October 2008Volume 3, Issue 3A PUBLICATION OF LVPOA

AFFILIATED WITH-TEAMSTERS LOCAL 14-STATE OF NEVADA AFL/CIO-SNCOPS

Inside this Issue

1 The President’s Corner

2 Get out and VOTE!!

3 Steward Chronicles

4 Home Schooled

5 Gang awareness corner

6ANNOUNCEMENTSUPCOMING EVENTS

7 Health/Safety check 411

8 Announcing Q&A column

THE BOARD

Tracey Valenzuela—President

Mark Bunnell —Vice-president

Scott Edwards—Treasurer

Steve Poe—Secretary

Kevin Gregoire—Representative

Mike Weyand— Representative/Editor--The Informer

Chris Plotkin— Representative

Eric Fredenburg—Shop Steward

President’s cornerTracey Valenzuela

“SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED…..

I’M YOURS”Well, it’s October and I finally have to release the denial. “Mrs. President”, was a title I had reserved for Hillary Clinton.

How am I going to survive this “wild ride”?........Well I realize after working with the Association for some years now that I must have a sense of humor. Learn to laugh at myself! Laugh at Management! And Laugh with my co-workers! I also realize that even the best-tempered person (and you know that’s not me!) will run into heavy weather taking on the role of Association President; it comes with the territory. Time pressures, demands from co-workers, bad tempers, and unreasonable supervisors. All these tensions make an Air Traffic Controller’s job look like a walk in the park! As is often said by someone around here…..”Do what you know is right”. It has always been my philosophy that “in the end, right will prevail” As the Association is charged with protecting your rights and the guarantees set forth in the contract, the “right thing” is what benefits the Association as a whole. I also realize the right thing is not always the most comfortable or popular thing and you need to be thick-skinned (this I think I can handle). I have had the opportunity to work closely with both of my predecessors, Randy Herdzina and Mark Bunnell. During each of their terms, we have made great strides as an Association and hopefully I have picked up some of their great leadership habits.

I want to thank everyone for their congratulatory remarks and their confidence in my abilities to take on the job. I hope to continue with the progression of making this a successful Association.

Lady Prez

GET OUT AND VOTE!!!

2008 SNCOPS Endorsements

Revised 10/01/08

1st Congressional DistrictShelley Berkley

3rd Congressional DistrictJon Porter

Central Mike McGinness District 1 John Lee District 3 Valerie Wiener District 4 Steven Horsford District 5 Joseph Heck District 6 Allison Copening District 7 David Parks District 11 Michael Schneider Northern Dean Rhoads Washoe 3 William Raggio AD 1 Marilyn Kirkpatrick AD 2 John Hambrick AD 3 Peggy Pierce AD 5 Marilyn Dondero Loop AD 6 Harvey Munford AD 7 Morse Arberry Jr.AD 8 Barbara Buckley AD 9 Richard “Tick” Segerblom

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The Informer

AD 10 Joseph M. Hogan AD 11 Ruben Kihuen AD 12 James Ohrenschall AD 13 Chad Christensen AD 14 Ellen Koivisto AD 15 Kathy McClain AD 16 John Oceguera AD 17 Kelvin Atkinson AD 18 Mark ManendoAD 19 Jerry D. Claborn AD 21 Ellen Spiegel AD 22 Lynn Stewart AD 23 Allison Herr AD 24 David Bobzien AD 25 Heidi Gansert AD 27 Sheila LeslieAD 28 Mo Denis AD 29 April Mastroluca AD 31 Bernie AndersonAD 34 William Horne AD 35 Pete Goicoechea AD 37 Marcus Conklin AD 38 Tom Grady AD 40 Bonnie Parnell AD 41 Paul Aizley AD 42 Harry Mortenson

Nevada State Supreme Court –Kris PickeringDistrict Court Judge, Dept. 10 – William KephartJustice of the Peace, NLV Twnshp. Dept. 3 - Chris Lee Justice of the Peace, Henderson Twnshp. Dept. 3 – Sandy Allred-DiGiacomo Trustee, Clark Co. School District E – Terri Janison Trustee, Clark Co. School District A – Dr. Edward Goldman Trustee, Clark Co. School District C – Ronan Matthew

EARLY VOTING SCHEDULE

Click here to view the Early Voting Sched ule

STEWARD CHRONICLES

Eric Fredenburg

OFF DUTY CONDUCT

Any activity that can link you to your position with the Department (showing your badge, brandishing a handgun, uniforms hanging in the back window of your car), can lead to your termination.Example Roe vs. City San Diego    543 Us 77 (2004)If you take deliberate steps to link your off-duty activities to your work with the Department, in a way injurious to the department in such a way that could bring the mission of the Department and the professionalism of it's Officers into serious disrepute. This type of behavior could lead to your termination.When you exit the Detention Center parking lot at the end of your shift--you are a civilian, who happens to carry a P.O.S.T.  1 or 2 certificate.As instructed in the Academy you should only be a good witness, not a threatening-to- arrest Badge/Gun waving menace.

