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PPOA 2018 College Scholarships

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PPOA proudly awards no less than 12 scholarships worth $13,500 total each year to help further education for members and their dependents. Please see links below for criteria and applications. The deadline to apply is May 18, 2018.

Click here for photos from 2017 PPOA scholarship awards ceremony

If you have any questions, please send an email to info@ppoa.com or call (323) 261-3010.

2017 Dues Paid

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The following year-end dues totals are provided to aid PPOA members with tax preparation. If you were not a PPOA member for the entire 2017 calendar year, please contact Clare at (323) 261-3010. Political contributions are not deductible for income tax purposes, and 10 percent of PPOA dues are used for political contributions.

2017 Dues Paid

6th Annual Heroes Ride & Car/Motorcycle Show

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The 6th Annual Heroes Ride will roll though Los Angeles on Sunday, April 15, 2018. Proceeds from this event will benefit the families of fallen officers and wounded veterans.

Riders will stage at the Hollywood Bowl starting at 8:30 a.m. and the ride will kick off at 9:30 a.m.

 

Advocating for More School Resource Deputies

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Salvador Castro Middle School Shooting
School Resource Deputies and Their Role in Campus Safety

By Brian Moriguchi

The shooting at Salvador Castro Middle School yesterday is a reminder of the importance of providing a safe environment on school campuses. School resource deputies play an important part in keeping students safe. They not only address threats of violence, but these specially trained deputies help students cope with the stresses on school campuses including bullying and suicide.

Unfortunately, Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, in the past, has advocated for the removal of school resource deputies from campuses. “I think it’s totally inappropriate to have any kind of armed, uniformed law enforcement officers on our campuses,” Kuehl said.

In contrast, Supervisor Janice Hahn stated, “Overall this is a positive program and another resource for our schools. It facilitates mentoring, developing healthy relationships between the community and local law enforcement, and opportunities for young people to interact with Sheriff’s deputies in a positive way.”

“Last year, 23 handguns and 8 rifles were recovered on or near school campuses,” states Rudy Perez, Vice President of the Los Angeles School Police Officers Association. “We were fortunate that one of our officers was on campus at Salvador Castro Middle School at the time of yesterday’s shooting. It probably saved the lives of both gunshot victims.”

Keeping our children safe should be our number one priority. School resource deputies play an integral role in school campus safety and provide a valuable resource to our children. We need to advocate for more school resource deputies, not less.

PPOA represents 9,000 law enforcement professionals, including Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department employees, both sworn and non-sworn. Contact Brian Moriguchi at (323) 261-3010 or bmoriguchi@ppoa.com for further comment.

Brian Moriguchi is president of the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association and the California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations.

Letter to Sheriff McDonnell re: Release of Confidential Information

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Sheriff Jim McDonnell
Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department
211 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, California 90012

Re: Release of Confidential Information

Dear Sheriff McDonnell:

We are deeply concerned about the possible release of confidential information to the media by the Sheriffs Department. Many employees have reported that Los Angeles Times reporters have reached out to them at their residence or called them on their unlisted personal cell phones asking questions about their placement on the Sheriffs Department’s Brady list. We are concerned about who, and how, the reporters obtained personal and confidential information about department employees. The department has a history of releasing personnel records to the media and this new incident is very disconcerting to PPOA and our members (and all department employees).

Equally disturbing is the internal statement released by the Sheriffs Department on November 21, 2017 regarding this issue. The statement states the obvious facts regarding the reporters obtaining personnel information, but proclaims that the department “is NOT sharing personnel information protected by PC 832.7.” This comment appears to be a proclamation of innocence rather than a factual statement as a result of a thorough investigation. An internal investigation seems to be more appropriate than putting out a public relations statement to deflect responsibility.

The Professional Peace Officers Association is formally requesting an investigation into the release of department employees’ personal and confidential information to the media, including but not limited to the Los Angeles Times reporters Maya Lau and Corina Knoll and assistant data editor Robert Poston. This investigation should include any communication between department employees and the media, in particular, those who have access to personnel records or the department’s Brady List. It should also include non­sworn members of your management team responsible for communication with the media as well as your Constitutional Policing Advisors.

