For those of you who are waiting for the county and the retirement board to be on the same page about retirement health care, hold your breath just a few more weeks. The deadline set by the county is just around the corner.

We still don’t know if there will be an extension of the date set by the county for the possible termination of the current 401(h) plan used to pay out the supplemental health benefit. The SDCERA board has made a recommendation and now it’s up to the Board of Supervisors to follow it, or at a minimum, come to a mutual agreement on the resolution presented by the retirement board.

We are doing our very best to keep on top of any information that may be provided to you on this very important matter. If you have any questions regarding the SDCERA resolution, we have added a link from our website to their site for your review.

A possible solution to the downtown parking situation does have some signs of life. At the May 23 EMT meeting, Brian Sampson gave a progress report in which he identified downtown locations where the department has found privately held parking lots with enough parking spaces available to suit our needs. Directors York and Gilmore, with the assistance of Deputy Ortiz, will continue to work closely with the department to hopefully put this matter to rest as soon as possible. Remember, this problem has existed for many years, so please bear with us as we work with the department to solve this issue.

Ground has finally been broken, and the San Diego County Law Enforcement Memorial is now closer to becoming a reality. The memorial itself is scheduled to be completed in September of this year and will be a fitting tribute to those whom have paid the ultimate price for keeping our communities safe. The memorial designer has provided a rendition of the actual memorial, which is posted on our website.

I, along with Directors Mercer and Gilmore, attended the National Memorial in Washington, D.C. Let me just say that the sight of thousands of peace officers representing every corner of our country is still the most incredible event I have ever seen. We wish to thank Congressman Brian Bilbray and his chief of staff, Steve Danon, for the fantastic congressional tour of our capital.

If you want more proof that the department is short staffed, just ask the ten females who are being sent back to Las Colinas from their current work locations due to a shortage of female deputies. We need to get the word out that we currently have approximately two hundred openings in our department.

I know it’s a tough sell for department recruiters, but if we don’t succeed in raising our staffing levels, in all likelihood, the future will hold not only increased, but mandatory overtime. Please keep the last statement and this next thought in the back of your minds. If we’re having problems hiring people now, what kind of impact do you think a new tier will have on us when we are already the only department in the county with a two tier system? (Negotiations are not that far off!)

By the way, we’re closely monitoring the transfers to Las Colinas. Just making sure that not only are they within P&P guidelines, but more importantly, they conform to the law.

Lastly, I wish to thank everyone for their support during the illness and ultimately the passing of my mother. She was a great lady, and my family will miss her.

I don’t wish to dwell about my situation, but I do wish to write a few lines on the process of dealing with the event (death of a family member) by using myself and a fellow member as examples. You need to have all of your paperwork prepared and stored in a location where a relative or friend can easily locate it.

By the grace God, as a department, we have not had to deal with an on duty law enforcement death in a very long time. We do have members whom have passed as a result of illness and accidents. The experience of arranging and paying for funeral services is frustrating and potentially extremely expensive.

We recently had a surviving spouse pay an extremely high amount to have her loved one buried. I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t spend the money if you want to, but in this case, I sense that she was taken advantage of when decisions had to be made.

My recommendation is that you allow someone to assist you in the decision making process. You should not attempt to handle the entire process on your own. The DSA is working to provide information and contact persons, if necessary, to assist you in your time of need.

Take care, stay healthy and safe. 