The “Hayti Police Officers” of Durham PD

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Fraternal Order of Police
BlueNote
Official Publication of the North Carolina State Lodge
Volume 3, Issue 2 by Dennis McCrary
NC National Trustee
Past
President,
Terry
Mangum, and I attended the
State Presidents’ and National FOP Board of Directors
meeting in San Antonio
March 6-9. Several very important decisions were made
that members need to know.
The first is that there will be at
least one resolution presented at the National Conference
in Cincinnati to increase the
National per capita by $1 per
year. This would take effect
in the second half of 2015.
The initial attempt to increase
it by $2.50 was amended to
be only a $1 increase but
very likely amendments will
be presented by some
lodge/lodges to increase it
more than the dollar. Another
resolution will be introduced
by the Kansas State Lodge at
the National Conference to
increase the amount paid to
the Grand Lodge by an additional dollar, with fifty cents
www.ncfop.org going to the FOP Foundation Disaster Relief and fifty
cents to help fund the National Memorial Service in
DC.
The topic of gun control
was also discussed and
debated during the board
meeting. A resolution was
presented by President
Canterbury and Executive
Director Jim Pasco to establish a new position for
the FOP on gun control
issues. Most of the proposed amendment was
pretty generic but there
were two items which I and
others considered to be
very troubling. It appeared
the proposed amendment
was moving toward passage but we were able to
amend it to eliminate the
two problem positions. The
first item we deleted was
“Expansion of background
checks on firearms purchases.”
This was explained to include any
transaction between individuals selling firearms to each
other.
A thorough background check would have to
be done and one of the individuals would be responsible
for the cost. I believe that
the nature of this proposal
should warrant a separate
discussion and vote at the
National Conference if we
take any position on this
change. The second troubling language was to “Support responsible gun ownership.” Though this seems
fairly generic I had real concerns that it could later be
interpreted to allow support
of even gun bans saying it
was the “responsible” thing
to do. It was removed from
the proposed amendment.
One additional amendment
was made to the proposed
resolution to add the statement that we “Support the
Constitution of the United
States.” The other items of
Continued on P. 9
The “Hayti Police Officers” of Durham PD By Bobby Gaddy
State Sergeant-At-Arms
As many of you know, February is
nationally recognized as Black History
Month. Also known as African American History Month, it was first
celebrated in 1926 in the United States,
when historian Carter G. Woodson and
the Association for the Study of Negro
Life and History announced the second
week of February to be "Negro History
Week." Now Black History Month is
celebrated for a full month not only in
the United States, but also in Canada
and the United Kingdom. Throughout
history, African Americans have been
cited with making many contributions to
all different walks of life. African
Continued from P. 7
The Voice of Law Enforcement
March/April 2 013 Inside This
Issue
Chaplain’s
Corner
with NCFOP Chaplain, Phil Wiggins.
Don’t Believe Everything you read on
the Internet
Message from President, Randy Hagler.
The “Hayti Police
Officers” of Durham
Update on the Blue
Note Publication
A House Divided“We are one, there
is no division”
Legal Aid Testimony
from Doug Glover
A message from
FOP Vice President,
John Byrd
Important Decisions
from the National
FOP Board Meeting
Index
Directory
Lodge News
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North Carolina
Fraternal Order of Police
1500 Walnut Street
Cary, NC 27511
(O) 800-628-8062
(F) 919-461-4958
Email
[email protected]
Web Site
www.ncfop.org
President
Randy Hagler
[email protected]
Immediate Past President
Terry Mangum
[email protected]
Vice President
John Byrd
[email protected]
Secretary
Don Penix
[email protected]
Treasurer
Doris Kirby
[email protected]
nd
2 Vice President
Ron “Duck” Wyatt
[email protected]
Sergeant-At-Arms
Robert Gaddy
[email protected]
Chaplain
Phil Wiggins
[email protected]
National Trustee
Dennis McCrary
[email protected]
Chariperson of Trustees
Phillip Ferguson
[email protected]
BlueNote Update
Editor In Chief
Terry Mangum
Editor, Jessica Miller, and I hope you have been enjoying the BlueNote
and are pleased with the issues we have been producing, but we cannot do
this alone. Your contributions are needed to make our publication successful
and informative. I would like to thank all of you who have submitted articles. I
would also ask that you please send me your comments and any suggestions
for improvement relating to the BlueNote. This is your publication so help us
make it better by contributing articles, photographs, and suggestions for improvement. Please e-mail your articles to my e-mail address [email protected]
For those who have submitted articles, some may have noticed that their
article appeared slightly different from what they submitted. If your article is
not word-for-word like you wrote it, please understand that I do edit the articles. If you are not pleased with the way your article appears, please voice
your displeasure to me. Also, if you have photographs to accompany your
article, please select one or two to submit and not all 25-30 photographs
which were taken the day of the event. Also identify the individuals in the
photograph.
