Chris Porrino’s yen for public service did not fade when he finished his tenure as state attorney general. That drive led him to revive the Newark Police Foundation, a 21-year-old organization that had been inactive in recent years. The Lowenstein Sandler partner put together a like-minded board, got the foundation’s affairs in order and on June 17 launched its first major project: A contest to identify an effective program to improve community policing, focused on young people.
In this special edition of NJBIZ Conversations, Editor Jeff Kanige spoke with Porrino about the foundation, the Cops and Kids Community Policing Contest and why business owners and corporate executives should make investments beyond culture and the arts. “Look we’re not discouraging any of that,” he said. “That’s great. We want all that to continue. We’re just looking for a little bite of that sandwich and just a little bit of help. This kind of an effort can have tremendous impact, but really is not all that expensive — it’s high-impact relatively low-expense.”