I have had many of the new officers ask "hey how can I/ where can I get one of those flat badges?" When I ask them what they want it for? The response is "so I can show that I am a cop.” Interesting to say the least.

Personal integrity should set an example.  It’s developed. Not overnight.  Start somewhere. Start today.

Sow a thought, reap an act.

       Sow an act, reap a habit.

       Sow a habit, reap a character.

       Sow a character, reap a destiny. 

HOMESCHOOLED:

TRUTHFULNESS REVISITED: Submitted by: Kevin Gregoire

There seems to be a growing trend in law enforcement with truthfulness allegations. The following are my opinions on the subject and I would like to share them with you. Union reps are not lawyers; it is not their job to get you out of trouble. Their job is to guide you through the investigative process and to make sure that your rights are not being violated. They can offer advice and help you with explaining your answers. My view is if I did something wrong and I am being investigated for it "why lie". If you lie and get caught now you will have another charge for truthfulness. It is always easier to deal with an allegation of misconduct, even if it occurred exactly as alleged, than it is to

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deal with an allegation of misconduct plus a truthfulness charge. Our policy is "if you mess up, fess up" which means if you make a mistake own up to it or if you have been found to be untruthful to internal affairs the discipline is termination.

General Membership

Meeting

TO BE ANNOUNCED

GANG AWARENESSGANG AWARENESS CORNERCORNER

Officer Antonio Rodriguez

As this position was developed by our department over 2 years ago, I have had the pleasure and honor of implementing and developing the Gang Intelligence post into an information center that has given staff the ability to know what kind of gang element they are dealing with. Officers do not only deal with local gangs but national and international gangs as well. Due to the City of Las Vegas is a well known and well traveled city in the world, Las Vegas has its share of many gang visitors as well. With local, national and international gangsters being arrested and coming through our detention center, we must be equipped with the knowledge on how to identify them and the knowledge of knowing what makes them do what they do. Our Gang Awareness folder has been filled with different gangs, articles, power points and other useful teaching aids. This folder has been placed there to help identify these predators and keeping them from using their gang authority and violence against other inmates and staff.

Can anyone tell me what this means?

I truly did not know by looking at his tattoos who this inmate was. The

only facts that I knew were he was Native American and had many

tattoos that were common with gang identifiers, but had a Native

American theme to them. I did see the letters IBH Life on the top of his right wrist and a feather eagle claw on his left wrist. I then looked in the Gang Awareness folder and saw a

folder labeled Indian Brother Hood. I looked and referenced the tattoos of a

known IBH gang member and matched them identical to this city inmate. It was discovered that this inmate was a documented member with a violent criminal history from

the Indian Brother Hood in Oklahoma.

If you get a chance, go into the G Drive and double click the restricted

folder and then enter the Gang Awareness folder. There you will find many folders and open the

Indian Brother Hood folder so you can reference the picture above.

Thank you to all that have assisted this position in what it has become and what is will continue to be. I

know that this position could not be done alone, but with the support of the department and staff, together Gang Intel will continue with the mission of classification and keep

predator from prey.

FIELD TRIP!!In May of 2008, I had the pleasure of organizing and hosting my 1st Gang Workshop in Las Vegas which was one of my goals while being in this position for the department. The training was a success and I had made an international contact by the name of Sam Rivera from the Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) for the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala. During a conversation with Sam, he was very interested in the work that I was doing with the Southern Nevada Community Gang Task Force and had invited me to go to Guatemala and train several PCN (Policia Civil Nacional) Officers that were working in a highly gang saturated area. Upon approval from our department to take leave, I went to Guatemala City, Guatemala to teach a Community Orientated Patrolling Based on Gangs class. My mission was to teach a unit of officers on what it takes to have community involvement that deals with gangs, history of gangs from the U.S., safety and security when dealing with gangs and the parent handbook on gangs. All of the classes were designed for law enforcement to interact with the community that they serve to hopefully reduce gang violence within that community. Upon arrival to Guatemala, I was meet by NAS Embassy Director Raymond Campos who also the Police Program Director. Mr. Campos explained what the current situation and problems in Guatemala and Central America that involved “Maras.” Maras is a word that describes Mega Gangs in Central America such as Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) and Mara 18 (18th Street). Mr. Campos stated that the gangs are overtaking communities and disrupting innocent citizens from making a living and providing for their families. Mr. Campos also stated that innocent civilians were being extorted, robbed at gun point, attacked and even killed on a daily basis all for the benefit of the Maras (MS-13 and 18th Street).