As I have often preached in the past, in order for the BlueNote to serve the
purpose of informing our membership of activities and crucial information,
they have to receive the publication. Our distribution list has not grown significantly and your efforts to have your members submit their e-mail addresses
have basically gone unanswered. We need these e-mail addresses so our
members will receive the BlueNote and any urgent or important information
from the State Lodge.
Your participation is what makes this publication both useful and beneficial
to our membership. Please take the time to send me an article for our next
issue.
If I may be of assistance to you, or if you have any questions or concerns,
please contact me. As always, I am here to serve you and our membership.
Don’t Believe Everything
You Read On The Internet
Ron” Duck” Wyatt
2nd Vice President
In recent weeks I, along with several other State Executive Board members, have been contacted about some
“information” that a person unknown
to us had seen on the internet. Some of
the folks readily admitted an email,
which was forwarded to them, made
them upset. Several individuals demanded immediate answers and responses. I hope all of you can recall
the commercial on TV about “if it is on
the internet it has to be true!” One actor asks, “Where did you hear that?”
The actress replies, “On the internet”
www.ncfop.org
as her French model boyfriend (that
she met on the internet) struggles to
say “Bonjour.”
In this age of text messages, emails,
and of course the internet, information
gets to us much faster than ever before.
It seems the British government actually conducted a study to see who is
most likely to be duped.
I was
astounded to learn from their research
that the most susceptible individuals
usually are those with better than average intelligence and those usually very
conservative minded. I had to chuckle
because this week I spoke directly to
or exchanged emails and text messages
with a lot of Smart Conservative
Continued on P. 8
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Legal Aid Committee
by John Byrd
Brothers and Sisters,
We have our Spring Board Meeting coming up in
Charlotte on March 22-24. I want to
once again thank Charlotte Lodge #9
for hosting this event. It is important
that every lodge send someone to
this meeting so that your input can be
heard as to how you want to see this
lodge move forward. We are looking
at some troubled waters ahead
Brothers and Sisters; I hope you have
John R. Byrd Sr. Vice President been paying attention to the news and
what’s going on in our country. The [email protected]
Executive Board has worked hard to put together a
good budget for your review and vote. The issue of
armed personnel in schools is also going to be a hot
topic of discussion at this meeting. The National
Lodge’s stance on “Gun Control” will also be discussed.
The Web Site Committee Chairman Ryan Dawson
will be doing the official unveiling or our new state
lodge web site. Ryan and his Committee have done an
outstanding job and have put together a product that
we can all be proud of.
As always I am here to serve you. You can call me
anytime at 336-504-8173 or email me at [email protected] if I can be of assistance to you in anyway.
Person County F.O.P. Lodge Annual Awards Banquet January 29,
2013 at The Homestead Steak House in Timberlake, NC.
L-R: Wallace Bradsher Jr., District Attorney District 9A "Special Award
of Appreciation", Bing & Shirley Long "Ronnie E. Thomas Outstanding
Service Award", John R. Byrd Sr., President/Secretary Lodge #74, Inv.
Michael Clark, Person County Sheriffs Dept. "Officer of the Year", Inv.
Adam Irby, Roxboro Police Dept. "Distinguished Service Award" and
Trooper James Gentry, NC Highway Patrol "Distinguished Service
Award".
Chairman Terry Mangum
The Committee is responsible for reviewing legal aid applications from our membership and rendering a decision on whether to
approve or deny the request. We all understand that it is extremely important for applying members to receive a response from the
Committee on their request for legal aid in a
timely manner. In order to accomplish this, it
is necessary for applicants to follow our
submission procedures. As a reminder, the
request for legal aid requires completing two
documents. Both the Application For Legal
Aid Plan and the Legal Aid Plan Agreement
must be completed and mailed to Rich Hattendorf at the State Office. Please note that
the Application For Legal Aid form must be
typed in order to be submitted and reviewed
by the Committee. Additionally, completing
the Legal Aid Plan Agreement requires the
applicant to have the local lodge secretary
sign and seal (lodge) the form.
