Our I.A.C.P. President, Bill Berger, passionately addressed the large group, expressing great knowledge of the issues and illustrating a lot of leadership of what needs to be fixed in this country. He also expressed his focus and willingness to work with Federal, State, County, and municipal entities in changing the perception of the bureaucracy about local law enforcement.

Some of the national issues he addressed ranged from highway safety to C.O.P.S. funding and how federal monies will be distributed for Homeland Security. It was previously proposed to ignore the mid-sized and small departments, but President Berger is fighting for equal distribution. This meeting reconfirmed that the C.O.P.S. money, the Law Enforcement Block Grant money, and the Byrne Grant money may be history, but that all monies be combined in a large pool for Homeland Security, which is currently earmarked for planning recovery, antiterrorist training, and F.E.M.A. President Berger wants to ensure that law enforcement receives its share of the pool.

Other major topics included identity theft, aggressive driving, racial profiling, new illegal drugs, high-speed pursuits, recruitment, training and retention, domestic terrorism, unified command, law enforcement accreditation, juvenile drinking, criminal investigations, the top secret clearance issue, impaired driving, crime prevention, child restraint, and the seat belt law.

Many veteran members of I.A.C.P. in attendance applauded Bill Berger for being the only President in the history of I.A.C.P. to speak to such a broad range of issues with such knowledge, commitment, vision, and passion.