for our newest soldiers in the 2020 pandemic battlefield who were
working long hours and back to back shifts in PPE trying to save lives
while endangering their own.
We had the impossible task of protecting the Constitutional and Civil
Rights of individuals while at the same time enforcing health codes
and executive orders that in theory made sense, but in the field where
people live - were incongruent to say the least. Law enforcement redeployed
and retooled to provide safety for our police and support
personnel while never missing a step to deliver on our promise to
protect and serve our communities. This was a result of steady and
mentally tough leadership and committed law enforcement personnel
who never blinked and demonstrated the grit necessary to get the
job done.
The California Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) never flinched
either. The reason? Because our association is made up of the most
dedicated, well trained, law enforcement leaders in America and
they have a small but committed staff that punches well above their
weight and numbers in order to serve as the voice of and resource of
choice for all of us.
During the initial several months of COVID-19, our CPCA staff
launched our Member only Community. Sara Edmonds and Shannon
Mahoney took the lead on this project and helped create various
communities and discussion groups that became even more useful
in the current environment of social distancing. This new format
not only has kept us informed about COVID-19 impacts, legislation,
and other statewide challenges, but can keep us together and working
from the same page. We can generate and publish surveys share
reports, data, and studies like never before.
With the help of Brady Guertin, we have also started some especially
important campaigns like the video messages of our leadership
to speak directly to our membership with short vignettes expressing
empathetic, positive, hopeful, and inspirational messages. This is a
part of our future officer wellness and self-care campaign that we are
advancing over this next year.
CPCA took a tip from our educational system and started to produce
curriculum and content in a distant learning format. Meghan Kalmbacher
and Brittany MacKenzie worked with an outside company and
managed to get our 300+ in-person conference to be 100% virtual.
The entire CPCA staff never missed a step during this pandemic so
that we could still experience the high quality training of our annual
conference, but delivered at the convenience of your own office or
home at a reduced rate without the cost of travel, hotels, or being
absent from work during a time when the optics for that would be
difficult to fully explain.
As the year continues you will be getting updates of CPCA’s newest
offerings and technological enhancements that are all part of the
hard work of our CPCA Director and Staff, Committees, and Board
of Directors to serve our 332 municipal police chiefs.
Finally, I would like to end by saying that, in law enforcement we
often use the phrase “Where the rubber meets the road,” to describe
a number of the differences between things such as, theory and
practice, policy and culture, the plan and the execution of the plan.
For me it describes the exact point where the truth of the matter
exists. I think that over the last several months, we in law enforcement
have been struggling with maintaining a balance between public
health and public safety. The truth of the matter is that you have all
done an incredible job walking the razor’s edge of these political and
legal issues and in my book when it comes to leading our communities,
counties, state and country through the seen and unseen threats
of COVID-19, California Police Chiefs are the exact point where the
rubber meets the road on a daily basis.
God bless and stay well!
Eric Nuñez,
Chief of Police
Los Alamitos Police Department
CPCA President
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
As I sit here wrapping up our COVID-19
edition of the California Police Chief
magazine – I am reminded of just how amazing
you all are. I am confident when you receive this
magazine, the world in which these articles were
written will seem like a distant memory. But I
encourage you to please take some time and read
each article. Just a month ago there were birthday
parades, encouraging letters, scavenger hunts,
online book reading and most of all – unity. What
a great reminder of why you do what you do!
We at Cal Chiefs are here for you today and
every tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Sara Edmonds,
Editor – California Police Chief
SPRING 2020 | CALIFORNIA POLICE CHIEF 5