3 Photos
The Blue Fund sponsored by Hamptons Youth Camps.
The Blue Fund sponsored by Hamptons Youth Camps.
Greg Melita, left, with East Hampton Town Police Officer Dan Habe, who was the first to commit to the new program, and Luke McNamara.
Brazilian jiu jitsu has proven to be a nonlethal and acceptable form of martial arts for police officers to use in the line of duty, but many are not trained in the sport due to their respective departments not providing funding for such a thing.
Luke McNamara and Greg Melita are looking to change that.
Through his 501(c)(3) nonprofit Hamptons Youth Camps, which provides scholarships to local youth for high-end professional recreational services, Melita has now started the Blue Fund, which will sponsor, through private donors, select local police officers to receive jiu jitsu training to the blue belt level. McNamara, an East Hampton Town Police detective, approached Melita, who owns Hamptons Jiu Jitsu, about starting the program.
“Police officers, on the East End specifically, don’t make a ton of money, at least not so much as to afford a monthly membership to jiu jitsu classes, and unfortunately departments aren’t going to be putting classes into their budgets,” Melita explained. “We already have the nonprofit up and running, so we thought why not through that help get some of these guys on board and train them at no cost.”
Having already locked up a few donors in recent months, a pair of East Hampton Town Police officers and an East Hampton Village Police officer have already started the program, with another two Town Police officers slated to start in another week or two. McNamara, a student under Melita for more than four years, didn’t mince words when stating how important the program is, not just for officers, but the general public.
“It’s a game changer,” he said. “I was a patrol cop for 10 years before becoming a detective and when your verbal judo only goes so far, God forbid things escalate, you want to be able to manipulate someone physically without hurting them and jiu jitsu definitely does that, that’s the whole point of it, so it makes things a little bit easier without the use of weapons and allows other situations to be avoided.”
McNamara, who is also vice president of the local police union and CEO of security firm Roman Sanford LLC, and Melita said that the blue belt was chosen specifically because its what’s deemed sufficient to benefit both the officer and local community. The belts rank from white, blue, purple, brown and black, with it taking an average of eight to 12 years to achieve a black belt. The blue belt, being a sophomore level in the art of jiu jitsu, was a level of achievement where they felt comfortable enough where the officers in training would be able to use what they are taught in a street encounter and to mitigate risk to all involved.
“Blue Belt is also a belt level where officers will then likely buy-in to the training themselves to further develop their training on their own.”
There are requirements for officers who are accepted into the program, such as having to officially apply with the HYC Blue Fund, they must be in good standing within their respective department via references and must have never trained in jiu jitsu prior. Once accepted into the program, officers must, in accordance to budget and funding, attend classes a minimum of two times per week at Hamptons Jiu Jitsu.
“We feel the two days a week is the minimum for cops where info will be retained,” McNamara, a blue belt himself, explained. “They’ll be able to learn the super basic skills to be really good at it that way, so they need to maintain that to remain being sponsored with the tuition. If there is money for them coming in from private donors, they need to respect that.”
The HYC Blue Fund is hosting its first-ever fundraiser, a “Roaring 20s Gala,” this Saturday, April 22, at Blu Mar Hamptons from 7 to 11 p.m. Both McNamara and Melita are hoping to raise enough funds to keep officers in the pipeline for years to come.
“It’s one of those things where we’re hoping we can bridge the gap between officers and the community, so we’re hoping to get a decent turnout from all involved, and that includes the community and officers both county and local agencies,” McNamara said. “The mission is for everyone to go home safely at the end of the day, that includes both citizens and cops.”
For more information on the Blue Fund, or to donate to the cause, go to hamptonsyouthcamps.org/blue-fund. For tickets to this weekend’s gala, go to tickettailor.com/events/HYCBLUEFUND/863014?fbclid=PAAaZN7qw6q9ljJOcWe_WUwDd-YuCkxkmU4N8Eb0xwoVs-JbGH4SyHNq5RS2A.
