EAGLE TIMES OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE UNITED STATES PARK POLICE - FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE
April - June 2015
D I S P A T C H
2nd Quarter 2015 (Published: August 2, 2015)
NOMINATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR 2015 EXECUTIVE BOARD ELECTIONS
NATIONAL TRUST NEEDED TO MAINTAIN NATIONAL PARKS
U. S. PARK POLICE: UNDERSTAFFED& POORLY EQUIPPED
NOMINATION NOTICE 2015 EXECUTIVE BOARD
ELECTIONS
Any member interested in running for office in the
October USPPFOP Executive Board Election, must act
immediately to secure a place on the ballot
Details are on Page 4F R A T E R N A L O R D E R O F P O L I C E
U N I T E D S T A T E S P A R K P O L I C E L A B O R C O M M I T T E E
1st Quarter 2015 Page 3
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Video:U. S. Park Police
Dangerously Understaffed
District 1Dave Crandall Mike RussoSean KellenbergerJames DingeldeinDistrict 2Anthony McSherryCotayba Al-Saigh
District 3Debyn BrownDistrict 4Gary HatchDistrict 5VACANTCIBI.P. Edwards
K9Charles WilkinsMotorsTodd HandServicesElizabeth Kessebeh SWATErnie EclipseJack EddingtonAngelo Herron
MPOSMichael CameronAlternatesWilliam BattistaVinh Nguyen
IDKen RawlesCanineMichael GriffinHMPIrma Javier
PatrolEric Cole Sean Cox CIBEzra Savage
Contents2015 USPPFOP Executive Board Election Nomination Announcement Page 4
National Trust Needed To Fund Maintenance of National Parks Page 5
Zachary’s Ride- Charity Poker Run Page 6
Fraternal Order of PoliceUnited States Park Police Labor Committee
1320 G Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003
Telephone: 202-544-4813
Fax: 202-544-5918
Website: usppfop.org
Email: [email protected]
The EAGLE TIMES DISPATCH is published quarterly by the Fraternal Order of Police, United States Park Police Labor Committee organized under the Fraternal Order of Police, State Lodge for the District of Columbia.
Media inquiries should be directed to the Fraternal Order of Police, United States Park Police Labor Committee.
Executive Board
Ian GlickChair
Gary Hatch Vice-Chair
Bill BattistaSecretary
Anthony McSherryTreasurer
Billy Sepeck Executive Chief Steward- DC
Mark FaraciExecutive Chief Steward- NY
Russell Kidd Executive Chief Steward- CA
Shop Stewards
Washington, DC
SanFrancisco Office
New York Office
Liberty DistrictChris KyriakoHarold Gonzales
Staten IslandRobert O’Brien
BrooklynSaoud MohammedRobert McGarry
Front Page Image: Ballot Box (Adobe Stock)
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EAGLE TIMES DISPATCH
2015 USPPFOP Executive Board Elections Nominations Announcement
Election Committee Official Mailing & Email AddressFraternal Order of Police, U. S. Park Police Labor Committee
Elections Committee, Chairman James Dingeldein, PO Box 2903, Arlington, VA 22202
The Elections Committee email address is: [email protected]
USPPFOP Elections Committee, August 2, 2015, Chairman James Dingeldein
Nominations for the offices of Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Executive Chief Steward- Washington, DC, Exec-utive Chief Steward- New York Area, and Executive Chief Steward San Francisco Area are being accepted by the Fra-ternal Order of Police United States Park Police Labor Committee (USPPFOP). As stated in the USPPFOP Bylaws, “No member shall be eligible for nomination unless he/she has been a member in good standing of the Labor Committee for at least one year before August 15th of the election year.” Candidates running for the Executive Chief Steward positions must be assigned to the area the position represents; any member may run for the other board positions. Any qualified member in good standing that desires to run for one of these offices should read this notice and take appropriate action to place their name on the ballot. Should there be any questions, contact the Elections Committee at: [email protected] . There are three methods of becoming a candidate:
1. Nomination by Petition (DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: AUGUST 15, 2015)
· Candidates for the offices of Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer must complete a Nomination Peti-tion Form (USPPFOPEC Form 1- Download) that has 25 or more signatures of members in good standing of the USPPFOP. The signature of the candidate does not count as one of the 25 minimum signatures. The nomination signatures for these positions may come from any member in good standing of the USPPFOP.
