FBINAA JULYAUG MAG.2018

www.fbinaa.org

J U LY 2 0 1 8 A U G

ASSOCIATION PERSPECTIVE

by Johnnie Adams

Dear Colleagues,

T his has been a tremendous journey and I am humbled and honored to be this year’s president. Twenty-five years ago in 1993 the FBI National Academy Associates, Inc. took steps to incorporate the organization officially becoming a 501(c) 3. Under the leadership of then President James F. Keesling , Session 96 the NA went from an unofficial partner with the FBI to an official non-profit training organization. The FBI National Academy Associates is rich in history. This stems from the symbolism brought forth by the tenets of our organization. I started to reflect on my time in the academy during the summer of 2005 as part of Session 222. While at the Academy I remember learning about the symbolism behind the FBI National Academy seal and what it means to be a graduate of the strongest law enforcement leadership network in the world. The seal represented a united effort on the part of its graduates to maintain the highest ideals of the law enforcement profession. These are representative of each facet of the National Academy, which are academic achievement, strength, valor and integrity. All of which are embodied in the symbols and colors of the seal. The eagle represents the courage of law enforcement, flanked by ac- ademic excellence and law and order, as represented by the olive branch. The arrows symbolize the strength in body and mind, a key component of law enforcement. The eagle stands on the United States shield. The red stripes of the shield symbolize the courage and strength necessary in law enforcement and the white stripes stand for light, peace, and truth. The unity of law enforcement is represented by the 13 stripes comprising the shield, reminiscent of the 13 original states. All brought together through the ideals of the National Acad- emy’s motto, “Knowledge, Courage, Integrity”. The peaked, beveled edge surrounding the National Academy seal represents the continuing forces of adversity facing the law enforcement community. Our profession is certainly facing many adversarial challenges both internally and externally. The tragedies that face agencies when one of their own commits suicide still plagues our profession as numer- ous studies around the country state that the incidence of suicides in law enforcement are higher statistically than that of the general popu- lation. The FBINAA is committed to reducing this through our part- nership with Acadia Healthcare and the Officer Safety and Wellness Committee . I urge each member to take steps to help those in need. Externally, we see the challenges of Cyber related crimes, human trafficking, global terrorism and mass shootings at our schools to name a few. The FBI National Academy Associates through the strength of the network will take on these challenges and help to drive solutions to keep our communities safe.

I am blessed and excited to work with our talented Executive Board, new Executive Director Howard Cook and our wonderful hard working staff to tackle some of these issues and challenges. The mem- bers of this organization are at the very core of why we exist and I encourage each of you to get involved in some way to improve our outreach with our communities. The knowledge and experience of our members is such a strength for change that we should share this through articles in our magazine, teaching opportunities at our re- trainers and mentorship of our younger officers and youth. I am excited about the future of the FBI National Academy As- sociates and the direction of our Association. The knowledge passed on from our previous board members and presidents have shaped not only my life but also the direction of the Association in such a positive direction embodying the tenets of our motto, “Knowledge, Courage, Integrity.” I will miss Joey Reynolds who will exit our board this year. His passion promoting our public, private partnerships strengthened our relationships with our sponsors and vendors who are an extension of our family. His dedication for the last 9 years has helped move our association in a progressive direction. Scott Dumas will be moving into the immediate past president’s spot and I will be sticking to him like glue. However, I sometimes needed a translation app to understand his accent. His insight and commitment was always steadfast and I recall a recent discussion that we had about the rise in school shoot- ings. Scott shared some very wise words. Rather than get in a debate over gun control, arming schools etc. He stated something to the affect “Why can’t we just all be decent to each other. If we just started a decency campaign then maybe we would end bullying and school shootings”. These are wise words and with the use of social media we can leverage and highlight the good work of all our members in their communities with #DecencyFBINAA . Thank you and this is a great honor to serve this Association as your President and I am committed to serving all of our members. Be safe, stay committed and I will see you soon!

Johnnie Adams, President FBI NAA Chief, Santa Monica College Police Department

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