February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
His latest assignment, in the NYPD’s Public Information Division, has been a little different. Now he works with some of the city’s most feared people — reporters.
To some with a similar task, it is their idea of a personal hell. Collins’s affable personality and authority, however, enable him to handle it all in stride.
Collins, who is 49, serves as the deputy chief at the DCPI, where he handles interview requests, manages the flow of information, and handles reporters when breaking news arises. Working to control the NYPD’s image is made all the more important as the force’s image is at an all-time high, though Collins makes it look easy.
“Reporters like Mike,” said DCPI Commissioner Paul J. Browne. “They instinctively trust anyone who visits his mother every St. Patrick’s Day, without fail.”
Browne, who has roots in Tyrone and Wexford, was a reporter himself before coming to the NYPD. This is his second stint with the DCPI, having first worked there from 1996 to 1999. He returned when Commissioner Ray Kelly came to power in 2002.
Collins actually has newsprint in his blood, though he claims to never have entertained the thought of crossing over to the dark side of news business. His father and numerous family members have been in the business, and like any self-respecting boy from Brooklyn, he delivered newspapers as a child.
He worked as a news carrier for The Tablet, the newsletter of the Brooklyn Diocese, as well as the New York Daily News, where his father worked for a time as a paper handler. A number of family members still work as mailers for the New York Times as well.
“I don’t think so,” he said when asked if he would consider changing sides. “I’m very content.”
Currently a Bay Ridge resident, Collins was born and raised in the Sunset Park section of the city’s second most populous borough. His mother and father both hailed from County Clare, and his mother returned and lives there today.
In Brooklyn, Collins grew up with plenty of aunts, uncles and cousins close by, and he had heard about the virtues of joining the civil services early on.
“My father and uncles worked very hard when they came here,” he said. “And then I saw my father lose a job he had for 19 years when the company left Brooklyn.”
That experience remained with Collins while he was in school, and one of his uncles, a firefighter, kept him informed of the testing dates for the NYPD and fire department.
Knowing that they would provide a “good, steady, reliable job,” as he said, Collins took various tests after high school and was called by the NYPD for its Police Academy. The FDNY eventually called as well but missed him by a few years, as Collins was already ascending the NYPD ranks.
“I always found it fulfilling to respond to the needs of the public,” he said. “Yes, sometimes we locked people up, but we also helped people who were lost and needed help.”
He arrived at his current post as chief after working the patrol beat in Brooklyn until he was transferred to the considerably hectic Manhattan South task force.
“Running around Manhattan like that for three or four years was a major difference,” he said. “When you come into work, you never know what to expect. It’s a challenge.”
While working in Manhattan, Collins dealt with mostly large-scale events, “both planned and unplanned,” as he put it.
“We would cover presidential visits, pope visits, Yankee parades,” he said. “We were always very busy and near the forefront.”
He remained there until the call from the DCPI came after a coworker submitted his name to fill a void in the press office.
“I just learned on the fly,” Collins said. “I had never worked a day off patrol before this.”
Collins deals with global media outlets as well, and with the NYPD serving such a high-profile area, and immortalized on television shows, the job comes with some unique requests.
“I find the best way to handle the media is to understand their needs,” he said. “If you know what they need and deal with that, you can maintain a good relationship with them.
“They have a job to do, too. Interest in the NYPD has significantly grown. We get calls from all around the world.”
Advances in technology have made it easier for Collins to get and share information.
“The information flow has changed dramatically,” he said. “There is so much more exchanged electronically now.”
Collins laughed when thinking back at how things were when he first arrived in 1996.
“We used to distribute mail manually or through a fax machine,” he said. “Now the majority comes through e-mail.”
“There is still a good amount of face-to-face contact,” he added. “Major media outlets visit the office every day, and it is an around-the-clock job.”
That includes the occasional disruption.
“We are often called out unexpectedly in the middle of the night,” he said. “It’s certainly an exciting place to work.”
Keeping Collins busy at home are his two teenaged sons. Lucky (or not) for them, dad isn’t the only one with a badge in the house.
His wife is an NYPD detective whom he met “in the neighborhood” growing up. They were married after she returned from Roscommon, where she had attended school.
As for his own roots, Collins has been aware of his heritage since he was a child.
“Growing up with the name Michael Collins,” he said, “I was constantly reminded of the historical figure.”
He took it upon himself to read up about the revolutionary and later got involved with various Irish groups and local societies.
Considered an authority on Irish affairs and the NYPD, Collins has also been honored for his efforts.
He was the Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade’s grand marshal in 2002 and served as the Chief Brehon that same year at Coney Ireland’s Great Irish Fair. In what could be a culmination of his participation, the NYPD’s Emerald Society named Collins the 2003 Man of the Year.