PAX Centurion - November / December 2015

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • November/December 2015 • Page 3 A Message from the President: Patrick M. Rose, BPPA President We are amazed at the quality of police officer’s performance around the U.S. I t’s been a very busy year since we’ve taken office, to say the least. We started the year burying colleagues in NewYork City and it hasn’t seemed to get much better since then for the Police Officers around the country. When we are not under physical attack, being murdered, shot at, stabbed and or beaten we are victimized daily in the media for the faults of a few. It amazes me that no one looks at the real statistics when measuring the Police Officer’s performance. We all realize that even one mistreated person is too many and certainly one wrongful death is an outrage and is not or would not be condoned by any professional law-abiding Police Officer. However, statistically, the media-driven frenzy over certain incidents that happened in this country over the past year and or so, is mind boggling. The facts don’t support the outrage; the facts don’t support the effort to undermine the Police in this country. The political pandering to special interest groups and playing the politically correct card of the day is ruining this society. It is about time for someone somewhere to have the guts and intestinal fortitude to stand up and say ‘ enough is enough! ’The facts are over thirteen million people are arrested each year in this country, (not including traffic arrests); that’s 13,000,000. The facts are over the last decade an average of four hundred people are shot and killed by Police each year. That equates to 0.00003% of reported arrests, with that being said, yes even one death is too many, but when the vast majority, basically 99.99999999 9999999999999999999999999% of these shootings are completely justified without question, how can the President of this nation and his loyal ‘lambs’ in the media call for such outrage, drive such hatred and basically direct society to turn itself upside down pointing the proverbial finger at the Police. The same men and woman that have sworn to serve and protect the same men and woman who run towards the danger on a daily basis to protect these people that are calling for our heads. The President and his media condemn every action by Police without so much as an investigation and when the facts support the Police, well damn the facts, don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. Any other profession in the world would be considered perfect with those numbers, but no, not the Police, not even close. No, let’s call for body cams, let’s call for civilian review boards, let’s call for more oversight and when all discretion is taken away and we are forced to enforce all of society’s rules, what will they call for then? Or worse, when Police Officers just turn their heads and ignore their responsibility and civil society goes down the tubes, what will they call for then when it’s too late to get control. Our own Senator ElizabethWarren recently gave a soliloquy at the Kennedy Center praising the recent movements against Police praising lawbreakers as “Heroes of Our Generation” and condemning Police Officers in the same breath. Yes, she tried using the Obama obligatory remark or two about how much she respects us, but continued to spew the same lies about recent happenings in this country that the Media and Police haters continue to spread with total disregard for the truth. As a matter of fact, I attempted to get an audience with her to discuss her speech and question her statements one on one so I could share the FACTUAL REPORTS of what happened in those hyped- up media-driven reports that she so eloquently shared with Police hate groups; I’m still waiting for her response. Anyway, we all know that it has become a different profession, in the midst of all of this political correctness, WorldWar Three, under the guise of terrorism, has branched out to include our own country. So on one hand, you have hate groups supported by morally inept Politicians calling for de-militarization of Police Departments and on the other hand, you have you have undermanned, under-equipped, outgunned Police Officers attempting to protect society from the biggest threat since the inception of this country while politicians are singing ‘Kumbaya and We Shall Overcome.’ So yes, I guess it’s been a tough year for us all, but this too shall pass. I can only hope that the silent majority wakes up soon and moves to take our country back. Time and the next Presidential election will dictate the future of Professional Policing in this country. We will continue to fight for your rights and represent the truth to the public. With all of that said, we as a Union, have come a long way in a short time. When our team ran for office, we promised ten specific objectives and have accomplished all but the last, that being the ‘Bargained Contract.’ In addition, we brought in the largest detail pay raise in the history of the association. We are currently working out the specifics of agreements that we believe will be of great benefit to the membership. January 2016 starts the bargaining cycle for the next contract; we have already been meeting as a committee and have had several unofficial sessions laying the ground work for what we hope will be a fair, bargained agreement, that you, the body, will vote on. We believe that we have a good plan going forward, but will continue to meet with the membership to ensure that we fairly represent all of our members equally. The new building is just about complete and we hope to be moving in at the beginning of the NewYear. I am sure that you will all be happy with your new union building and proposed members’ area for your future use. The holidays are with us and I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas or a Happy Hanukkah! Please remember that we only have each other, back each other up, and get home safe to your family, which is your number one responsibility! God Bless and a Happy NewYear to all! I guess it’s been a tough year for us all, but this too shall pass. I can only hope that the silent majority wakes up soon and moves to take our country back. Time and the next Presidential election will dictate the future of Professional Policing in this country. We will continue to fight for your rights and represent the truth to the public.