President's Message

This year, the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association (PPOA) celebrates 70 years of providing service to its membership. During these 70 years, PPOA has strenuously fought for members’ rights and benefits and successfully achieved:

• 4850 time for sworn members, and in the 1990s obtained the same benefit from the County for Custody Assistants
• Retirement credit buy-back for military members
• Disability coverage as a co-founder of the Peace Officers’ Relief Fund (PORF)
• Safety equipment, advocating to the County to provide firearms and protective vests
• Medical presumptions and consistent legislative efforts resulting in presumptions for bloodborne pathogens, heart disease, lower back injuries, staph infections and more Star & Shield Foundation, providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial support to families of fallen members and those members in need
• POPA Federal Credit Union, established in 1978 offering benefits to members at four full-service locations
• Ventura II lawsuit: PPOA successfully increased pension benefits for future retirees and added $200 million in benefits for those already retired
• Scholarships, providing financial assistance to members and their families for educational purposes
• The PPOA Online Uniform Store, making uniforms and accessories available at up to a 35% discount

Additionally, from PPOA came the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS), of which approximately 8,000 Deputy Sheriffs belong.

UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL

Whether it is COVID-19 fatigue, indifference or the political polarization of issues within our society, PPOA has faced challenges in the last two years like never before. Strangely, instead of coming together as PPOA members have in the past, there are some members internally and opportunistic groups externally working to harm this beloved organization and its membership. 

No matter which side of the COVID-19 vaccination argument you fall on, PPOA, as an organization, believes the COVID-19 executive order, mandating all County employees to be vaccinated by October 1, to be draconian, resource-intensive and an unprecedented process, which threatens the employment of County employees unnecessarily. PPOA and the Coalition of County Unions (CCU), including ALADS and 12 other unions, have maintained a strategic stance:

• Against any COVID-19 vaccination mandate that includes discipline
• Continue to demand accommodation and/or testing options for our members who may not be defined within medical and/or religious exemptions
• Continue to address with the County the unreasonableness of the timeline

PPOA and the other unions of the CCU believe the County is seriously underestimating the impacts of this mandate on their workforce. As I write this, the Los Angeles Times is reporting the state of California is experiencing failures in its ability to mandate employees to vaccinate (tinyurl.com/4ym4vmdx). The poorly conceptualized demands of the County mandate ignore good labor relations, logic and unrecognized consequences to the citizens of Los Angeles County. Adding insult to injury, the breakdown in impact negotiations and the threat of termination to our members require PPOA and the CCU to fulfill our duty in defending our labor rights.

As you know, PPOA had engaged in intensive negotiations along with other member unions of the CCU. These negotiations included a need for delayed implementation, testing for those who would like that option, reasonable accommodations, the security of personal information and any potential discipline levied by the County. Negotiations reached an impasse, meaning deadlock or stalemate, on September 30. The next steps will lead to mediation and fact-finding, which PPOA has always advocated.

The CCU and PPOA have used and relied upon legal counsel and information provided by its members to craft and direct its plan of action in the most favorable and strategic manner. Our members’ working environment, protection of personal information, defense against threats of discipline and ability to work without duress have always been and continues to be our goal. Our actions thus far have included:

• Continued legal strategy meetings with our PPOA counsel
• Submission of County COVID-19 documents to outside labor law firms for additional perspective
• Strategic discussions with the California Fraternal Order of Police and their legal defense attorneys
• Strategy meetings with the California Coalition of Law Enforcement (Los Angeles Police, San Francisco Police, San Diego and others)

As well as enhanced communications with our PPOA membership through:

• Board member visits to units and facilities
• Delegate meetings and briefings, including legal counsel
• Zoom meetings with members, including legal counsel
• Relevant and timely email blasts
• Continuous summary of events through the Week in Review emails

While PPOA has warned members of unscrupulous entities profiteering off of fears, rumors are rampant, false information prevalent and trust in leadership is waning. PPOA’s commitment to our members and the preservation of your employment and working conditions have not. PPOA and public safety are now faced with an anti-law enforcement sentiment and activists influencing politicians like never before. PPOA and the CCU are working tirelessly, consulting with our legal team for any potential arguments upon which to take action. We must not initiate litigation based on feelings but instead on sound legal references. Any and all failed lawsuits or unsuccessful attempts at injunctive relief will only embolden the County’s position, harming all strategies in play and PPOA members in the long run.