Without both forms on file in the State Office, the Legal Aid application will not be considered by the Committee.
The applicants must be specific in exactly
what they are requesting as well as providing
the details needed by the
Committee to make a decision. Many of the legal
aid requests we receive
require additional followups with the applicants.
Under the section of the
Legal
Aid
Application
which asks for the reason
legal aid is being reTerry Mangum
Past President
quested, please provide Immediate
[email protected]
a synopsis of the facts
and the reason for the request. While this
section of the application does use the word
brief, the Committee needs the facts (meat)
of the story surrounding the event. By providing this information at the time the application
www.ncfop.org
Continued on P. 9
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A House Divided
By Phillip Ferguson
Chairman of Trustees
I began my law enforcement career in June
1987, became a Charter Member of the Outer
Banks Lodge #71 in January 1997, and transferred
and became a Charter Member of the Currituck
County Lodge #89 in March 2007. During my 16
years as a Fraternal Order of Police member I have
served as Lodge Trustee, Lodge President, State
Lodge Awards Committee Chairman, member of the
State Labor Council, State Trustee, and now as
Chairman of the State Trustees. I attended my first
State level meeting in Fayetteville in the fall of 2000.
I have many great memories of the fraternal interactions and the work we have done for and with
our Brothers and Sisters. I have made great effort
to listen to all, and to consider ideas and concerns.
Over the years I have built relationships and assisted others in doing so, but I have also seen relationships damaged and divisions develop, often for no
discernible cause. The same tired song, “What are
they doing?” Anyone who has ever been a cop, or
been in the workforce at all for that matter, is familiar
with the tune. In the law enforcement world it is often
line versus brass and unit versus unit. Frankly it is
bad business. Is that appropriate for our Order? I
submit to you that it is not only inappropriate, but
also counterproductive and unhealthy.
Yes, we have disagreements and that is healthy.
We certainly are not a herd of sheep nodding our
heads; no, we are the Sheepdogs. We should engage in spirited discourse and debate, we owe it to
our Order and to ourselves. So where does the
concern lay? Throughout my years of participation at
the State level I have heard dissention and criticism
outside of our Board of Directors meetings; this can
be appropriate, healthy, and productive provided it
occurs in the proper context and with the proper motivation. When we dissent during a meeting we
should be afforded the courtesy of further discussion
afterwards; seldom does our conviction vanish by
virtue of a vote against our position. But when we
give no voice in those meetings, and choose to
backbite after adjournment, we do a disservice to
our Brothers and Sisters and ourselves; we become
the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Why don’t we speak out during our meetings?
We deal with an incredible amount of complex information, some of it is intimidating, and honestly,
we don’t want to seem uninformed or intimidated.
The onus is upon each of us as members of the
Chaplain’s Corner
As Law enforcement officers we observe the consuming nature of anger, be
it on the job or at times in
our homes. Anger can be
one of those emotions in
which some people dream
about ways to get back or
get even with someone that Phil Wiggins has hurt them. We see it NCFOP Chaplain about every day in our profession when anger controls people’s thoughts.
Some people relish and enjoy their anger.
Frederick Bueckner says it clearly: “Of the
Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most
fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips
over grievances long past, to roll over your
tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still
to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel
both the pain you are given and the pain you
are giving back; in many ways it is a feast fit
for a king. The chief drawback is that what you
are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at
the feast is you.”
Proverbs 14:17 A quick-tempered man acts
foolishly; 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit
than he who takes a city.
[email protected]
God Bless,
PhilWiggins
NCFOP Chaplain
State Board of Directors to stay informed and it is
not easy. I encourage you to reach out to your
Brothers and Sisters if you feel uninformed or
confused on an issue.
What is not acceptable is to remain uninformed; what is worse is to be informed but to
remain mute during meetings and then malign
each other in other settings.
