NAPO Info

Executive Director's Report

NAPO END OF YEAR REPORT

As 2002 moves toward its end, it seems to be a good time to look back on NAPO’s successes and challenges during the year, and perhaps also to hazard a few guesses about what 2003 and the 108th Congress may hold.

As we entered 2002, Washington, like the rest of the country, was still shaken by the attacks of September 11th. On Capitol Hill, a refreshing concern for police officers and their families was evident. NAPO took the lead in passing a substantial increase in the federal Public Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) payout in the event of death or total disability. The benefit amount to survivors was nearly doubled, to $250,000, federal income tax free, and the amount will be indexed for inflation going forward. Additionally, siblings of deceased officers are now eligible to receive the benefit, a change in the law, which NAPO spearheaded.

On a related subject, NAPO worked closely with Sen. Corzine’s office to change how the rules of the September 11th Victims’ Fund apply to the survivors of fallen officers. From now on, the police pensions and PSOB benefit payouts will not be deducted from the amount of compensation families receive from the September 11th fund. In other words, families will not be forced to choose between different benefits earned by their loved ones’ sacrifice.

On a different subject, however, the current administration’s concern for rank and file police officers has proved remarkably short-sighted. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program has been effectively terminated under the President’s proposed fiscal year 2003 budget. COPS office staff will tell you that they will not be able to fund the hiring of a single new officer, not one, in the entire United States. The administration seeks to placate police concerns by pointing out that large sums of money will be available for equipment and training, and that FEMA will also have dollars to dole out to “first responders” which may or may not include police. But even under FEMA (now part of the new Department of Homeland Security or DHS), the dollars are not there for hiring, only for preparation and equipment, training and drills.

NAPO has been working tirelessly with our friends in Congress, especially Sen. Biden, principal author of the law that first set up the COPS program. We have been successful in securing support for COPS funding in the Senate, but the House has turned a deaf ear. As this goes to press, we continue to fight for the survival of the COPS office, as the House and Senate finalize the Justice Commerce, Justice and State (CJS) appropriations for fiscal year 2003.

On a more positive note, NAPO was instrumental in once again preventing the imposition of mandatory social security coverage on state and local police officers. This issue is off the table for the rest of the year, but sooner or later it will raise its head again. We will be ready for it. Federal body armor legislation, which will allow the feds to donate surplus (but still valid) body armor to state and local agencies free of cost, has now passed the Congress. Representative Bart Stupak of Michigan, a leading sponsor of the bill, publicly thanked NAPO for its support in his remarks on its passage. NAPO supported and fought for a nationwide AMBER alert system, patterned after ones in Texas and California that have successfully led to the recovery of kidnapped children alive. When the legislation got tied up in politics in the House, the President, using his own authority, directed that the initiative be federally funded. Finally, a law enforcement tribute act, providing matching federal dollars to states and localities for the erection of memorials and monuments to fallen officers, has also passed Congress. Rep. Schiff of California took the lead on this, and publicly thanked NAPO for its help in making this law.

As we look forward to 2003 and the 108th Congress, we can predict with a fair degree of certainty what some of the fights will be. You can expect that the national right to carry bill (H.R. 218) will again be fought over. NAPO has and will continue to fight for this legislation. Politics on the House side, especially in the House Judiciary Committee, continue to stymie passage of the bill. The Senate, though, has held a judiciary committee hearing on the bill, and the bill, with some acceptable amendments, has now passed that committee, although too late to pass as part of the 107th Congress.

On a different firearms issue, the assault-weapons provisions of the 1994 Crime Bill will sunset in 2004. Already, proponents of reauthorizing, and even expanding, those provisions are seeking to line up support. Others who believe that the ban is a poor or unconstitutional law can be expected to oppose its reauthorization. Please let your NAPO representative know how you feel on this issue, as it is one which our board of directors and delegates will face.

The passage of the President’s proposed Department of Homeland Security had some wins and some losses for NAPO. The biggest issue for our brothers and sisters in federal law enforcement is whether or not those officers and agents who currently have collective bargaining or civil service rights will be allowed to keep them if they are transferred in to the new Department. The President and most Republicans wanted those rights stripped. Most Democrats wanted to preserve those rights, and did an admirable job in fighting to preserve them in the face of withering administration criticism. Following the November elections, which gave Republicans clear control of both houses of Congress, opposition to the President’s proposals was significantly weakened, and the final bill, now law, contained most of what the President wanted.

NAPO was successful in keeping the Office of Justice Programs in the Department of Justice, and not given to FEMA or DHS. The final bill also did include provisions expanding police wiretap authority and federal-local information sharing which we had lobbied for. Obviously, NAPO will continue to lobby hard for the protection of our fellow officers’ rights.

As far as the federal elections, the Senate is too close to call. Regardless of the outcome of the election, the Senate will have a narrow majority party, whichever party it happens to be. In practical terms, this means that we can expect a continuation of the extremely slow and tedious pace of legislation on the Senate side, as each party jockeys for position issue by issue. The House is likely, I believe, to remain in Republican hands, with a narrow majority. By the time you read this, we will all know how accurate these predictions are.

NAPO will host several events in 2003. We begin in February in Las Vegas with our 15th Annual Pension and Benefits Seminar. This is followed in May in Washington by our Legal Rights and Legislation Seminar. We head to Boston in August for what promises to be a memorable and enjoyable 25th Annual Convention. Then back to Washington for our 10th Annual TOP COPS Awards in October. Please contact NAPO for additional information on any or all of these events.

Please also remember that NAPO is here to serve you! Call us any time with ideas, questions and concerns. If you hear a rumor about what the federal government may be doing in (or to) law enforcement call us. We’ll track it down. If you have an idea about how a law ought to be changed, or for a whole new law, let us know. And please feel free to stop by our office whenever you are in Washington. I’d like all NAPO members to feel that this is their office, too.

May Almighty God bless you abundantly in this holiday season, and throughout the coming year.

Bill Johnson
Executive Director