fbinaa_10-2019-Digital_press

F B I N A A . O R G | S E P T / O C T 2 0 1 9

I was, in significant part, mentored in this profession by Doug Muldoon , Past President of the FBINAA. Doug personified the word NETWORKING throughout his career. Even prior to his attending the FBI NA, Doug was always connecting with others through community organizations and making business contacts long before community policing was a word. As Doug and I grew through various phases of supervision and command, he was always pushing NETWORKING. Not me, “Sorry, got a bad guy to catch today.” We even joked about Doug NETWORKING during our daily lunch break. We used to place bets on how long it would take for him to sit down at the restaurant. It was not until I was at executive staff level and “sent” to the FBI NA that I finally got it. What can I say? I’m a little dense sometimes. The joke was on me. Today, I’m the ultimate convert. I can attest that NETWORKING changed my profession, my career and my life. EXPANDING THE NETWORKING REACH At the 2019 Chapter Leadership Summit in March, our Execu- tive Board did an exceptional job of expanding the NETWORKING reach by inviting the FBINAA Alliance Partners to the Academy. Under the leadership of then President Johnnie Adams and Executive Director Howard Cook , and initiated and coordinated by Greg Guiton , our Director of Strategic Partnerships, they provided the perfect environment to enhance the partnership and com- munication between the Association and these business partners. My employer, Bansbach Tactical , participated in the day-long presentation and tour of the Academy in Quantico, even though our business niche is way outside the realm of law enforcement. We saw this as a B2B (business-to-business) opportunity, expand-

ing our NETWORKING reach.

As FBINAA members, we know that without the Alliance Partners--the vendor businesses that service the law enforcement community--we likely would not be the successful organization we are today. Our partners’ financial support of the FBINAA is essen- tial at the Chapter, National and International levels. Likely, many of our re-trainer conferences and other gatherings that facilitate the NETWORKING function would cease to exist in its present form were it not for their sponsorships and participation as exhibitors. For that, we should be appreciative and grateful. For some mem- bers, it becomes their next career and they remain active NAA members. While this has been the perfect symbiotic relationship, can we do more? Has the forest we’ve been walking, grown into a larger, more diverse terrain in 2019? I offer this analogy because not only is it illustrative of the growth the policing business has experienced, expanding far beyond any model most of us grew up with, but so is the opportunity for the FBINAA to expand its reach into the future. CHANGING THE VISION OF THE FUTURE Last year my wife, also a NA grad and an Area Rep for the Florida Chapter, and I decided to both retire from full-time police work after a combined 70 years on the job. While we remain loosely connected through serving as reserve officers and con- tinue memberships in various related organizations, I sense a

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