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Succeeding Together

By Dale F. Norris, Executive Director
Arizona Police Association

For the past two years, I have been privileged to be the voice of Arizona law enforcement at the Capitol. I’ve written legislation, found sponsors, testified in committees, fought with opponents and won over supporters, but I wasn’t alone. These efforts were supported by the many APA directors that answered the calls to attend meeting, hearings and send e-mails. Andy Swann from the Associated Highway Patrolmen of Arizona, an APA member group, was key in winning support for many of our bills. Eileen Sigmund, Kelsey Lundy, Nicole LaSlavic and Mike Williams, our paid lobbyists, keep the APA’s legislative agenda moving when our opponents try to stall it.

Even recognizing these success, you must examine your losses. If you fail to confront your reasons for losing, you will have to be satisfied with what you have and make excuses for the things you don’t have. When it comes to the lives and prosperity of law enforcement officers, neither of these choices is satisfactory to me. It’s easy to tout your victories and hope nobody calls you on your losses. The harder task is to confront your losses, learn from them, find a winning strategy and come back again.

The Arizona Police Association has been incredibly successful at the legislature over the past two years. Here’s a tally of our accomplishments.

2006 Legislature:
Addition of rank-and-file representation on the Police Memorial Board; (HB2229)
Obtaining a special license plate to benefit Concerns of Police Survivors; (HB2727)
Civil immunity for injuries to felons during arrest; (SB1072)
Association right to attorney fees for wrongful discipline; (SB1165)
Electronic monitoring of sex offenders; (HB2045)
Increased fines for speeding in school zones; (HB2615)
Burden of proof in police use of force on the state not the officer; (SB1145) and
Defeated attempts to end Deferred Retirement Option Plan. (DROP).

2007 Legislature:
Right to notice of investigation prior to internal interview; (HB2209)
Employer paid cancer insurance for peace officers; (HB2268)
Right for officers to be armed on or off duty; (HB2457)
Ability for officers to obtain emergency department alcohol reports on DUIs; (SB1015)
Extreme DUIs to serve full jail sentence; (SB1252)
Increase punishment for DUIs at or above .20 % BAC; (SB1029)
Interlock devises required for all DUIs; (SB1029)
Time in jail and on probation excluded from time to aggravate DUI; (SB1229)
Teenage Driving Act; (HB2033) and
Statute of limitation on civil violations extended to one-year in fatal accidents; (SB1131)

I am proud of these successes, but it is important to discuss our failures. Both in 2006 and 2007, we failed to reform the county law enforcement merit systems to provide officers a fair chance to appeal their discipline. In both years, the opposition to these bills was led by the sheriffs.

Although most legislators saw the fairness and logic in our proposals, the sheriffs used their political clout to kill the bills. Last year, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. John Huppenthal, would not move forward unless we could come to an agreement with the sheriffs, but a compromise was not possible on this issue. To his credit, Sen. Huppenthal has had many accomplishments through his collaborative style; however, this is an issue that requires legislators to choose sides; not an easy task for politicians.

This year, our sponsors Sens. Thayer Verschoor and Linda Gray fought hard, but in the end, the bill succumbed to unsympathetic legislative leaders. Sen. Jack Harper (Chairman Senate Government Committee) did not hear the bill in his committee and the Speaker of the House Jim Weiers told the Senate sponsors that he would not give the bill a hearing in the House.

We have learned from this battle and now must devise a winning strategy. The choices are these, work for and elect legislators who understand the inherent fairness of our positions, or take it to the people. Neither solution is easy and will require us to commit our money and time. The APA will continue its pursuit of this critical change, and we will succeed.

In 2007, the APA began to examine the internal pressures that create stress in the life of a peace officer and the employment conditions that will attract more applicants without lowering standards. We dipped our toe in the legislative waters with bills that would have created a balanced POST Board, allow officers to have confidential communications with peer counselors and permit legal representation during internal investigations.

Even though we’re months away from the 2008 legislative session we have begun our preparations. As always, we want to hear from the men and women working on the streets. What are your ideas, what’s working and what’s not working. The APA Board will meet to discuss our 2008 legislative priorities over the coming months. If you wish, send me you ideas at director@azpolice.org . I don’t guarantee results only my best effort. I don’t make excuses, I just fight harder.

During this process, we will be aware of the legislators who support us with an eye to the 2008 elections. Success at the legislature has a direct correlation to our support of good, honest and law enforcement minded candidates. The support of every Arizona peace officer is needed to make a change. Get involved!

Thank you for allowing me to be your voice. I will be mindful of the responsibility that accompanies this honor and represent you in a manner consistent with the APA’s motto:

Duty. Honor.