PPOA Week in Review: June 10, 2023

15th Annual Peace Officer Memorial Golf Tournament

June 5: PPOA was honored to bring together nearly 200 law enforcement personnel, supporters, volunteers and sponsors on Monday for our Peace Officer Memorial Golf Tournament at Friendly Hills Country Club in Whittier. This annual event is the primary vehicle for PPOA’s Star & Shield Foundation to raise the critical funds needed to support the families of fallen officers. We are sincerely grateful to our tournament sponsor, the Law Offices of James J. Cunningham, and the extensive list of dedicated sponsors who step forward year after year to help us honor fallen heroes.

Click here to view photos from the tournament.

PPOA Legislative Committee Meeting

June 6: Members of the PPOA Legislative Committee hosted a teleconference with our Sacramento legislative representatives — Lang, Hansen, Giroux and Kidane — for the monthly discussion about legislative proposals in the current 2023-2024 session that could potentially impact PPOA members and public safety employees statewide. For perspective, the State Assembly and Senate collectively introduced more than 2,000 bills in the most recent legislative session.

Meeting participants from PPOA included President Nancy Escobedo, 1st Vice President Jay Chapman, Board Member Gerry Garcia, Legislative Committee Chair Art Reddy, and Executive Director Wayne Quint Jr.

PPOA has a proven track record of impactful legislative strategies that stretches back more than 50 years and has dramatically improved the rights and benefits of generations of PPOA members. Legendary PPOA leaders, including the late Jim Vogts and the late John Fleming, were instrumental as legislative representatives in Sacramento and helped PPOA establish a well-earned reputation among lobbyists and legislators as one of the most accomplished law enforcement associations in the state.

Click here to read about significant bills proposed in the most recent two-year legislative session that convened in December 2022, along with PPOA’s position on each of them.

Click here to read support and opposition letters sent this week from PPOA to state lawmakers.

PPOA is pleased to report that the collective effort of California law enforcement groups has recently thwarted a number of anti-public safety legislative bills. Click here to read the LA Times article ("Police Flex Political Power at the California Capitol") about this positive development for first responders.

Office of Inspector General "Gang Tattoo" Investigative Interviews

June 6: On Tuesday, PPOA confirmed that based upon our objections -- click here to read the letter sent May 24th to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) -- and the recent ALADS court filings, the OIG suspended all pending interviews of PPOA members until further notice. We sent an email to members on Wednesday to inform them of the development and will provide further updates as the process unfolds.

Custody Labor Management Committee Meeting

June 7: PPOA participated in a Custody Joint Labor Management Committee (LMC) videoconference with Assistant Sheriff Aloma, Commander Macias and Bureau of Labor Relations and Compliance (BOLRAC) personnel to discuss issues impacting PPOA members assigned to Custody Division. Topics included:

vacant positions
impairments
personnel deployment at custody facilities
recruitment and retention issues
future academy classes and potential number of recruits

These Custody LMC meetings are the result of contract negotiations between PPOA and the Sheriff's Department, as outlined in Article 26 of the Unit 621 Memorandum of Understanding.

Meeting participants from PPOA included President Escobedo, 2nd Vice President/Custody Assistant Tony Coleman and Executive Director Quint.

Meet and Confer with Transit Services Bureau

June 7: PPOA took part in a Meet and Confer with Transit Services Bureau (TSB) representatives regarding the proposed TSB Deputy Activity Log mobile app, which is currently in the development stage. Meeting participants from PPOA included President Escobedo, Executive Director Quint and union legal counsel.

A follow-up meeting is expected to be scheduled in the near future.

Ballot Deadline for Unit 615 Special Election

June 9: Yesterday marked the final day to accept completed ballots for the Unit 615 special election. The ballot count will be conducted by UniLect, an independent election firm, on Monday, June 12th at 10:00 AM in the PPOA conference room. The winner of the Unit 615 election will fill the remainder of the term vacated by the resignation of Commander Joel Barnett in January 2023.

Fraternal Order of Police News Update

PPOA members have long benefitted from our longtime affiliation with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the world's largest organization of law enforcement officers, with more than 364,000 members in more than 2,100 lodges nationwide. All active PPOA members are part of California FOP Lodge 1.

Important news regarding 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 $40 for 2023. To do so, please send an email to the FOP Lodge 1 Secretary: wmwestermann@sbcglobal.net. Be sure to include your full name and advise you are a retired PPOA member requesting membership with FOP.

Please make it a point to check out Washington Watch — a weekly 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.

23rd Annual PPOA Fishing Trip

Hundreds of PPOA members have enjoyed these annual trips over the last two decades and we hope you join us on the boat next month! This event often sells out, so please reserve your spot as soon as possible. See flyer for details and contact Shannon at (323) 261-3010 to book your seat on the boat.