Some members have appeared to have been influenced, joining other groups, donating to causes with outside law firms and even requesting drop cards. Some speak of knowing the law better than our attorneys. Some regurgitate information from social media and Google searches of COVID-19 science, presenting them with their own personal bias. What they have not done is recognize that this organization and all of its available resources are working on these concerns day and night, not as a belief to be proven, not as a research project, but as a fight, which requires a full-time overarching perspective.

To those members, I must remind them, UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL. PPOA’s experience, longevity and numerous successes speak for themselves. “Let us not split into factions, which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.” Let’s not allow PPOA to fall victim to a twist on the cancel culture. “Tough times never last, but tough people do!”

Instead of being a keyboard warrior or the cynic in the briefing room, come participate. Not with all of your accusations, but with an open mind and spirit to engage. Become a delegate. Come learn for yourselves firsthand of the complexities and perspectives that influence the decisions of the PPOA Board of Directors.

Back in July, in my article “Members Under Attack,” I provided numerous instances of global circumstances outlining how our membership is facing adversity like never before. As I write this month’s article, PPOA is engaged in one of, if not the most, controversial and polarizing topics in my career: the County’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

Let’s be perfectly clear. PPOA, as an organization, highly recommends protecting yourselves and colleagues in the workplace by utilizing available personal protective options such as hand sanitizers, masks, as well as the COVID-19 vaccine if you so desire and if it is permissible within your personal beliefs. The safety of our members and their families is of paramount importance.

That being said, the COVID-19 executive order mandating all County employees to be vaccinated by October 1 is a herculean task, resource intensive and threatening to the livelihood of County employees. What happened to labor relations with our employer partners, the Board of Supervisors? When/how did good governing surrender itself to placating to political perception? What happened to Los Angeles County being a “labor county”? Why have they stopped listening to reason?

To date, as of September 23, the County has only met with the Coalition of County Unions (CCU) — which negotiates on behalf of 14 unions (30,000-plus employees) including PPOA, ALADS, Fire, Probation and others — three times. If this “mandate” is so important, where is the participation? Why are they engaging in bad faith actions, communicating with our members information that has not yet been agreed upon? 

The County’s proposals include verbiage such as “mandatory,” “corrective action” and “termination.” Whereas in comparison, the CCU proposals have included language such as “goals,” “education” and “testing.” What is the intent of the Board of Supervisors? Do they not understand that if the goal is improved compliance with the COVID-19 vaccination, it would be obtained much faster and in higher numbers utilizing incentives rather than unemployment? 

CCU negotiators continue to battle for a comprehensive, incentive-based, data-driven solution with a reasonable timeline. These discussions are founded on reality-based arguments such as:

• What magically happens on October 1?
• Are the number of COVID-19 cases, based on Department of Public Health numbers, not dropping dramatically?
• Has the County calculated the number of interactive process meetings (IPMs) required for the anticipated medical and religious exemptions?
  • Who will complete these meetings?
  • Have they been properly trained on the nuances required of IPMs so as to not violate ADA and HIPAA laws?
  • Has the civil liability of those (not/poorly trained) supervisors violating these laws during IPMs been accounted for?

• Does the County even know how many within its workforce of approximately 100,000 employees are vaccinated?
  • Is the County ready for 5,000, 15,000 or 25,000 employees to be unavailable to report to work?
  • Could the County function with these types of numbers not available to work?

• What is the financial burden to the County to not have these people come to work and have to subsidize with overtime?
• What is the financial drain to the County to process the large numbers of suspensions and subsequent termination of employees?
• What is the long-term economic impact of a potential loss in knowledge, training and experience of this magnitude?

WHAT HAPPENED TO LABOR RELATIONS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY?

In years past, these questions would all have been presented early on during collaborative discussions between labor partners. Now, these questions remain unanswered in impact bargaining sessions after the fact. How can the County expect this to work in such an accelerated timeline?

The PPOA Board of Directors is an unyielding advocate during these negotiations, fighting for all of our members regardless of personal beliefs or positions on this issue, as due process was bypassed, and your rights to employment are being challenged.

The PPOA Board of Directors is following a legal, political and collaborative strategy with our labor partners, ALADS and the other members of the CCU. We have thoroughly researched legal options and opinions from the top legal defense attorneys utilized by our coalition partners (FOP, California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations, Southern California Alliance of Law Enforcement and Peace Officers Research Association of California) and monitor numerous lawsuits nationwide for any nuggets of knowledge that may adjust our strategy.

