The National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) is a coalition of police unions and associations from across the United States that serves to advance the interests of America’s law enforcement officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education.

Founded in 1978, NAPO is now the strongest unified voice supporting law enforcement officers in the United States. NAPO represents more than 1,000 police units and associations, 241,000 sworn law enforcement officers and more than 100,000 involved citizens who share a common dedication to fair and effective crime control and law enforcement.

David Roger and I had the distinct honor of attending the NAPO annual convention in Georgia this past July. It was a busy and interesting annual convention when, generally, all the big stakeholders in NAPO get together to share what is going on in their respective states. This is most important at this point in time, as you all know the challenges we are facing currently.

It was alarming to hear what is taking place in cities all over the United States. One of the things that NAPO is working on is the resolution to repeal the “Cadillac tax” on our health care plan. This is the 40% tax that health plans would have to pay the federal government if the plan is considered to have “rich” benefits. This tax is currently scheduled to go into effect starting in 2018. The next issue that was discussed is the proposed amendment to the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, which would stop state DMV agencies and others from selling drivers’ information obtained from DMV records.

One very important activity taking place is planning a national rally for law enforcement to combat the anti-police narrative we are getting from the media outlets and other activist groups. NAPO is spearheading this effort and planning to have a meeting in San Antonio, Texas, during October to discuss strategies to use. This is a meeting we are expecting the heads of all major unions to attend to discuss and set in motion some ways to fight back against the negative look that the media are bringing to this profession.

NAPO will continue to actively work to improve the laws and policies of the United States for the benefit of our members and the public at large. What happens in Washington, D.C., can have a very real and direct impact on line officers in every department in this country. NAPO works to ensure that law enforcement will continue to have a seat at the table when the important decisions of our towns, our counties, our states and our nation are made.