· Candidates for the offices of Executive Chief Steward- Washington, DC, Executive Chief Steward- New York Area, and Executive Chief Steward San Francisco Area must complete a Nomination Petition Form (USPPFO-PEC Form 1- Download) that has 10 or more signatures of members in good standing of the USPPFOP, assigned to the geographic area being represented by the office. The signature of the candidate does not count as one of the 10 minimum signatures. The candidate must be assigned to the geographic area the position represents.
· The USPPFOP Election Committee must receive your petition no later than August 15, 2015. Having more than the minimum required signatures is recommended. Mail Petitions to this address: Fraternal Order of Police, U. S. Park Police Labor Committee, Elections Committee, Chairman James Dingeldein, PO Box 2903, Arlington, VA 22202. The Elections Committee email address is: [email protected]
2. Nomination by Written Notification to the Election Committee (DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION:AUGUST 31, 2015)
· Any qualified member in good standing may send a letter to the Election Committee stating their desire to be a candidate for office. The letter must include your full name, address, telephone number, email address and specify the office for which you want to run. Please, sign this correspondence. The USPPFOP Election Committee must receive this correspondence no later than August 31, 2015. Mail this correspondence to: Fraternal Order of Police, U. S. Park Police Labor Committee, Elections Committee, Chairman James Ding-eldein, PO Box 2903, Arlington, VA 22202.
3. Nomination by Verbal notification made to the Chairman of the Election Committee (DEADLINE FOR REQUEST: AUGUST 31, 2015)
· No later than August 31, 2015 members may verbally notify the Election Committee Chairman James Ding-eldein. You will be asked to supply contact information. You may make arrangements for this by emailing the USPPFOP Election Committee at: [email protected]
Members wishing to run for one of these offices are encouraged to use nomination Method #2 (Nomination by Writ-ten Notification to the Election Committee), as this is the most efficient method of becoming a candidate. Nomination by petition is dependent on the verification of the petition and its signatures by the election committee. The term of
office will run for two years beginning in December 2015. Af-ter the expiration of the deadlines for filing nominations the USPPFOP Election Committee will meet, review the submis-sions, assemble the ballot and in accordance with the bylaws they will announce the slate of candidates and information about the election, no later than September 14, 2015. Any member interested in observing these proceedings should email the USPPFOP Election Committee at [email protected], to make arrangements, by August 31, 2015. Can-didates should email the Election Committee that you have mailed your documents, so that you can receive notification when it is received.
All candidates will be permitted to submit up to 5 pages of content in an edition of the USPPFOP Newsletter that will be published no later than Monday, October 12, 2015. Materials submitted by candidates will be published in the newsletter in an order determined by lot. Materials for publication must be received no later than September 25, 2015. Additional details about candidate content will be issued when the election slate is announced.
The election will be conducted, over three days, on Tuesday, October 27, 2015, on Wednesday, October 28, 2015, and on Thursday, October 29, 2015. Voting will be conducted during two time periods on each of these three days. The two voting periods on each of these three days will be 0530 – 0630 and 1730 – 1830 (LOCAL TIME). There will be voting locations in or near the following areas: U. S. Park Police AOF, U. S. Park Police D-1, U. S. Park Police D-2, U. S. Park Police D-3, U. S. Park Police D-4, U. S. Park Police New York Field Office Floyd Bennett Field, U. S. Park Police New York Field Office Fort Wadsworth, U. S. Park Police New York Field Office Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island and the U. S. Park Police San Francisco Field Office. The exact locations of these voting areas and voting procedures will be detailed in future announcements.
