of protecting others.
 
The greatest tribute to those who gave their lives is to ensure that those who serve today never have to carry the burdens of service alone.
 
The Memory America Carries
 
For those who lived through September 11, the memories have never belonged solely to that morning. They became part of the years that followed, carried into families, workplaces, firehouses, precincts and communities. For some, the loss was immediate and intimate. For others, it was the loss of a colleague, a neighbor or a friend—or someone whose name would become permanently associated with a day that changed the nation.
 
Twenty-five years later, that personal dimension still matters.

 
There are police officers and firefighters serving today who were not yet born when the World Trade Center was attacked. Some were children too young to understand what they were seeing. Others learned about September 11 through their parents, through photographs and stories, or through the memories of those who had been there. Yet they entered professions profoundly shaped by that day, inheriting not only its history but also a responsibility to understand what it meant to those who came before them.
 
For the men and women of the NYPD, FDNY, Port Authority Police Department, EMS and the many other agencies and professions that responded, September 11 revealed the most demanding meaning of public service. While others were trying to escape the danger, first responders were moving toward it. They climbed stairways while others descended. They entered buildings from which many would never return. They searched, rescued, carried, treated and comforted, often without knowing whether the next moment would be their last.
 
Among those who perished were 343 FDNY firefighters, NYPD officers, Port Authority Police officers, EMS professionals and other first responders who answered the call. Their sacrifice cannot be reduced to the numbers remembered at ceremonies each September. Behind every name was a human being whose absence changed a family forever.
 
There were spouses who suddenly had to raise children alone. Sons and daughters grew up knowing a parent primarily through photographs, stories and the memories of others. Parents lost children, brothers and sisters lost siblings, and colleagues returned to work knowing that familiar voices and faces would no longer come through the door. Communities, too, lost people who had been woven into the ordinary fabric of their lives.
 
That is why September 11 must remain personal, even for those who were not yet alive when it happened. Those who died were not distant figures in a historical event. They were us. They belonged to the communities they served. They sat beside us at work, lived beside us at home, raised families, coached children, worshipped in our churches and synagogues, shopped in our neighborhoods and answered calls when someone needed help.
 
Most importantly, many were protectors. They had accepted a responsibility that asks something extraordinary of an ordinary human being: when danger comes, move toward it while others move away.
 
That responsibility did not end on September 11, 2001. It was inherited by the next generation.
 
Today, when a young police officer puts on the uniform, walks into a precinct and begins a tour, or when a firefighter enters a firehouse and prepares for the next alarm, that officer or firefighter becomes part of a profession carrying memories that began long before his or her career. The names of the fallen remain on memorials, but their legacy also lives in the people who continue to answer the call.
 
This is where remembrance acquires a responsibility of its own. If we truly mean Never Forget, remembering those who gave everything must also lead us to ask what we are doing for the men and women who continue to stand between danger and the people they protect.
 
That question is no less important than the remembrance itself.
 
The Responsibility We Carry Forward
 
The officers and firefighters serving today did not choose the history they inherited. Many entered their professions years after September 11, yet they stepped into institutions forever marked by the courage and loss of that day. They inherited a standard of service forged under circumstances most of us hope never to witness again: when people were in danger, protectors moved toward them.
 

The circumstances are different now, the threats have changed and the demands placed upon law enforcement and the fire service continue to evolve. But the human being beneath the uniform has not changed. Every officer and firefighter still carries the capacity for courage, fear, grief, exhaustion, hope and renewal.
 
That reality places a particular responsibility on those entrusted with leadership. People who repeatedly place themselves in harm's way cannot be sustained indefinitely by being told simply to endure. They need to know that their service matters, that their sacrifices are recognized and that their organization will stand with them when the burden becomes heavy. They also need to know that acknowledging fear, grief or vulnerability does not diminish the courage that brought them into the profession.
 
Emotional fortitude is not the absence of those experiences. It is the capacity to confront them without surrendering to them—to process what has happened, draw upon the strength of others and continue forward. Sometimes the most important act of protection occurs far from the scene of an emergency: a colleague notices that something has changed; a supervisor takes the time to listen; an organization treats a person's struggle as a matter of human dignity rather than weakness; someone has the courage to intervene before a crisis becomes irreversible.
 
This is where suicide prevention becomes inseparable from the meaning of Never Forget. If we remember those who died protecting others but fail to recognize protectors who are struggling today, our remembrance remains incomplete.
 
The obligation of the present generation extends beyond preserving the memory of September 11. It is to build a culture worthy of that memory—a culture in which ethical leadership, strong morale, emotional fortitude and suicide prevention are not separate initiatives, but expressions of the same responsibility: protecting those who protect us.
 
That is how a legacy remains alive—not simply in the names engraved in stone, but in the way we lead, support and care for the living.
 
The Torch We Carry Forward
 
Perhaps the most unexpected lesson in remembrance can be found through the eyes of a child.
 
My grandson loves firetrucks. When one passes by, he points toward it with the excitement only a child can express. He has a favorite firetruck toy and even a favorite shirt bearing the NYPD insignia. He does not understand September 11. He cannot comprehend what happened at the World Trade Center or know the names of the firefighters and police officers who gave their lives that day.
 
But he understands something essential: he sees people who protect others.
 
That understanding came alive for me during a visit to FDNY Ladder 4, “The Pride of Midtown.” My wife, my son, my daughter-in-law and I had the privilege of bringing him into the firehouse and introducing him to the firefighters. I remember the pride I felt watching him meet these men and seeing the way they welcomed him—and all of us—with such warmth and respect.
 
