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N O V 2 0 1 7 D E C
In my role as National President I have had the good fortune
to recently attend two international re-training conferences, the
Africa/Middle East conference in Senegal, Africa and the European
conference in Bristol, England. Now, I work for a small town, and
although they have been very supportive in what I am doing, I do
have to answer the occasional question in regards to my time away.
For instance, I was recently asked by a member of my Board of Select-
men, what does the continent of Africa have to do with the folks in
Rowley, Massachusetts. Fair question, right? So I explained sooner or
later everything becomes a law enforcement issue. As law enforcement
officers we protect and we serve. The protection part comes natural
to us; it is the service part that is forever evolving. I went on to relate
that one of the topics at the Africa/Middle East conference was what
radicalizes an individual? What the discussion centered around is that
although there are no cookie cutter reasons, what generally radical-
izes the youth in their countries, of Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda, Jordan
and others, are the same things that radicalize the youth in France,
Brussels, England, and the United States. And it is not necessarily an
ideology, the ideology is just a catalyst, it is rather the disenfranchise-
ment, a lack of belonging, which is the driving force for many. Please
don’t misconstrue this statement. There are countless others that are
plain and simple, criminals, and are now just criminals with a “cause”,
but it is the former where there is potential to reach. We need to dis-
cuss, present, and offer other options. And since most things become
a law enforcement problem sooner or later, I don’t believe there is an
organization in the world better positioned to change this narrative,
to prevent and provide better options than the FBINAA and our law
enforcement partners. They use social media, we need to use social
media better. They provide options for belonging, we need to provide
better options. These options, these ideas and discussions need to take
place in Rowley, Massachusetts as much as they do in Los Angeles,
New York City, or Senegal, Africa.
At the European Conference the main theme was International
Policing, Being Better Together. Giving all that is happening in the
world, there has never been a time when there is a need for us, as law
enforcement professional leaders, to be better together. I believe we
have a role in demonstrating the proper way to manage differences,
through proactive discussions and cooperative actions. I believe it is
important for us as an Association and a profession to lead us as a
society in the way that we communicate. Our Association touches over
170 countries. National origin, gender, party affiliation is never entered
into the equation, just the desired outcome without the need for credit.
There are no borders that our Association does not have the ability to
cross. We are not perfect by any stretch of imagination, but our chosen
profession demands we strive towards it and therefore we are always
seeking to improve. Our Mission of Impacting Communities by Pro-
viding and Promoting Law Enforcement Leadership through Training
and Networking provides us opportunities to continuously produce for
those we serve and to be, better together.
Greetings!
by Scott Dumas
During my address at the National Conference in Washington
D.C., the statement was made that law enforcement is not broken;
and we are not. To the contrary, my view on the state of law enforce-
ment is we, as a group, are the backbone of society. We are solid.
Because of our omnipresence we are relied upon to meet head on all
the challenges that comes our way. We are asked to wear many hats to
tackle those challenges, adapt and overcome obstacles to those chal-
lenges because the words “it can’t be done” are not within our vo-
cabulary. At the writing of this article it has been two weeks since a
psychotic madman made the decision to rain down hell on a group
of innocent citizens in Las Vegas, and we are no closer to finding the
motives that lead to it, nor may we ever realize them. The one thing
that was evident was the leadership that is in place to manage that
tragic event, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, graduate of the 227th session.
Every Chief Executive’s nightmare, Sheriff Lombardo has handled the
aftermath with poise, compassion, and professionalism. Although it is
hard to fathom that this may have become the new normal, as a pro-
fession, as a society, we have to be prepared for that reality and impact
it wherever we can.
Our new Executive Director Mark Morgan has taken a hard look
at our Mission and Vision statement and has made it his first priority
to make sure everything we do as an Association is tied to it in some
way. Every chapter has been contacted to provide feedback so we can
redevelop and further define our strategic plan. We need to be one
voice in the development of our law enforcement leaders. We need
to be pliable in our actions and responses. For example, in the 1970’s
law enforcement was not asked about the potential consequences of
de-institutionalization, we have just been tasked with the fall out over
the past 30-40 years. Today the largest mental health institutions in
the United States are LA County Jail, Cook County Jail, and Riker’s
Island. A featured article in this publication summarizes the history
of CIT teams, born out of a 1988 tragic event, and law enforcement’s
response to that tragedy. Today there are hundreds of CIT agencies
throughout the country. More are needed however because the issue
of mental health and the percentage of individuals we deal with that
have some sort of mental health issue on board is not going to dimin-
ish anytime soon. This is an opportunity to provide our people with
another tool.
ASSOCIATION PERSPECTIVE
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