Speaking of strategy and lawsuits, PPOA, as well as many other unions, has become aware of various law firms operating statewide to step into the legal fracas on this issue. All I can say is, buyer beware! As described above, PPOA is utilizing every legal resource possible in our strategies. The current legal atmosphere does not bode well in challenging COVID-19-related mandates. Groups asking individuals for “donations” or “upfront fees” to fund temporary restraining orders or other legal action may not have your best interest.

PPOA continues to make ourselves available for collaborative discussions with the Board of Supervisors. We welcome the opportunity to provide reasonable recommendations in addressing the needs of the County during this pandemic, utilizing logic and attainable timelines. This organization is a proud member of the CCU, L.A. County Federation of Labor and national AFL-CIO, which gives us many opportunities to work collaboratively.

I’ll conclude this article with a quote I was reminded of from years back: “Work with me, people!”

As I write this article, I realize this month represents my 33rd year with the Department, having graduated from Class #248. More and more of my friends and classmates have joined the ranks of “The Retired.” Conversations with these retired members often include quotes such as “Best job you ever dreamed of” and “How did I have time to work?”

Those of us still in the workforce, especially those of us in the 50-plus age range, understand the pressures all too well. Not only do we have the stress of work, but let’s add to it the family pressures of adult children who fail to launch or the responsibilities of taking parents to their medical appointments. These weights exacerbate and exaggerate the desire to retire as the number of days on the countdown clock ticks down ever so slowly.

The retirees I have spoken to communicate that their newfound freedom allows them to address these burdens and so much more. They embrace the next chapter of life, whether it is traveling, becoming a farmer, writing a book, starting a new career or helping others through volunteer work. Without the stress of “the job,” they look younger and healthier than ever before. They inspire me to balance my life now, allowing for creativity and activity in preparation for my own retirement. 

Every generation says this, but I would challenge any of the predecessors. The stressors of a career in public safety have never been greater than today. A worldwide pandemic and the polarization of politics in our nation, state and county, as well as the anti-law-enforcement sentiment, all create a difficult mindset, decreased productivity and undue stress. My discussions with representatives of LACERA and our workers’ compensation attorney partners represent extraordinary numbers of members who either are impaired by injuries on duty or are in the retirement process.

You get the picture. And if you are still active but at the tail end of your career, you really get the picture. Friends and colleagues who have already retired will tell you that the motivation to retire gets stronger as you begin to envision your next chapter in life. That optimism is natural. Unfortunately, the motivation for thousands of cops nationwide who have been hastily retiring lately is not because of what the future holds as much as it is because of what the current job is up against. 

Not only are potential retirees increasing in annual numbers, but retirees are also increasingly leaving the state of California. In fact, retired PPOA members living out of state increased by 17%, including the top five most popular destinations: Arizona (140), Nevada (95), Idaho (47), Texas (45; new to the list and pushing Oregon out of the top five) and Washington (41). Regardless of where members retire, they travel, start businesses or raise grandchildren (sometimes children), and a very valued few even continue their involvement with PPOA, for which we are extremely grateful.

The retirees I have spoken to communicate that their newfound freedom allows them to embrace the next chapter of life.

I am very grateful for the opportunities the Sheriff’s Department and PPOA have provided during my career. When I retire (no timeline planned yet), I look forward to the next chapter that many of you exemplify. Traveling, spending time with family and friends, and exploring interests you never had the time for while working and raising a family all sound fantastic. 

To those retired, thank you for your service. Please stay healthy, enjoy your retirement and, as my father says, “Take the County for every dime they owe you.” 

To those remaining active, thank you for all you do in these historically unprecedented times. Stay safe, hold your heads high and represent our noble profession to the best of your abilities.  

Have you ever awoken recently and just asked yourself, “Why bother?” Are there more days where you feel like, “Why do I go to work?”

The stress of this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the hope of its finality dashed by surges threatening our health, as well as the obvious mainstream media and activist attacks on our chosen calling are horrendous. Now more than ever, American society and each of us personally are being challenged to evolve or fail. We are truly at a turning point in history, and as a result, we must each make a choice.

Interestingly enough, while writing this article, I was thinking about society’s FEAR. From that thought, and a very brief research project, I was led to the 1933 inaugural address of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Many of his points are still relevant today.

Now more than ever, heroes are needed. You are needed! Do not let these difficult times and fear dictate your actions. Stay true to yourselves and the honorable calling you have chosen.

“… This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance …”

Roosevelt continued to speak on the common financial difficulties people were facing following the stock market crash of 1929, which left the country’s economy in ruins.

“… Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.

“More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.

“Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for …”

Do these unprecedented historic times not present similar problems in our society today? Homelessness, the end of rent/mortgage moratoriums, skyrocketing housing costs, reform of systemic racism and accusations of police brutality, all play into society’s anxieties.

