It’s hard to believe that I have been in Law Enforcement for over 30 years and a member of this fine organization for the last 13 years. Now I am writing to you as your President. I am extremely grateful to all of you for allowing me to serve in this capacity. I consider it a privilege to serve this prestigious organization filled with members with so much knowledge and talent.
It seems like a broken record to repeat what seems to be the battle cry in our state. What is most important to all of our departments comes down to funding so we don’t have to keep eliminating the most important jobs in the State of Michigan, that of being a police officer charged with protecting the entire State’s residents. Over the past few years we all have worked tirelessly in a reactive role. We react to the cuts made by our local and State governments. Now is the time that we have to remain united together all across law enforcement and fight any further cuts. We cannot continue to do more work with fewer officers in each of our departments. I commented to another Chief the other day that it is no longer fun to be an administrator coming to work trying to figure out how to continue to provide the same level of service with fewer officers. That is what each and every one of us is faced with on a daily basis.
That’s why an organization as strong as ours needs to rise up and work together for a solution. In these tough economic times, other State and local organizations are struggling to survive. Under the fine leadership of our past presidents and savvy business sense of our Executive Director, Tom Hendrickson, our organization is doing better than most others around the country. As long as I have been on the board, I have come to realize just how valuable Jamie Foster is to our success. With Tom and Jamie, I have no doubt that we will continue to thrive as an organization and be a leader to other chief groups around the country. I would also like to personally thank the many people within our organization that “volunteer” their time and serve on our many committees. These committees are crucial to our success as an organization.
I can only hope that I can live up to the high standards set by the Presidents that I previously served with on this board, (George Basar and Larry Hrinik). I thank Milton Scales, our fine Treasurer for many years of dedicated service and wish him a very well earned retirement. I look forward to working with the distinguished officers and board members recently sworn in with the hope that at this time next year, we can talk about an improved economic condition which would be a welcomed change. Again, I thank all of you for your support and look forward to the challenges we face ahead.