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EAGLE TIMES DISPATCH
National Trust Needed To Fund Maintenance of National Parks
In 2014, the National Park Service financial statements identified an $11.49 billion dollar maintenance backlog. Pay-ing for the maintenance of our National Parks has proved to be a difficult nut to crack. The maintenance backlog has grown dramatically over the last 20 years. In 1998 the backlog was estimated to be $6.1 billion. In 2009, the backlog was estimated to be $8.4 billion. The growth of the maintenance backlog changes as some maintenance projects are completed. However, over the last 20+ years the money appropriated and donated to the National Park Service has not prevented the backlog from growing by $6 - $7 billion dollars. The National Park Foundation, chartered by Congress in 1967 to support the National Park Service, has raised money for many worthy projects, but their efforts have not made a dent in the maintenance backlog. In 2012, the National Park Foundation raised $19 million for the National Park Service, at that level it would take about 578 years to resolve the $11.49 billion backlog.
The Fraternal Order of Police, United States Park Police Labor Committee supports establishing a National Park Service Maintenance Trust Fund. Our National Parks are treasures that need to be preserved to inspire future gener-ations. The love of citizens for history and the outdoors needs to be turned into action. The goal of the trust should be to eliminate the need to appropriate taxpayer funds to maintain our National Parks. The trust should establish a long-term strategy that builds sufficient capital to eventually fully fund the maintenance of our National Parks. Our National Parks should be places that inspire excellence and visibly demonstrate our commitment to the stewardship of our great land. Leaders should come forward and inspire their fellow citizens to achieve this goal.
The budget turmoil caused by the National Park Service Maintenance backlog has resulted in dangerous law enforce-ment policies that are endangering citizens and irreplaceable cultural resources. While there are legitimate criticisms of some National Park Service spending habits, spending cuts and altered spending polices will not, by themselves, fix the problem. The budget climate has resulted in the leadership of the National Park Service recklessly neglecting law enforcement operations. National Park Service law enforcement operations are understaffed, poorly trained and under-equipped. This situation is dangerous on a routine day, but on a day when a critical incident occurs the conse-quences will be deadly.
NPS Neglect of Law Enforcement Operations has Dangerous Effects:
• The U. S. Park Police is understaffed by over 230 officers. This officer shortage frequently results in unstaffed patrol beats that endanger the public and officers. U. S. Park Police management does not backfill these empty patrol beats by paying overtime because this need is not funded by the National Park Service. In several critical areas, the U. S. Park Police do not have the personnel to staff response forces needed to effectively handle critical incidents (e.g. mass casualty incidents, bombings, active shooter/s).
• The U. S. Park Police urgently needs to replace its aging helicopters to be able to continue vital rescue and law enforcement operations in the Nation’s Capital.
• The U. S. Park Police does not have the staffing, training, or equipment to effectively respond to mass casualty incidents.
• The U. S. Park Police communication system is unreliable; far too frequently officers cannot communicate important information.
• The U. S. Park Police has basic law enforcement equipment needs that are ignored because of budget issues.
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EAGLE TIMES DISPATCH
Help Zachary FundZach Muller, the son of U. S. Park Police Officers Barb & Rich Muller, needs some backup. Zach has Treacher Collins Syndrome that is life threatening. This is a rare condition. Treatments are frequently not covered by insurance and are extremely expensive. Zach has Treacher Collins Syndrome; a debilitating and life threatening syn-drome; that is extremely expensive to treat. On September 12, 2015 there will Chari-ty Poker Run starting in Fort Washington, MD to raise money to help with the cost of Zachary’s expensive operations and care. Zach faces a lifelong battle. Check back on Face-book.com/1791fop for updates. If you can’t make it to the Poker Run or if you want to help now--
PLEASE, Click on this box to go to the go donation site.
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A BEAUTIFUL DAY
CAN TURN UGLY FASTWE MUST BE READY
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Thanks For Your Support !
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)
Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.)Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.)
These Members of Congress Are Working To Fix U. S. Park Police Operational Readiness Issues