How do we address these issues? Head on,
because sidestepping, guessing, and innuendo is
what drives a wedge between us stifling meaningful dialog and preventing our progress.
www.ncfop.org
Continued on P. 6
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by Randy Hagler
The next several months will be
important for members of the Fraternal Order of Police, both locally
and nationally. The Grand Lodge
is wrestling with issues involving
the 2nd Amendment and firearms
ownership and needs to understand they represent the 330,000
men and women which make up
the FOP. What must be very difficult is determining exactly what the
membership expects given our diverse population across the country. Our State Lodge needs to
have serious conversation about
this issue so that our members attending the upcoming National
Conference can be ready to participate in the discussion and help
form the position the FOP will take
on 2nd Amendment issues.
NC FOP has issues of our own
that need to be discussed and decided on – issues such as allowing
persons other than law enforcement officers to work at our schools
armed. There have already been a
number bills introduced that would
allow a variety of folks, other than
law enforcement officers, to work
on school campuses armed. No
doubt there will be many proposed
bills during this legislative session
that could affect how we do our
jobs; we must be ready as an organization that represents these
officers to make our collective
voices heard. We’re probably not
all going to agree on these issues
but we must remind ourselves that
we still belong to the best and biggest law enforcement organization
in the world.
I encourage our members to
engage their local lodges on how
they feel about all of these issues
and others which the FOP has tra-
ditionally fought for. We are on
the edge of something big and it
is up to us to determine which
way it goes. If we do not all
agree, but are heard in the debate, most will be able to live
with the results because we
know the FOP is still the best
thing going. So please over the
next several months attend your
lodge meetings and demand
discussion on issues of importance to all of us. Demand
those issues be brought to your
State and National Lodge for
consideration.
Or better yet
pick up the phone or send your
State Lodge Executive Board
an email and let us know what
is on your mind.
In February I attended an
event in Washington, DC, sponsored by the National Lodge
known as “Day on the Hill.”
This event has traditionally been
held in February each year and
is designed for FOP members
from all over the country to
schedule and meet with their
Representatives in both the
House and the Senate. The
purpose of these meetings is to
have FOP members lobby for
legislation important to all law
enforcement officers. I attended
this event as a member of the
National
Lodge
Legislative
Committee and was impressed
by the turnout. There were approximately 100 FOP members
in attendance from as far away
as Hawaii and close as Maryland and many points in between.
At this year’s event the only
other NC FOP members attending were from Lodge #9. Lodge
President Todd Walther and
Board Member Scott Gerson
attended and met with Rep.
Robert Pittenger (Dist 9) and
Rep. Richard Hudson (Dist. 8).
Both Pittenger and Hudson are
www.ncfop.org
newcomers to Washington so
the meeting was a nice introduction for both Representatives.
I also scheduled a
meeting with Rep. Walter
Jones (Dist. 3) and was encouraged by his willingness to
assist North Carolina Law Enforcement Officers.
Rep.
Jones has been very supportive of both law enforcement
and military personnel for
many years and we are fortunate to have him representing
us.
Events and meetings like
this are important but should
not replace a good grassroots
effort to contact Representatives while they are in their
home Districts. Representatives usually post their schedules of when they will be the
District working and they encourage visits by constituents.
This is a very cost effective
way of letting our Representatives understand the issues
our officers face and working
to improve the working conditions of our members/officers.
Please keep your State Lodge
informed on both positive and
negative meetings so that we
may be able to better coordinate our lobbying efforts. We
will do the same for you.
I hope to see you at a FOP
meeting soon!
Randy Hagler
President
[email protected]
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House Divided
Continued from P. 4
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Ask – When we do not see and understand a void
is created. Humans have a bad habit of filling
those voids with garbage, imagining that something sinister is afoot. If you don’t know, don’t
speculate! Ask until you have the answers!
Speak Up – Say what you mean, mean what you
say; preferably at the Board Meeting, into the microphone.
Read – Read everything, read it twice! At every
Board of Directors meeting the motion is made,
gleefully seconded, and with unanimous joy yea
votes are tendered by all, to accept the minutes
from the previous meeting as presented. Do you
really read them? What about other information
that is sent out? And we wonder why we’re uninformed or why we can’t remember approving this
or that.
If – If you hear that someone spoke ill of you,
misunderstood you, misquoted you, or said your
mother wore combat boots, don’t
stew over it. Go to that person and
say, “I heard you said this.” It has
been my experience that the person will either tell you yes and why
they said it or they will deny it, but
either way that person will know
that you will confront them and
they will likely speak more carefully in the future.