They took the time to make the visit special. They welcomed him into their world, held him for photographs and allowed our family to share a moment that became a treasured memory.
 
For me, however, the moment carried a deeper meaning.
 
Engine 54, Ladder 4 and Battalion 9 are known as the Pride of Midtown, and the companies suffered extraordinary losses on September 11. Standing there with my grandson, I could not help but think about the connection between those who answered the call that morning and the firefighters now carrying their tradition forward.
 
These were a new generation of protectors. They had not served on September 11, 2001, and many were not yet in the profession when it happened. Yet they had chosen the same demanding vocation of service, entering a tradition shaped by extraordinary sacrifice.
 
My grandson knew none of that.
 
He simply saw firefighters.
 
And perhaps there is something profoundly beautiful in that simplicity. Before a child understands sacrifice, he can learn gratitude. Before he can comprehend history, he can recognize the people who protect others.
 
The photograph captures that moment for our family, but its meaning extends beyond us. It brings together those who gave their lives, those who serve today and a child who represents the generation that will inherit their example.
 
The legacy of September 11 is therefore not preserved only by looking backward. It lives in the people who continue to answer the call.
 
The young police officers now entering the NYPD may not have been born when the towers fell. The firefighters serving today may know that day primarily through the memories of those who came before them. Yet they have accepted the responsibility of serving in institutions forever changed by September 11.
 
They are not replacing those who were lost.
 
They are carrying their torch.
 
And that brings Never Forget into the present. It means remembering what happened, honoring those who gave their lives and recognizing the people who have accepted the responsibility of carrying their legacy forward. It also means making sure that those protectors do not have to carry the burdens of service alone.
 
The greatest tribute to those who gave their lives on September 11 is not simply to remember how they died. It is to remember why they lived, what they stood for and what they gave to the communities they served.
 
Then, when we see the protectors standing before us today, we should be able to say—not merely in words, but through our actions:
 
We see you. Your service matters. And we will carry one another.

As originally published by Law Officer, Top Featured Article, on September 11, 2026, the 25th Anniversary of 9/11. 

About the Author

Vincent J. Bove is a nationally recognized authority on ethical leadership, violence prevention, and law enforcement resiliency.

A sought-after speaker and prolific author, his work has influenced agencies and institutions across the United States for more than 25 years.

Bove has authored more than 400 published articles and four books addressing critical issues in public safety, leadership, and moral courage. 

His book Reawakening America© was named a finalist for ASIS International’s Book of the Year. Listen to Their Cries© was selected and sponsored for distribution to all attendees—students representing institutions from across the United States—at the National Conference on Ethics in America by the Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic at the United States Military Academy, at the request of a coalition of West Point graduates involved in the conference.

He was appointed the first-ever Honorary Law Enforcement Motivational Speaker by the New York City Police Department, conducting leadership and resiliency initiatives across all five boroughs of New York City.

Bove is also the author of more than seventy articles published in Law Officer, a national publication serving law enforcement professionals across the United States. His work emphasizes ethical leadership, preventive strategies, officer resilience, and the preservation of public trust in modern policing—drawing on American history and enduring leadership traditions to reinforce the importance of character, accountability, and moral courage.

He is a trusted voice at Federal Bureau of Investigation venues, United States Military Academy, and numerous U.S. military facilities. A longtime author for the National Association of Chiefs of Police, he has written 18 cover stories and contributed to shaping national law enforcement dialogue through feature articles and reports.

“Vincent J. Bove is considered one of the foremost national experts on school and workplace violence prevention, specializing in facility protection, evacuations, terrorism prevention, and leadership training.” — U.S. Senate

Photo: Vincent and Lily Bove, World Trade Center Memorial, May 11, 2026, NYC. (RALLC)

 
Related Law Officer Selections by Vincent J. Bove
 
1. “Anchored Through the Storms of 21st Century Policing”
An exploration of NYPD retreat traditions, ethical leadership, affirmation, resilience, fraternity and the enduring human foundations that strengthen those who serve.
 
2. “The Moral Courage Behind the Uniform”
 
An examination of character, conscience and ethical leadership as enduring foundations of 21st-century policing.
 
3. “The NYPD Shield of Courage Continues the Mission”
 
A reflection on sacrifice, family, service and the enduring responsibility carried by those who wear the NYPD shield.
 
Chronology of Vincent J. Bove Law Officer Articles
 
The complete chronology of Vincent J. Bove’s published Law Officer articles, reflecting his continuing work in ethical leadership, public trust, resilience, morale and the evolving responsibilities of law enforcement.
 

Photographs

1. Dali at FDNY Ladder 4

During a family visit to FDNY Ladder 4, “The Pride of Midtown,” Vincent J. Bove’s grandson, Dali, who was visiting from China, is welcomed by members of the firehouse. For Bove, the moment represents the continuing connection between those who gave their lives on September 11, those who serve today, and the generation that will inherit their example.

Photo: Vincent J. Bove for Reawakening America LLC, May 10, 2026.

2. NYPD at the 9/11 Memorial

NYPD officers stand in solemn formation at the 9/11 Memorial in remembrance of those who were lost on September 11, 2001. The memorial remains a place where the sacrifice of the fallen and the continuing responsibility of those who serve converge.

Photo: NYPD, September 11, 2025. Public domain.

3. FDNY 343

FDNY members carry the 343 banner during the Veterans Day Parade on Fifth Avenue in New York City, honoring the firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to others.

Photo: Vincent J. Bove for Reawakening America LLC, November 11, 2011.