While everyone’s feelings should be respected, society cannot control individual feelings. For American society to survive these issues, we must not FEAR. As I have been recently reminded, the acronym FEAR stands for “false evidence appearing real.” Do we not see that in every mainstream news story looking for ratings? Is it not spread on social media by “influencers”? Are not many elected officials placating their new positions to that same false evidence, perpetuating anomalies and feelings as “systemic” facts?

Recently, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors passed an agenda item again asking for more authority to be given to the Office of Inspector General (OIG). This motion was authored out of response to the OIG report titled “Report Back on Protecting Surviving Families from Law Enforcement Harassment and Retaliation.” This eight-page report contained only three pages of vague statements from survivors of those who died in violent confrontations with law enforcement. These unsubstantiated and obviously biased statements became a representation of systemic harassment of families. During the hearing, certain county supervisors insisted on calling those who had passed “victims” and/or “those murdered by law enforcement.”

The Board of Supervisors doubled down on its contempt for law enforcement and its support of these surviving family
members by including in the motion a request “to identify ongoing funding necessary to continue the Board’s established Family Assistance Program to support families following an in-custody death or fatal use of force by law enforcement.”

While these fatal incidents are tragic, they are by no means reflective of the thousands of interactions law enforcement has with the community daily. Any loss of life is tragic. The majority of law enforcement officers have gone 30-plus year careers without being involved in a shooting, let alone a fatal incident. Unlike what appears to be represented, law enforcement officers do not wake up in the morning and decide to act as “judge, jury and executioner.”

Never once were the actions of the “victims” leading to the violent confrontation with law enforcement mentioned. Never once were the circumstances of the preliminary investigation into these incidents mentioned. Never once was the significance to the law enforcement officer and/or his or her family mentioned.

When a law enforcement officer is involved in any significantly violent event, it is life changing. When I joined the Sheriff’s Department, I was welcomed into the County family as well as the law enforcement profession. Where is the support from the Board of Supervisors for its own County family members? Is there a special program to help the families of law enforcement officers who suffer from the effects of a fatal shooting? A program to assist with the nightmares, PTSD, isolation from family and friends, alcohol abuse, and let’s not forget the obnoxious and sometimes violent protesters in your front yard? Where is the support for the persons who run into the line of fire, who face violence and possibly death, out of their dedication to the community? Twenty years ago (anyone remember 9/11?), law enforcement officers were heroes … now we are martyrs to be sacrificed by the court of public opinion.

Because of FEAR, now more than ever, heroes are needed. You are needed! Do not let these difficult times and FEAR dictate your actions. Stay true to yourselves and the honorable calling you have chosen. Believe in yourselves. We are the sheepdogs, not the wolves. Trust in your training and conduct yourselves as the professionals we all know you are. Don’t listen to the rhetoric. The community values you, no matter what the internet/media would have you believe. Change the acronym of FEAR into “face everything and rise.” Heroes are needed.

PPOA has now been here for the last 70 years, supporting our membership. We will continue to support our members through these difficult issues. As a valued PPOA family member, should you be in need of assistance, please reach out.

While the public safety pendulum is always in motion, nowhere in my 32-plus years of experience has it swung so far against law enforcement. PPOA continues to protect members as an organization to the best of our abilities, but the attacks against membership are no longer numerous and political, but voluminous and bloody.

Take for example the violent attack on a Custody Assistant working the Inmate Reception Center in early May. While providing to the needs of a mentally ill inmate, she became the victim of an unprovoked, brutal assault. While I would like to say this encounter was an anomaly, our membership knows well that it is not. 

Many members working in the Custody Divisions of the Sheriff’s Department face verbal abuse, exposure to cowardly “gassings” and increased physical aggression, daily! This particular assault was captured by the Department’s CCTV system, and subsequently released to the media as an example of the difficulties members experience. All of this while our Board of Supervisors (BOS) continues their rhetoric of “care first, jails last.”

Speaking of the BOS, let’s take a moment to thank them personally for yet another kick in the teeth to the labor movement and the past practice of caring for County employees. As of July 1, the Executive Office of the BOS has decided to replace 30 of our Security Officer members with private security. In the short term, this will displace our members into unfunded positions within the Sheriff’s Department, furthering the LASD budget woes, effectively wasting twice the taxpayers’ dollars and providing a lesser quality of security. The long-term effects of this decision will now play out in the political world involving the L.A. County Federation of Labor, which has voiced support for PPOA’s position to the BOS, as well as in the legal arena following PPOA’s filing of an unfair labor charge against the County.

