This is my first article as your President, and I am truly grateful for your trust in me and the opportunity you have given me to serve you. I can tell you that when I started my police career over 36 years ago, I never dreamed of being a supervisor, let alone a Chief of Police. I wanted to be a street cop until I dropped, but as I look back on my career, it was a slow but God led progression I made from grunt, to Sergeant, to Lieutenant to Deputy Chief, to Chief of Police. I was molded by a combination of working the streets, a formal college education, but most important, by the leaders who fought the fight while I watched and learned. Some of you molded me and now I can tell you, my staff, as yours, watches and learns from our decisions, both the good ones and the bad.

Eleven years ago, Chief Curt Willocks and I sat in a pub in St. Petersburg, Florida, discussing Chiefdom for lack of a better word. I was a member of the IACP, the FPCA, and the Tampa Bay Chiefs. I had applied at over 50 agencies all over the country and had been a finalist three times, but was very discouraged because I had never been selected as Chief. He asked me what I did in each of those organizations and I told him I was "just a member." He told me to get involved in them all and by involved he said I had to work on committees. I did, and it gave me an opportunity to watch and learn from some great Chiefs. He also told me to keep trying, get more college under my belt (I had a BA but had not finished my Masters program yet), and to watch the Chief I was working for. But do not be discouraged! Within six months, I had finished my Masters Program and been hired as the Chief of Police in Avon Park.

We have a great organization and we have done and will continue to do great things. We have made the Sergeants Academy a success, where our most important leaders are taught and mentored. We have a great scholarship program for kids, outstanding leadership schools for our members (Basic Chief, Advanced Chief, and our training conferences, just to name a few), and we are now breaking into the Police Chief search business to help cities pick competent professional police chiefs. However, what really makes us a great organization is our members, you.

Get involved, our future Chiefs are watching. Whether you are active or whether you are not, it is up to you. Continue to leave a legacy of honor and service above self.

May God bless you and yours and hold you safe in His hands.

Chief Anthony Velong