PPOA Executive Director
wquint@ppoa.com
Since PPOA’s humble beginnings in 1951, the highest priority among our founding members was an unshakeable commitment to ensuring the protection of employee rights working at the Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s Office and Marshal’s Office. To be certain and without exception, PPOA’s No. 1 priority to protect our members has remained unchanged for the past 72 years.
Today, PPOA continues to provide exceptional and professional labor services for members of our five recognized/certified bargaining units (B/U) — 612, 614, 621, 631/632 — who proudly serve Los Angeles County at the Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s Office and the Department of Medical Examiner. Your Board of Directors remain enthusiastically dedicated to the mission of continuing a “Tradition of Success” by serving a satisfied membership through an effective and expanding professional association.
Some of the sure indicators of successful and effective law enforcement and public safety associations throughout Los Angeles County, the state of California and the United States are not only evident by their organizations’ goals to thrive independently, but to also work together as coalition partners with organizations that share common bonds. In addition to protecting our members’ rights, the next critically important bond that is shared with these organizations is that they are the recognized/certified B/U to negotiate their members respective memorandum of understandings (MOUs), commonly referred to as contracts.
Every employee of the Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s Office and the Department of Medical Examiner should ask “Who negotiates my MOU?” If you are a LASD/LADA sergeant or lieutenant, the only recognized/certified B/U that negotiates your salary MOU is PPOA, B/U 612. The same holds true for all classifications in B/Us 614, 621 and 631/632; only PPOA can negotiate your salary contracts through the collective bargaining process.
If a County employee is a deputy sheriff trainee, deputy sheriff, DA investigator or DA senior investigator, the only recognized/certified B/U that can negotiate their MOU through collective bargaining is ALADS, B/U 611.
It is never in any employee’s best interest not to be a union member of their recognized/certified B/U that negotiates the wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment for their respective classification. In 2022, PPOA reached negotiated agreements on successor MOUs (2022–2025) for each of our five bargaining units, which were overwhelming ratified by all active dues paying members who voted.
A very significant coalition that PPOA belongs to is the Coalition of County Unions (CCU), which consists of 14 Los Angeles County labor unions (tinyurl.com/ycke9p93). Each CCU member union must be certified to represent employees of the County of Los Angeles; affiliated with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO and signatories to the Fringe Benefit MOU between the CCU and the County of Los Angeles. The CCU negotiates with County management to determine financial contributions to the Choices plan (medical, dental, etc.), matches to our Horizons plan (deferred compensation), paid time off and other fringe benefit provisions. Once again, the critically important bond in belonging to the CCU is that all 14 unions that participate in negotiating the Fringe Benefits MOU are the recognized/certified B/Us of their respective unions. In 2022, the 14 unions united in the CCU collectively negotiated a successor Fringe Benefits MOU (2022–2025) for its 30,000 men and women employed by the County.
PPOA is a proud member of the California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations (CCLEA), which serves as an umbrella organization for law enforcement associations throughout the state of California. CCLEA associations share the common bond of being the recognized/certified B/Us for their respective organizations. The value of being able to collectively share information regarding contract negotiation issues and collective bargaining best practices cannot be overstated regardless of the location in California. A sampling of some of the CCLEA are from the counties of Sacramento, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, Ventura and Los Angeles, as well as associations from the cities of Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento.
PPOA has been affiliated with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) since 2005. The FOP is the world’s largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers, with more than 356,000 members in more than 2,100 lodges. PPOA is also a member of the California State FOP, which consists of 20 California lodges with over 20,000 members (PPOA is a member of California Lodge #1, L.A. County). The FOP provides PPOA members with a national voice on legislation and a crucial legal defense plan. All active PPOA members in our five B/Us are members of the FOP Legal Defense Plan, which provides defense coverage for civil and criminal actions arising in the scope of their duties.
Other coalition partnerships that PPOA is affiliated with and that share our common bonds also include the Southern California Alliance of Law Enforcement (SCALE) and the California Peace Officers Memorial Foundation (CPOMF).
To each active and retired PPOA member who faithfully supports PPOA’s history of seven-plus decades of representing the best of L.A. County, please accept our sincere gratitude. It is your commitment, regardless of circumstances, which has allowed PPOA to not only succeed but to establish professional partnerships and common bonds with organizations that are privileged to serve working women and men.