It has been two months now that I have been president of our association. One thing I have learned is that there are a lot of moving parts to this multi-million dollar, non-profit organization. In addition to the day to day operations, there are other major issues; such as the Police and Fire Retirement Governance settlement, maintaining the current market corridor rate for our pension fund to minimize contribution rate increases and wages and benefits negotiations. There are also issues which do not have the same magnitude as these I mention above, but are of greater importance to the day to day beat copper. Jim and I are trying to make sure we do not lose sight of issues which impact your ability to effectively do your job.
The Department will be rolling out new MDT's in the coming weeks. Prior to this rollout the POA's input was sought by Captain Urban of the Bureau of Technical Services to ensure that it would meet our officer's needs and is ergonomically sound. Jim Unland, Franco Vado and I got a chance to look at one of the prototypes that is being deployed in the field and received a walk through by Sgt. Rob Lalonde. We liked the fact that the controls for the light bar and siren are now mounted on the dash board. No longer does an officer have to completely take his eyes off the road when initiating this safety equipment. The MDT is very mobile. It can be adjusted to a position which should making typing in the car comfortable for just about everyone, as well as be removed from the vehicle if one chooses to complete a report in a restaurant or other convenient place. A lot of thought and research went into the design of the new MDT platform. It is impossible to satisfy the wants and needs of every officer, but we believe the vast majority of you will like it.
The POA was also invited by Captain Gary Kirby to be part of the Department's Use Of Force Committee. This committee was created to identify best practices when investigating incidents where our members have to use force on a citizen. As part of this committee, the POA wanted to ensure that our officer's Peace Officer's Bill of Rights and constitutional rights are adhered to. Additionally, all committee members wanted to be sure that a thorough investigation, including mandatory on-scene supervisory response, photographs, interviews etc… is conducted so as to best protect our officers from false allegations by those whom force is used against.
As we move forward, I ask that you contact Jim, Jeff, any of our directors or me if you have any ideas, suggestions, questions or things you would like to see to make your POA the best it can be.
As always and most importantly, be safe out there.
George |
Email: President
3rd Annual SJPOA Chaplaincy Golf Tournament
