Current Issue - Deputy Sheriffs' Association of San Diego County

DIRECTOR’S REPORT TIM PETRACHEK
june 8–july 4
presented by
UNLIMITED FAIR ADMISSION!
Enjoy all 24 days of the Fair for one low price. Plus:
• FREE GRANDSTAND CONCERTS (those designated “Free with Fair
Admission” on the Fair website: www.sdfair.com/grandstand).
• FREE PADDOCK CONCERTS Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.
• FREE PARKING every day at Horsepark and at off-site lots on the
weekends! (Subject to availability, visit www.sdfair.com/parking).
• Photo ID required for everyone using the Unlimited Admission ticket (age 6 and older).
• Ticket user will write his or her own name on the ticket (in ink) before arriving at the Fair gate.
• The name on the ticket must match the photo ID. Ticket is non-transferable.
• Tickets listed are not for sale at the Fair gate (except Child and Senior).
DISCOUNT TICKETS ON SALE MAY 15 AT THE DSA STORE
TO PURCHASE DISCOUNT TICKETS, CONTACT:
DSA Store in Poway - 13881 Danielson Street Questions? Call 858.486.7153
CLOSED Mondays except July 1.
UNLIMITED
FAIR ADMISSION
$14
A $336 VALUE!
Photo ID required for
ages 6 and older. Age 5
and younger free
every day
CHILD
ONE-TIME-USE
ADMISSION
$8
AGE 6-12
Kids 12 and younger
are FREE on
Tuesdays
SENIOR
ONE-TIME-USE
ADMISSION
$8
AGE 62+
VALUE PACK
$59
Includes 1 parking
pass, 4 one-time-use
admissions, 4 drink
coupons, 20 ride coupons
and 1 Passport to Savings
coupon book voucher
MEGA PACK
$59.50
SAVE $36.75
Includes 1 parking pass, 2
one-time-use admissions,
2 drink coupons, 25 ride
coupons, 25 game coupons
and 1 Passport to Savings
coupon book voucher
CARNIVAL RIDE
COUPON SHEET
$15
SAVE $3.75
25 ride coupons
It’s been a while since I last wrote and the
following is a bit long, but very important.
Please follow along.
I wanted to update you as to some of the
seminars and conferences many of the board
members have been attending recently.
MAJOR CITIES
In March, Director Purvis and I attended the
Major Cities Conference in Las Vegas. This
conference brought together law enforcement
association leaders from across the country
to discuss topics that affect us all, regardless
of geographic location. Of the various topics
discussed, one that struck a chord was
“ObamaCare: By the People, For the People, or
Against the People?” My notes remind me that
this legislation is scary and will cost all of us lots
of money. The United States Supreme Court has
ruled the Affordable Healthcare Act to be a tax.
There are over 2000 pages to the legislation—if
you stacked the pages in a pile, it would be over
seven feet tall!
There were presenters who spoke about
prescription and dental benefits for associations,
federal legislation attempts to stem gun violence
in America, and other topics that are front
burner for the DSA: the battle for our pensions
and the changing political environment of law
enforcement labor contracts.
One of the sessions talked about social media
and the effects it could potentially have on law
enforcement officers. The presenter was Lauri
Stevens, principal consultant and founder of
LAwS Communications. She is also the creator
of ConnectedCOPS.net blog. Her presentation
focused on the pitfalls of social media and put
it in the context of Officer Safety.
Here is Stevens’ “Top Ten” list for maintaining
privacy on Facebook:
1 - Remember to keep your personal and
professional lives separate on the social
media sites. Don’t indicate on your
personal site that you are law enforcement.
Remember, Officer Safety!
2 - Timeline. Clean up old posts.
3 - Suppress the visibility of old posts.
4 - Limit your sharing to friends only.
5 - Edit your settings to review every post that
you are tagged in.
6 - Turn off facial recognition tagging.
7 - Don’t let your friends share your information.
Uncheck the default setting.
8 - Turn off subscriptions.
9 - Hide your likes and your friends.
10 - Educate your family and friends not to post
about you.
The second day focused on recent active
shooter incidents, stress, and PTSD. We
wrapped up with an incredible account of the
Newtown shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary
by Newtown Police Captain Joe Rios. It was
chilling to put it mildly.
PORAC SYMPOSIUM
A few weeks later, Director Bennetts, Director
Lopez, and I attended the annual PORAC
symposium. PORAC has training twice every
year at the annual conference of members in
November and then again mid-year when it
hosts the training and issues symposium. This
year’s symposium covered timely and significant
topics. Two of those topics stand out as being
important to discuss: “Below 100”, and “Tired
Cops: What Research Tells us about Managing
Fatigue”.
Below 100 is a national movement to reduce law
enforcement line of duty deaths to below 100
annually. This number may surprise you, but
typically the annual number is much higher.
The 100 mark has not been seen since 1944. The
current annual body count is around 130 to
150. As you know firsthand, the rate of violence
toward law enforcement officers is on the rise.
We can blame it on a lot of reasons, not the
least of which is prison overcrowding and “realignment”,
also known as AB109, but we can
make a difference to reduce those numbers.
I can provide a brief overview of Below 100,
but I encourage you to go to www.Below100.
com and take the information provided to
heart. The strategy of Below 100 is simple and
broken down into five basic principles. These
small efforts are common sense things we can
all do, everyday that we go to work as a law
enforcement professional.
Wear your seatbelt. How many times have you
heard that it will hinder your ability to exit the
vehicle in a hurry and confront the bad guy?
Nonsense! You can very easily train yourself to
remove the belt as you roll up to a call when
you’re at about 5 miles per hour.
Wear your vest. The department has a policy
requiring you to wear your vest, but many
agencies give the individual officer discretion.
Don’t be tempted. If you are in uniform and in
the public domain, wear your vest, period. For
the longest time, I didn’t wear the back panel
until a command officer gave me a friendly pat
on the back. The captain asked, “Where’s your
back panel?” From that day on I have worn it.
Watch your speed. Recently the DSA has
partnered with the department to reduce traffic
collisions while on duty. Have you seen the
signs around your station? Drive like your life
depends on it.
W.I.N. What’s Important Now? This one
powerful question allows us to prioritize
decisions, choices, actions, and events in our
personal and professional lives. If you are
constantly prioritizing what’s most important,
you won’t have time for the distractions that can
get you in trouble, hurt, or killed. This concept
was adapted from the famous football coach Lou
Holtz. Go to LawOfficer.com or Below100.com
for more information on this very important
concept.
Complacency kills. The name says it all.
I found the information provided in the “Tired
Cops, What research tells us about managing
fatigue” presentation to be very informative, but
I want to go into great detail about this topic
and will save it for next month. I don’t want to
bombard you with too much information.
PAC
As the co-chair of the political action
committee, along with Director Dave Schaller,
I’m happy to report that your DSA board
interviewed and endorsed Sheriff Bill Gore for
re-election. We met with the sheriff for over
an hour and asked many tough and pointed
questions. Afterward Sheriff Gore met with the
membership at the board meeting. We had a
“Ask the Boss” session before he had to leave.
During the meeting, there was a motion and
second to endorse. While there was a spirited
discussion as to timing, we voted unanimously
to endorse the Sheriff at this time.
Stay safe. Remember, this is the greatest job in
the world! But, it’s just a job. After your shift
ends, go home and love your family and friends.
There’s more cops and robbers stuff tomorrow.
Silver Star May 2013 5