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I was accompanied by Lt. Orlando Ybarra from the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation. Lt. Ybarra taught the evolution and development of gangs and together were able to train over 100 students to include Officers, Judges, State Attorneys and Academy Staff. Our mission was a success and my thanks go out to God, my department and all involved in allowing me the opportunity to represent D&E in Central America.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

NEED A DAY OFF? HOLIDAY SCHEDULE!!

Here is the list of official year 2009 holidays for the LVPOA follows:

New Year’s DayThursday, January 1, 2009

Martin Luther King, Jr. DayMonday, January 19, 2009

Presidents’ DayMonday, February 16, 2009

Memorial DayMonday, May 25, 2009

Independence Day Actual dateSaturday, July 4, 2009

Labor DayMonday, September 7, 2009

Nevada Day Actual dateSaturday, October 31, 2009

Veterans’ Day Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thanksgiving DayThursday, November 26, 2009

Family DayFriday, November 27, 2009

Christmas EveThursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas DayFriday, December 25, 2009

LOGO CONTEST!!!

WE ARE HAVING A UNION WE ARE HAVING A UNION LOGO CONTEST. THE LOGO LOGO CONTEST. THE LOGO WILL BE USED ON OUR WILL BE USED ON OUR STATIONARY, SHIRTS, STATIONARY, SHIRTS, BUSINESS CARDS, ETC… BUSINESS CARDS, ETC… EVERYONE PLEASE E-MAIL EVERYONE PLEASE E-MAIL SCOTT EDWARDS, PICTURESSCOTT EDWARDS, PICTURES OF YOUR CONCEPT OR PUT OF YOUR CONCEPT OR PUT THEM IN HIS BOX. ALL THEM IN HIS BOX. ALL ENTRIES SHOULD BE ENTRIES SHOULD BE SUBMITTED BY 10-31-08. SUBMITTED BY 10-31-08. WE WILL POST THE ENTRIESWE WILL POST THE ENTRIES AND LET EVERYONE VOTE AND LET EVERYONE VOTE ON WHICH ONE BEST ON WHICH ONE BEST REPRESENTS OUR UNION. REPRESENTS OUR UNION. THE PRIZE FOR THE THE PRIZE FOR THE WINNING DESIGN WILL BE AWINNING DESIGN WILL BE A $50 GIFT CARD.$50 GIFT CARD.

Check it out!!

www.tswsports.comwww.the-team.biz/mv1149057

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NEW COLUMN to be ADDED--Q&AIf you have any questions that you would like to have answered, please forward them to the Informer editor—Mike Weyand, we will make every attempt to answer your questions in a timely manner and then publish them in the next issue of the Informer for the rest of the membership to read. Of course, your questions can be confidential upon request. Huh???

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HEALTH/SAFETY CHECK 411 October is National Fire Safety Month and fire safety is an important topic throughout the year. Death and injury are the greatest risks and the ones with which most workers are familiar. But fires also destroy jobs. Many of the workplaces that are destroyed by fire are never rebuilt. In the hard economic times being experienced across much of the globe; this message is likely to resonate. Here are some general tips for a fire-safe workplace. Preventing fires is everyone’s job. We all need to be alert to anything that could cause a fire and take responsibility to report any problem areas so they can be corrected. Here are some reminders about fire prevention:

Practice good workplace housekeeping. Clutter contributes to fires by providing fuel and by preventing access to exits and emergency equipment.Place oily rags in a covered metal container. This waste must be properly disposed of on a regular basis.Maintain machinery to prevent overheating and friction sparks.Report electrical hazards. Many fires start in faulty wiring and malfunctioning electrical equipment. Never attempt to make electrical repairs unless you are qualified and authorized.Maintain free access to all electrical control panels. Material or equipment stored in front of the panels would slow down the shutting down of power in an emergency situation.Use and store chemicals safely. Read the label and the Material Safety Data Sheet to determine flammability and other fire hazards. Provide adequate ventilation when using and storing these substances.Use all precautions to prevent ignition in potentially explosive atmospheres such as those containing flammable liquid vapors or fine particles. Use non-sparking tools and control static electricity as required.Help maintain building security to prevent arson fires. Lock up as instructed; report suspicious persons; and don’t leave combustible rubbish where it can be set on fire outside the building.Smoke only in designated areas and extinguish smoking materials safely. Never smoke in storerooms or chemical storage areas.Never block sprinklers, firefighting equipment or emergency exits. Observe clearances when stacking materials.Know the City’s Emergency Procedures and your role in them.Take fire drills seriously. They are organized to save lives and property in case of the real thing.