This potential leak of information should be of grave concern to you just as it is to us. We hope you will take this issue seriously and generate an unbiased and ethical investigation into this matter and advise your executive team to not interfere with such investigation. If you have any questions, please contact me at 323-261-3010.

Respectfully,
Brian Moriguchi
President

C.A. Anthony Thompson Jr. End of Watch: 11/19/17

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On November 19th, PPOA received the devastating news that Custody Assistant Anthony Thompson Jr. was killed in a traffic collision early that morning. Thompson, son of LASD Sergeant Ottawa Cureton, was driving southbound on the 605 freeway in Irwindale at approximately 12:30AM when a woman believed to have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs drove up the southbound off-ramp and entered the freeway in the wrong direction. The woman drove into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with Thompson’s vehicle. Both drivers died at the scene and Thompson’s passenger was hospitalized with severe injuries.

“I spoke to Anthony’s mother, Ottawa, today. Needless to say, she is heartbroken,” said PPOA President Brian Moriguchi. “But she is extremely grateful for the outpouring of support from the LASD family and Anthony’s co-workers.”

Custody Assistant Anthony Thompson Jr. was assigned to Twin Towers. He was 24 years old and started his career with the Sheriff’s Department in 2012. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.

PPOA Monitoring Three Pension Cases Before California Supreme Court

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PPOA legislative representatives are keeping close watch on three public employee pension cases currently before the California Supreme Court. All three cases are appeals related to the Public Employee Pension Reform Act (PEPRA), which took effect in 2013. PEPRA is already a complex law that generates many questions and these three cases could potentially affect the way retirement and health benefits are applied. Here is an update from PPOA Legislative Representative Karen Keeslar:

October 31, 2017: There are three PEPRA cases before the California Supreme Court. The Alameda case has been merged with the Marin litigation. These cases deal with the “California rule.” The CA Supreme Court has also accepted the Cal Fire case. All of these cases are still in the briefing stage and oral arguments haven’t been scheduled yet. The state has a deadline to file its brief on November 6th, although they could request another extension (there have been several) and the reply brief is due November 27th. Then amicus briefs would be due 30 days later on December 27th. Those dates can be pushed out by any extensions granted to the parties to file their briefs. The CA Supreme Court hears oral arguments from September through June. Generally speaking, the court must issue a decision within 90 days of oral arguments.

The Appellate Court decisions in all three cases contradict 70 years of case law on the “California Rule.” The CA Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed the “California Rule” protecting pensions and maintaining they are a vested right. There is broad speculation that the decisions on these cases could open the door to overturning numerous Supreme Court decisions upholding the vested rights of public employees to retirement benefits. If the Supreme Court upholds the Appellate Court ruling that pensions only need be “reasonable,” we are certain to see much more litigation for each agency to determine what is reasonable. That makes it difficult to speculate what might happen to pensions for LA County employees. PPOA will continue to monitor these cases and will keep members informed of any developments.

PPOA President Appointed to LA County Public Safety Commission

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PPOA President Brian Moriguchi has been appointed to the newly-formed Los Angeles County Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Safety. The establishment of this commission was prompted by the murder of Whittier Police Department Officer Keith Boyer at the hands of a recently paroled gang member.

Moriguchi was appointed by County Supervisor Janice Hahn. “Lt. Moriguchi will bring the important perspective of law enforcement to the Blue Ribbon Commission,” Hahn said. “His years of personal experience give him the ability to discern what will work and what won’t while the commission examines creative solutions to keep our communities and our law enforcement officers safe.”

The 27-member panel will review categories of violent crime that are eligible for parole and look at policies that allow probation to be revoked. It will also be tasked with tracking “very high risk” probationers, misdemeanor offenders with the highest recidivism rates and the rate of re-offense for everyone released under recent reform laws. Those reforms are Assembly Bill 109, passed in 2011; Proposition 47, passed in 2014; and Proposition 57, approved in 2016 but not yet fully implemented. Those measures shifted public safety responsibilities from the state to counties, downgraded some property and drug felonies to misdemeanors, and allowed for the early release of some inmates, respectively.