Past President's Letters

Over the past several years, we have seen our membership grow by leaps and bounds. We have had legal representation provided to us, won grievances and even gotten jobs back. We have endorsed political candidates who are in office supporting our issues. It would seem as if we are a very strong organization, which for the most part is true. As of December 2005, we are 1585 members strong and growing. However, there are many local chapters that have fallen back into the reorganization phase, including the Virginia Division Chapter. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Reorganization is good for the Chapter and for the members as a whole. As past leaders step down, new leaders emerge and this is what we are in the process of achieving: New LEADERSHIP within the VA PBA and its local chapters.

Some of you may be members of Chapters that have been put back into the steering committee phase. Do not be concerned, as long as you are a member in good standing you still have all of the rights and benefits that all members share and enjoy. No other organization can say that, no other organization can provide you the benefits that the PBA does with just a membership fee and no additional costs - NO OTHER ORGANIZATION CAN - neither the FOP nor any other union out there. The Southern States Police Benevolent Association is the best organization nationwide in representing law enforcement officers.

As you read through your magazine, you will see an overview of all Virginia PBA chapters. There are some chapters that are prospering, some that are working to establish their leadership base and some that have absolutely no leadership whatsoever. This is where you can help. If you would like to become involved in your Chapter, have a say in your political process, assist members with their grievances and see your chapter grow in numbers, please consider dedicating some of your time to help. Becoming involved in your local chapter really isn’t too much of an effort to put forth and I believe you will find it very rewarding, both professionally and personally. I ask you to please review your Chapter overview and contact me. Let me know what you can do for your chapter and what I can do to help you.

In 2004, Mt. Empire President Keith Dunagan, Senior Vice President Forrest Carter, Colonial Chapter Senior Vice President Frank Crotty and myself (president of the Colonial Chapter) spoke about the rights of Deputy Sheriffs before the Virginia House of Delegates Police and Militia Committee while the Virginia Assembly was in session. In the past, due process for law enforcement officers has continued to be an issue within Virginia. A law was enacted to ensure law enforcement officers have procedural rights guaranteed to them that their agencies must follow. Unfortunately, deputy sheriffs were excluded from this law. The Code of Virginia further states that deputy sheriffs are not included in the definition of what a law enforcement officer is, even though we perform the same job as our brothers and sisters in blue. Prior to the 2004 Assembly, proposed bills to correct this continued to get killed before it even made it to the floor for discussion. This time, because of our – the PBA’s – bulldoggish efforts, we were able to get our views heard and understood. For the first time the bill was not killed. In fact, it was continued and placed into a committee for further review. Although this bill did not come to a favorable vote for us in the end, it was a step forward for our members. We established ourselves as a strong voice to be heard and reckoned with. This year, we are attacking this same issue with a different approach and I look forward to advising you on how well we do with this in my next letter.

In 2005, a bill was put into the Assembly that would count vacation and sick leave as actual hours worked for law enforcement officers so that we could accrue more overtime pay. This was afforded to those in the fire and life safety profession several years prior, but not to law enforcement. I do not know why we were excluded, but I know that it was not fair. Prior to that time, no matter how much overtime you may have HAD to have worked, if you ended up taking sick leave or a day off, those hours counted AGAINST you and you did not get the pay you worked so hard for. In the end we got some of what we asked for: one legislator put in a clause that this would only account for agencies with 100 or more LEO’s working for them, the bill was passed and signed into legislation. I still see this as a great victory for the VA PBA and all of its members. During our political screenings for the 2005 elections we brought this issue up again and gained support to eliminate that clause. In 2006, we will push this issue through once more and I look forward to advising you that all law enforcement officers will be afforded the benefit of receiving the overtime pay they worked for.

Also during this year’s Assembly, we will push for support and favorable votes to increase the VRS retirement supplement from the poverty level of 1.7% to at least 2.5%. There is absolutely no reason why we should be receiving such a miniscule retirement after putting 25 years or more of our lives on the line along with all of the other sacrifices we make each and everyday in law enforcement.

To help us with our political process and achieve the rights we so much deserve, the SSPBA has furnished us with an Internet program called CAPWIZ. This program currently monitors bills being put before Congress and keeps us up to date. If there is a law enforcement issue that we support or oppose, the program is designed to allow you to sign your name to a pre-approved letter and send it out to the representatives from your area. This program will eventually be doing the same for state politics as well. If you are not receiving these emails, go to the PBA websites: www.sspba.org and/or www.vapba.org to sign up and have them sent to you. This will also allow you to find out what is going on with other state chapters and find links and contacts to your local chapters, as well as the Virginia Assembly. When you visit these websites, please update your information. If you have moved, changed departments, phones numbers, e-mail addresses, banks or credit cards, please let the PBA know so we can keep you informed.

I now have a challenge for all members: If you want to receive the rights and benefits that we all deserve, then I urge each and everyone of you to sign up at least one new member. If all each of us do in 2006, is personally sign up one member, we will have over 3,000 members. Think of the voice we will have with our departments and legislators! There is so much that we can accomplish together, but we need to get involved, stay involved and work as a team. We are all brothers and sisters of the same badge, we all make the same sacrifices daily and we are the only ones we can count to take care of ourselves when times get bad.

Right now, as part of our reorganization I am looking at what agencies are with what chapters. I am looking to combine and restructure some of the agencies and chapters so that the right agencies are going to the right chapters. If you feel you have been placed in the wrong chapter, please let me know. If you have any concerns or questions with what is happening in your local or state chapter; you want to find out how you can become involved; or just want someone to talk with, call me. I have a toll-free number through the PBA of 1-800-233-3506 ext 346. Once you leave a message I am immediately notified and I WILL call you back as soon as I can. You are even welcome to call me direct on my cell phone (757) 570-1831 or e-mail me at acsadler49@cox.net. I want to hear from YOU.


Sincerely,

A.C. “Woody” Sadler
Trustee – Virginia PBA