If you take issue make sure
•
“I was wrong.” If it’s something that needs to
be fixed then fix it.
Apologize – That’s right, if you owe someone an apology suck it up buttercup and get
it done!
We are one, there is no division. “Hold on
there Brother Ferguson! There is the E-board
and then there’s the State Trustees.” Well, that
would be wrong. Our State Constitution is
clear. The State Officers and State Trustees
meet and operate as the Board of Directors.
The State Executive Board exists to carry out
the day to day operations of the State Lodge
and acts as the conduit through which the decisions made at the Board of Directors level are
carried out.
“Well that can’t be right Brother Ferguson,
else why do we have the State Trustees Meeting!” I have no idea, since neither our State
Constitution nor By-laws makes provision for a
State Trustees meeting; meetings are
referenced as either State Executive
Board meetings or Board of Directors
meetings.
In the past we have held State
Trustees meetings where issues were
debated and votes were taken on
agenda items for the following day’s
Board of Directors meeting. These
votes simply held no weight, and they
were often made prior to a full under-
there’s issue to take – Go to the
standing of the issues that would be
Phillip Ferguson Chairman of Trustees source(s) to verify your information
presented the next day. I have heard
[email protected]
and see that it supports your positrustees question why State Officers
tion. If the situation warrants it address it in the were permitted to address the State Trustees
Board of Directors Meeting and in writing. If you meeting. This is simply not healthy for our Orfeel uneasy or can’t readily get the information der. It is my position that the State Trustees
you feel you need, consider approaching others in meetings simply cannot continue to exist bean informal setting to avoid inserting that size 12 cause they are not sanctioned by our State
Danner in your mouth in an open meeting. Trust Constitution and By-laws.
me, I’ve done it before, don’t try it.
I believe our time on those Friday evenings
It’s not what you say – It’s how you say it. Admit- would be better spent in a combination of brief
tedly I’m probably the saltiest curmudgeon in the opening ceremonies for our Board of Directors
group, and a bit of sarcasm is a good thing. What meeting where materials could be distributed for
is not a good thing is to be accusatory, defensive, review followed by a casual networking setting
or condescending. Not every question is an attack where we could discuss issues and get answers
prior to our meeting on Saturday. Our State
nor are our meetings an inquisition.
If you don’t know the answer – Take a deep Constitution and By-laws ensure solidarity; our
breath and say, “I don’t know the answer, but I’ll oath and obligation to our Fraternity demand it.
get it for you.” Then you actually have to follow Even after 154 years Lincoln’s words speak to
us here, “A house divided against itself cannot
up.
If you were wrong – Take a deep breath and say, stand.”
www.ncfop.org
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officers and 5 female non-sworn employees. These individuals were captured in a photograph
which appeared in a yearly calendar distributed by
the Scarborough and Hargett Funeral home. See
attached Photo:
Hayti Police…
Continued from P. 1
Americans
have
made
contributions
and
accomplishments in the fields
of
medicine,
science,
education, politics, and most
importantly criminal justice.
On January 1, 2013,
Robert Gaddy Sergeant-­‐At-­‐Arms the Durham Police [email protected]
ment lost the last surviving
and one of the first African American police officers
hired. Officer Benjamin H. McClary entered into
his eternal rest at the age of 97. He was one of
the original members of a group of police officers
known as the Hayti Police (pronounced HAY-TIE).
In June of 1944, at the request of C.C. Spaulding,
the founder of the North Carolina Mutual Insurance
Company, the Durham Police Department hired its
first two African American employees.
Their
names were Officer James B. Samuel and Officer
Clyde L. Cox. Like many African Americans in the
south during the Jim Crow era, they had strict stipulations as a part of their employment:
1. Initially, the two men were only allowed
to work in the plain clothes capacity.
2. They were only allowed to in the “Colored” section of town (aka Hayti).
3. Each man was only allowed to work
from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., so they
would not report to work at the same
time as their white counterparts.
4. As African Americans, they could not
arrest white law breakers. At that point
in time, it was against the law for African Americans to arrest white law
breakers.
5. They could only patrol by walking a
Foot Patrol in the “colored” section of
town.
