August, 2007

                        "Leave No Chief Behind"

First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you that attended our 55th Annual Summer Training Conference and Exposition held in Jacksonville. My special thanks to the North East Florida Law Enforcement Executives Association, the FPCA training committee and especially the FPCA staff for all of their hard work on another successful conference.

I am truly honored and humbled to serve as your president. I believe this year will be an especially challenging for all in law enforcement, as we will be faced with a number of issues that will have a long-term impact on how we are able to perform our duties in the future.

It is very important to me and I spoke to the fact during my remarks at the installation banquet that now more then ever we as an association will need to make certain that we are meeting the needs of our members. With our reduced budgets it is especially true that we provide the best training possible at our conferences. My focus will be that our association stays strong and guarantee that "we leave no chief behind" as we move forward.

The first issue that is challenging us is the tax cuts and how that will affect our ability to deliver public safety services to our communities. We all agree that there needs to be some type of tax reform; however, we must balance our mission to provide public safety with a measured approach considering the likelihood of reduced funds. With this in mind, we have established an ad hoc committee to explore how we as an organization will address this issue. I am pleased to announce that your newly elected Third Vice-President Chief Peter Paulding is chairing this committee.

Once again, I stress the necessity to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the membership, through our training conferences, legislative issues, and member support to name a few of the many services we provide. If you are not on a committee and have a special interest in a particular committee please attend meetings and offer your support. The organization is for the membership by the membership and we need your involvement. If we want to have an impact on Florida law enforcement we need everyone's commitment. You have mine as your president and I would ask for your commitment as a member to become more involved.

I look forward to making this a great year and I know with your support and assistance we will reach our goals for this great association. Thank you for allowing me to serve as your president as we move forward.

Chief H.C. "Skip" Clark, II