While we are on the topic of legal action, PPOA members do have one victory to celebrate. Back in August of last year, the BOS, in an unprecedented move, supported the placement of Measure J on the November 2020 ballot, bypassing required processes and the signature procedure. Measure J, if you are not familiar, was a ballot initiative amending the County’s charter to require that no less than 10% of the County’s general fund be appropriated to community programs and alternatives to incarceration, such as health services and pre-trial non-custody services. PPOA, ALADS and the CCU all rallied together to object to this action, and when shunned by the BOS, jointly filed legal action against the County. Voters passed Measure J in November 2020, but a recent Superior Court decision on June 17 overturned Measure J, citing “The only question presented is whether the ballot process can be used to take this budgeting choice out of the hands of the current and future elected boards, the court concludes it cannot.” This victory is important, but is only one battle in the war against the social justice reformists who look to allegedly improve public safety through the defunding of law enforcement and the criminal justice system in the name of equity and constitutionality.

“Constitutionality” … funny how that only works one way these days. The placement of Measure J on the ballot was found to be flawed in its adherence to the County Charter and the responsibilities of elected officials. Now, our Sheriff, the self-proclaimed supporter of Department members, is attempting to discipline PPOA members for invoking their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during an Internal Criminal Investigation Bureau interview. Yes, you are reading this correctly, a PPOA member was subjected to intimidation and threats when he adhered to his attorney’s advice to invoke his constitutional rights not to give a voluntary statement. Within days, this member was relieved of duty with the following description of the nature of the investigation, “It is alleged you refused to answer questions regarding your knowledge and activities related to the traffic collision and invoked your Fifth Amendment privilege.” 

Unfortunately, two other PPOA members were coerced into providing statements under fear of the same treatment. PPOA followed up on this trampling of our members’ rights with conversations through the Department’s chain of command, from Division Chief to the Undersheriff and finally the Sheriff. When that failed, three Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights violations were filed on behalf of our members. This topsy-turvy world we live in where criminals are given more rights than our members exercising their constitutional rights has got to stop!   

All of this going on while the California State Legislature has 15-plus pieces of legislation that attack the very core of the future of law enforcement within this state. These proposed bills look to define “use of force” yet again (AB 26), limit our resources in dynamic “protest” situations (AB 48) and even decertify our POST certificates (SB 2).

Why is all of this happening? I personally and professionally believe everyone must learn, change and evolve. The day we stop learning is the day we stop living. However, this “cancel culture” group of activists are a demographic of people who demand change without proposing sustainable solutions. Homelessness, mental illness and social equity have taken decades, if not hundreds of years, to be created. These problems cannot be solved in a matter of weeks, months or even years. Sustainable solutions require plans, resources and time to develop. Right now, activists are screaming only for the solution without considering the lack of resources to accomplish their goals. “We want it, and we want in now!” Unfortunately, many of our elected officials are abandoning their governing responsibilities to the silent majority only to placate the very vocal and loud minority of citizens.  

The most recent example of this is the BOS’ recent motion and actions toward the closing of Men’s Central Jail (MCJ). PPOA has made our subject-matter experts available for the last 10 years, communicating concerns about our members’ working conditions and need for improvement, as well as support in closing MCJ, but only in exchange for a viable alternative in housing the legally required inmate population. Mental health group homes, the creation of a secure mental health facility and/or the re-opening of PDC-East and Mira Loma have all been discussed, but no BOS’ motions made. Instead, the “care first, jails last” movement seems to be hellbent on releasing more criminals into the community with no more community transition resources available than in the past. PPOA advocates for “additional” (not re-allocated from public safety agencies) resources to be placed into these community opportunities. In the future, as these opportunities come to fruition, then and only then should public safety funding be diverted.

PPOA continues to and wants to meet with the few elected officials and other labor organizations to work in partnership on proposed reform efforts that are reasonable and attainable with the specific anticipated goals to be achieved over time. This organization is a proud member of the CCU, L.A. Fed and national AFL-CIO, which gives us many opportunities to work collaboratively across the labor spectrum. Unfortunately, here in Los Angeles County and California, we see significant, continuing and future problems with pie-in-the sky solutions from activists, the eroding of public safety and the citizens being forced to deal with the inevitable tragic and violent events that result from the knee-jerk solutions of the activists who are adopted and embraced by our elected officials.

Oh, and did I mention the Olympics are scheduled to be in Los Angeles in about seven years … go SoCal!