PPOA Week in Review

DEPUTY ANDREW NUNEZ

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department

End of Watch: 10/27/25

The law enforcement community was heartbroken to learn of the second line-of-duty death in California in the last seven days. San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy Andrew Nunez was dispatched to a domestic violence call in Rancho Cucamonga on Monday and was immediately met with gunfire by a suspect. Deputy Nunez sustained a single gunshot wound and was airlifted to the hospital. Despite all life-saving efforts, the 6-year department veteran passed at 1:13 pm. He is survived by his wife, who is pregnant, and their 2-year old daughter.

PPOA extends sincere condolences to the family of Deputy Nunez and to all of our colleagues with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

To date, 11 peace officers have died in the line of duty in California this year. For information about their service and sacrifice, please visit the California Peace Officers' Memorial Foundation website.

8th Annual Walk in Memory of Custody Assistant Anthony Thompson

October 25: The 8th Annual Memorial Walk for a Cause was hosted in Carson last Saturday. The event supports youth in local communities by raising funds for academic scholarships awarded by the Officer Anthony Thompson Foundation. This foundation and the annual event are fueled by the passion of LASD Lieutenant Ottawa Cureton.

Click here to learn about Lieutenant Cureton's story of love and loss and the enduring legacy of her late son, Anthony.

President Steve Johnson, Board Member Rob Weber and Executive Director Wayne Quint Jr. attended on behalf of PPOA.

Honoring Centurion Awards Recipients

October 27: The annual Centurion Awards ceremony was hosted at USC on Monday. These awards are bestowed upon "law enforcement's finest" from agencies throughout Los Angeles County. This year's honorees included more than 40 investigators, supervisors and support staff from the LASD Organized Retail Crimes Task Force. The career and lifelong service of the late LASD Chief Bill McSweeney (EOW: 5/18/25) also received special acknowledgement during the ceremony.

President Steve Johnson and Board Member Rob Weber attended on behalf of PPOA.

Supporting Health and Fitness at Pasadena Court and San Dimas Station

October 28: PPOA was proud to donate two treadmills to LASD personnel this week -- one for Pasadena Court and one for San Dimas Station. In a continuing effort to support health and fitness for members and department personnel, PPOA's Star & Shield Foundation teams up with Discount Fitness in Bellflower to secure a limited number of treadmills and ellipticals for employee gyms at facilities throughout the County. The commercial machines are purchased by the Foundation at discounted pricing and delivered to select units where members have an expressed need for exercise equipment.

To date, five additional units are on the waiting list for treadmills. While that list is now full for remainder the year, please know that we've arranged for Discount Fitness to extend special pricing to PPOA members interested in purchasing fitness equipment for staff gyms or personal use. For more info, call Discount Fitness at (562) 531-7767 and tell them you're a member of the Professional Peace Officers Association.

Unit 631/632 Contract Negotiations Team Meeting

October 29: Members of the Unit 631/632 salary contract negotiations team met in the PPOA office on Wednesday to prepare for upcoming negotiations with the County.

Meeting re: NCCF Schedule Adjustment

October 31: PPOA representatives met with NCCF Operations personnel to discuss proposed scheduling adjustments. An additional follow up meeting will be scheduled.

Meeting participants from PPOA included President Steve Johnson, Board Member/Custody Assistant Melissa Rodriguez, Labor Representative Dave Ladjevic and union legal counsel.

Fraternal Order of Police News Update

PPOA members have long benefitted from our affiliation with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the world's largest organization of law enforcement officers, with more than 374,000 members in more than 2,100 lodges nationwide. All active PPOA members are part of California FOP Lodge 1.

Important update re: FOP membership for retired PPOA members

When a sworn PPOA member retires and wishes to reactivate his/her FOP member benefits, the following step must be taken: To reactivate your membership as a retired peace officer, you will need to pay FOP annual dues of $44 for 2025. To do so, please send an email to the FOP Lodge 1 Secretary at wmwestermann@sbcglobal.net

Please make it a point to check out Washington Watch — a weekly news update provided by the National FOP. We encourage PPOA members to stay up to date on the legislative news and activity impacting public safety personnel nationwide.

Click here to read this week's Washington Watch.