6. They were only able to enter Police
Headquarters through the basement
and could only utilize the public comfort
stations marked “Colored Only.”
These were just a few of the stipulations they
faced during this period of time. Four years later
Officer McClary joined their ranks and began his
ten years of service to the city. Circa 1953-54, the
Police Department had approximately 16 African
American employees consisting of 11 male police
Outside of Durham to serve as a point of
reference, the Tuskegee Airmen were making their
marks in history (for the young people, “The
REDTAILS”) and Jackie Robinson was breaking
the color barrier in baseball. Other African Americans were making their marks in the areas of literature (writer Richard Wright, in his autobiography, "Black Boy”), and music. Muddy Waters
was a regular performer in Chicago and other musicians like Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald were
performing in New York City.
However in Durham, the Hayti Police officers were making a different impression. They often served on the front lines of major civil rights
demonstrations in downtown Durham. And their
presence had a calming effect on both sides of the
lines – for both demonstrators and officers alike.
Durham, as a whole, was spared from many of the
violent race riots experienced by many cities
across the nation. This was attributed in large part
to the presence, courage, honor and integrity of
Officer McClary and his fellow Hayti Police officers.
Through their perseverance, circa 1950 African
American Durham Police Officers were for the first
time assigned to drive Police Cars while out on
patrol in addition to their normal foot patrol duties.
It was not until 1972 that the Police Department
hired its first female employee who was also African American, Officer Phyllis Thorpe.
www.ncfop.org
Continued on P. 8
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Hayti Police Officers…
Continued from P . 7
The Hayti Police officers ultimately set
the stage for me and many of the other minority
officers of today. In 2013, the Durham Police
Department has over 500 total members.
There are 170 minority members and 144 of
those members are African Americans. Today
we have, 15 African American Commanders
(Lieutenants, Captains, and Assistant Chiefs),
16 African American sergeants, 25 African
American corporals, 88 African American uniformed officers and investigators. The chronicles of the Hayti Police officers were captured in
a book written and published in 1997 by former
Durham Police Officer Marshal R. Thompson.
Personally, it was not until later on in my
career that I really realized the significance of
what Mr. Ben had been instilling in me for so
many years. Almost on every occasion, Mr. Ben
faithfully told me:
1. “Son, keep on moving on.”
2. “Don’t you ever stop!”
3. “Go as far as you can!”
4. “Always look over your shoulder!”
5. “Don’t let them get you or stop you!”
Unlike most officers, he never told me of the
great arrests or numerous “big busts” that he
made during his career. As a matter of fact,
when it came to that he simply told me, “Son
you don’t need to hear all that! Just remember
what I told you!” So today I am deeply saddened but also overjoyed, because unlike
Photo: Chief Lopez and Mr. McClary most people, I had the chance to get to know and receive direct influence from someone who was directly
involved with a cultural change.
I will always cherish my fondest memory of
Mr. Ben. Approximately four years ago, I had the opportunity to take Mr. Ben to our Durham County
Lodge 2 Annual Christmas Retirees Luncheon. I will
never forget the joy on his face when he was reunited
with old friends and fellow co-workers. Afterwards, he
would often tell me about the good time he had and
how much he appreciated going. And every time he
would thank me for taking him. My response to him
was simple, “Mr. Ben, it is not necessary to thank me.
It was my privilege and my Duty.”
To Mr. Ben and the Hayti Police Officers,
Thank you for your many sacrifices. You will be
forever missed.
Internet…
Continued from P. 2
people who had become agitated over
the nonsense a gun company was
spreading around the internet. As with
every good dupe, there has to be some
fact in the story which intelligent peo- Ron “Duck” Wyatt ple know to be true. The dupe then 2nd Vice President [email protected]
gets into our conservative hearts and
makes us angry enough to tell someone else about it
and/or demand satisfaction. But the meat of the story/dupe is completely false. And the meaty falsehood is
always the part that we seem to remember when our
blood pressure is rising to the point where we need to
tell someone else.
I caution you, along with myself, to use your training
and experience to be more cautious than the average per-
son. Take a moment to research the ignorant ramblings of those worthy of nothing more than a
swift correction with facts. Taking a line from
Ron White, “You can’t fix stupid.” Let the facts
speak for themselves. With just a little effort on
your part you may prevent 10 or 20 others, or
maybe even 100, from getting the email that says
“My friend (That means you trust them. Why
should I?) sent me this email and I want you to be
aware. By the way let me know what you think?”
