PPOA Week in Review: April 15, 2023

Fraternal Order of Police Meeting at PPOA

April 8: The second quarterly meeting of 2023 for the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Los Angeles County Lodge 1 was hosted in the PPOA conference center last Saturday. All active PPOA members are California State FOP Lodge 1 members — this provides PPOA members with workplace legal protections through the FOP Legal Defense Plan. The LA County Lodge is one of more than 30 lodges in CAFOP.

Meet and Confer re: Aero Bureau

April 10: PPOA representatives held a second Meet and Confer with LASD executives regarding the changes in working conditions for PPOA members assigned to Aero Bureau. PPOA will be following up with action items in the near future.

PPOA Legal Counsel, along with President Nancy Escobedo and Executive Director Wayne Quint Jr., participated in this meeting.

PPOA Legislative Committee Meeting

April 11: The PPOA Legislative Committee hosted a teleconference with our full-time Sacramento legislative representatives — Lang, Hansen, Giroux and Kidane — to engage in the monthly discussion about legislative bills that could potentially impact PPOA members and public safety employees statewide. For perspective, the California 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 Consultant 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 significantly improved the rights and benefits of generations of PPOA members. Click here to read about significant bills proposed in the most recent two-year legislative session that convened on 12/5/22, along with PPOA’s position (support/oppose/watch) on each of them.

PPOA Board of Directors Meeting

April 12: The monthly PPOA Board of Directors meeting was hosted in San Dimas on Wednesday. Directors in attendance included President Nancy Escobedo, 1st Vice President Jay Chapman, 2nd Vice President Tony Coleman, Secretary Chris Lee, Treasurer Joyce Kato, and Board Members Gerry Garcia, Tony Romo, Jose Salgado, Jim Schallert, and Joe Walker.

The next monthly Board of Directors meeting is Wednesday, May 10th in San Dimas.

National Police Week/Police Unity Tour Meeting

April 12: Sheriff's Department members preparing to travel back east for National Police Week (May 11-16, 2023) and the Police Unity Tour gathered at ALADS on Wednesday to discuss logistics and protocol. PPOA and ALADS are both honored to support family members of fallen LASD deputies who will be memorialized in Washington DC that week. Both unions are also sponsoring more than 40 Police Unity Tour participants from the Sheriff's Department who will cycle from New Jersey to Washington DC in honor of their fallen brethren. The 2023 Police Unity Tour is dedicated in loving memory of Sergeant Christopher Bracks.

In early 2023, the names of 10 fallen LASD deputies were submitted for consideration for inclusion on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. To date, more than 23,000 fallen officers have had their names engraved on the National Memorial. All 10 of the LASD submissions (one suffered a fatal cardiac episode, six passed from COVID-19, one passed in a vehicle incident and two passed in motorcycle/vehicle incidents) met the National Memorial’s criteria for inclusion. The names of the following fallen heroes will be forever engraved on the Memorial walls prior to National Police Week:

Sergeant Christopher Bracks (EOW - May 10, 2022)
Deputy Andrew Myers (EOW - October 20, 2021)
Detective Anthony Bautista (EOW - August 18, 2021)
Sergeant Armando Meneses (EOW - February 16, 2021)
Deputy Pedro Romo (EOW - February 14, 2021)
Sergeant Jamie Arakawa (EOW - February 8, 2021)
Deputy Timothy Tellez (EOW - December 22, 2020)
Detective Amber Leist (EOW - January 12, 2020)
Motor Officer John Black (EOW - November 22, 1929)
Motor Officer Morgan Honeycutt (EOW - December 22, 1928)

California Peace Officer Memorial Ceremony Reimbursements for PPOA Members

April 12: PPOA sent an email to all active members on Wednesday to inform them this Association will issue a reimbursement up to $250 for full members who attend the upcoming 2023 California Peace Officer Memorial Ceremony in Sacramento.

All members are strongly encouraged to attend the candlelight vigil on May 7th and the memorial ceremony on May 8th to help honor the service and sacrifice of our fallen brothers and sisters. Click here for a list of the honorees.

Reimbursement eligibility is limited to the first 10 full dues-paying, active PPOA members who call the union office to register. Following the event, each eligible member must submit receipts for hotel and travel expenses to PPOA for reimbursement. If you plan to attend the memorial ceremony and would like to be eligible for reimbursement, please call PPOA at (323) 261-3010.

Public Response Dispatcher of the Year Honored

April 13: President Escobedo and Executive Director Quint were proud to attend a ceremony honoring Briana Davila as Public Response Dispatcher (PRD) of the Year. The ceremony included a presentation from Sheriff Luna and was held in conjunction with National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (April 9-15).

PPOA proudly acknowledges the many dedicated PRDs and Law Enforcement Technicians behind the radio who represent the “calm in the chaos.” Thank you for your tireless efforts to ensure the safety of our communities and first responders.

Memorial Service for Retired Lieutenant Pat Bearse

April 13: Family, friends and colleagues of retired Lieutenant Pat Bearse honored his life and legacy on Thursday. The well-respected 34-year LASD veteran retired in 2020 and passed on March 7, 2023. He is the husband of LASD Captain Cynthia Bearse, currently assigned to Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

President Escobedo attended the memorial service on behalf of PPOA. We extend our sincere condolences to Captain Bearse and her family during this difficult time.

New Issue of Star & Shield Magazine Hits Mailboxes

The April issue of Star & Shield magazine arrived in mailboxes and was posted online this week. Inside, you'll find:

The Evolution of 21st Century Policing
Meet PPOA's New Labor Representative
Glance Back Into LASD History

Click here to read the April 2023 issue.

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.