Hello, members. It is with extreme pride and gratitude that I write this article. In October, I was up for re-election for the position as your president. This process is open to anyone serving on the Board of Directors for a minimum of two years. I am happy to report that I was the only person to put in for the position of LVPPA president. I want you all to know that I do not take this re-election lightly. First, knowing that anyone eligible could have put in for this spot but chose not to shows me that what we are doing here at the PPA is aligned with our entire Board of Directors and our entire membership. It makes me feel proud of the work our team has accomplished over the past eight years. Every year, our team works to continue to get better at what we do, whether it’s organizing events, providing legal defense, offering internal representation or navigating the political stage. We strive every day to do new and creative things for our members. I would love to share some highlights of my time here as your president thus far.

Dues: I am proud to say that, to this day, never once have you had an increase in your PPA dues. In the past, and in accordance with the Bylaws, membership dues increased every time you received a pay raise. The Bylaws prescribe that the dues should be 1.5% of your salary; therefore, each time you receive a pay raise, your dues rate should go up as well. Your vice president, Scott Nicholas, was the one who brought the idea to me of a dues freeze in the first year of us leading the PPA, followed by a subsequent reduction in year two, which was lowered to $39 per check and has remained at that amount to this day. As long as I am here, I commit that amount will stay at $39, mainly because we have greatly increased our membership numbers since 2016.

Delegate positions: Bryan and I were invited back to the annual delegate convention four years ago by the New York Police Benevolent Association. After witnessing the impact that having a delegate on every shift in every precinct had on the NYPD, we worked together to bring that model back here to the LVPPA. Now, we have around 130-plus delegates in every substation, detective bureau and specialized detail. These positions have been vital for communication with our membership and keeping us up to date on everyday issues concerning our members.

Use-of-force experts: This is a highly important area that needed specific expertise for our members. Knowing that critical incidents are among the most nerve-racking situations for our membership, we recognized the need to provide you with representatives who are extremely knowledgeable about the tactics surrounding the uses of force that you all encounter during your shifts. Because of this, we now have Bryan Yant, Bob Glowinski and Chad Lyman holding the highest level of education from the Force Science Institute. They are the only three active, commissioned officers in this state to hold such a degree in use of force, which helps alleviate some of the nervous anxiety our officers feel during this process.

Law Enforcement Assistance Fund: As most of our officers know, our charity provides many things to the families of our fallen officers, such as gifts, scholarships and college tuition coverage. For years, there was not a huge emphasis placed on our charity, and the level of contributions was quite low. Today, through the amazing effort of our treasurer, Dan Coyne, the fund is bringing in more money annually than it ever has. With events like the football game, baseball game and charity concerts, I believe we will some day hit our goal of paying off the home mortgage for the family of a fallen officer.

Callout vehicle: As many of our members have experienced, having our own command post-type vehicle has been a blessing. The team recognized years ago that we needed to move away from keeping our officers out in the elements during an OIS and provide them with a comfortable location for those five- to six-hour incidents. With the newest vehicle, we can comfortably sit 20 to 25 officers inside, utilizing air conditioning on those 115-degree days or heat on cold winter nights. I believe this is one of the most crucial purchases the PPA has made during my entire time as president.

Responsiveness to members: When I took over as president, one of the commitments I made was for our team to be available 24/7 to our membership. Our thought was, “If it is important to you at 0200 hours, it is important to us.” I believe it is this work ethic from our Executive Board that has resulted in approximately 97% of eligible officers, along with about 100 PO/CO sergeants, becoming members of the LVPPA. This team is the most hardworking and attentive group I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I am amazed every day by their commitment and engagement.

Training: While I am sure you all have received the jiu-jitsu emails, let me tell you that the training you can get here at the PPA for free is second to none. We will continue to push these emails in an effort to help officers better prepare for the dangerous — and sometimes deadly — encounters they may face on the streets. Through Chad, we have an amazing resource who cares about our officers and wants to help in all ways possible, not just in IA or CIRT. I believe this training is top-notch and will continue into the future.

Political landscape: As many have witnessed, the LVPPA is once again a powerhouse in this state and on the national scene regarding our endorsements for political offices. John Abel spends countless hours engaging with political candidates to ensure we maintain a good working relationship with them during the legislative sessions, helping to prevent any attacks on our officers. Not to mention, we actually had a presidential candidate call us and request to visit our office to spend some time with our officers. To my knowledge, that has never happened in the history of the LVPPA. Regardless of your political affiliation, having an event like this in our own building is important and impactful.

Relationships with the Sheriff and his staff: I have been the president under two different sheriffs now, and while I truly enjoyed my time working with Sheriff Lombardo, who is now our governor, I am extremely proud to be working with Sheriff McMahill and his team. We have accomplished so much — not through arbitrations or other legal settings, but through conversations and mutual respect. Saving our officers’ careers and reducing discipline are huge issues for us as a labor organization, and let me tell you, Sheriff McMahill has been great to work with every day. Not only does he truly want the best for his officers, but he also genuinely cares about the employees at LVMPD. Because of this, I believe our agency is on an amazing trajectory for success, and he recognizes that it starts at the troop level.

These are just some of the many highlights of what we, as an association, have achieved over the last eight years. I am so humbled to have been elected as your president now for three terms. I want you all to know that I will continue to fight for you and our profession every day until the day I retire. You will never see me slow down or take the easy road, because you all deserve the best leadership possible, and I will continue to strive for that every day. I want to thank our staff — Laura, Roy, Adella, Kelly and David — for their many years of loyal service to the PPA and for being the best team we have ever had.

I need every member to know that none of what we have accomplished is because of my own doing. It is truly because of the team around me, including my brothers, Scott, Bryan, Myron, Dan, Greg, Bob, John, Chad and Joel. I thank them for their tireless efforts on behalf of our members and for their friendship.

Thank you all for your faith in me, and I promise to live up to the high expectations you have for the PPA. Stay safe.