Do we really want to admit we were duped? None
of us want to receive an email which says “I think
with a little effort on your part you would have
found the facts you spoke about to be complete
rubbish. Do you want to tell your friend or do you
want me to tell him?”
We all know but sometimes forget that what we
read on the internet just may not be true.
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National FOP Meeting…
Continued from P. 1
support still in the proposed resolution are:
• Improving the National Instant Criminal Background
Check System(NICS)
• Reinvigoration of the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
to ensure that it has the tools
and resources necessary to
its mission
• Develop legislation to provide penalties for firearms
trafficking
• Improved law enforcement
access to mental health records in the context of firearms acquisition
• Funding to put more state
and local law enforcement
officers on the street
This resolution as amended will be
voted on at the National Conference
in Cincinnati.
The second gun issue addressed
was the position of the President and
apparently Executive Director that the
FOP was still bound by Resolution #6
that passed at the National Conference in 1993 named the “Anti-drug
and Assault Weapons Limitation Act
of 1993.” This act prohibited the importation and manufacture of certain
military assault weapons. The NC
State Executive Board had discussed
this issue and differed with the National President on the resolution still
being binding. At the National Board
meeting in San Antonio, I made a
motion that the Grand Lodge FOP
takes no position in support of any
specific weapon or magazine ban
legislation until such position is approved by the delegates at the 2013
National Conference in Cincinnati. I
Legal Aid…
also stated that our position was
that a resolution passed 19 years
ago that listed exact bill numbers
that were supported, and also the
law that was eventually passed
expired in 2004, clearly dictates
that the resolution is not still binding or relevant.
My motion
passed and the FOP will not support any weapon or magazine
ban legislation until it is addressed at the National Conference.
There were many other topics
discussed and additional motions
passed that I will report on at our
State Board meeting in Charlotte.
Lodge leaders should see by the
items I discussed above that it is
very important that you have delegates at the National Conference in Cincinnati to help make a
decision on these and many other
important topics.
Continued from P . 3
is submitted, the application can be handled quickly without the delay of phone calls and e-mails to get the
needed information.
Please share the procedural information concerning completing and submitting legal aid applications with
your Local Lodge members. This would be a good refresher topic during your monthly membership meetings.
If you have any questions concerning the legal aid process, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or 919-452-7679.
I always like to share positive results from our Legal Aid Plan. In this issue of the BlueNote there is one
such story from Lodge 9 member Doug Glover:
Legal Aid Testimonial By G. Douglas Glover, Jr. Lodge 9 member I would like to thank Rich Hattendorf, Mark
Michalec, and the FOP State Legal Aid Committee
for their assistance in helping me with this successful
outcome.
I will be retiring this year on April 30th with 30
years of service as a North Carolina law enforcement
officer from Mecklenburg County. While working on
my retirement with Mecklenburg County Human Resources, I was informed that I would only be receiving
a partial supplement from the County rather than a
full supplement. They stated that my first ten (10)
years as a Park Ranger did not count towards law
enforcement. When I asked them how they came to
that conclusion, they could not give me a valid answer. Human Resources would only state that it was
not law enforcement related. I attended BLET to be
certified to become a Park Ranger. After completing
my BLET, I was sworn in by a Magistrate to uphold
local and N.C. state laws. Human Resources would
not listen to this reasoning and refused to give me a
full supplement check. This is when I made contact
with the Fraternal Order of Police.
The FOP felt that I had a good case and recommended that I pursue this action. I applied for Legal
Aid assistance from the State FOP, which was a very
easy process. Shortly after completing the online
forms, I was notified via mail that my application for
legal aid had been approved. I then contacted my
attorney, Fred DeVore, and he successfully worked
with the attorney for Mecklenburg County who agreed
that Mecklenburg County Human Resources should
and would be giving me a full supplement check.
I want to thank the Fraternal Order of Police for
approving my request for legal aid assistance. Had it
not been for the FOP, I may not have been able to
pursue this important matter due to the expense of
hiring a lawyer and the length of time it may have
taken to resolve. This successful outcome has increased my supplement by several thousand dollars
each year for the next nine (9) years.
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