The City of Brotherly Love hosted an outstanding 101st IACP conference this year. The training and educational workshops were contemporary and on point, giving attendees an opportunity to introduce new thinking and initiatives back home within our own departments.

While hospitality flourished from state to state - from ships on the Delaware River, to executive suites throughout Philly - none compared to the Irish Pub on Walnut Street, with those traditional orange sweat shirts provided by Martin Uniforms! That's right, once again, your FPCA, through the tenacity and hard work of Chief Steve Dembinsky and his team, carried out a hospitality night reminiscent of the mid-1990s with Bill Berger's campaign.

The FPCA made a resounding statement - that we will have the IACP candidate for 2005 in Miami, and we intend to succeed. We look forward to the 2004 IACP Conference in Los Angeles, as we officially launch our campaign for Chief Walt McNeil as 6th Vice President of IACP in 2005.

I want to personally thank all the Florida police chiefs who attended the FPCA Delegation Breakfast at the Hyatt Regency, as well as our hospitality night at the Irish Pub. Thank you for being such dynamic ambassadors for our association and great State of Florida.

Now for some other news. On behalf of FPCA, I welcome new FDLE Commissioner Guy Tunnell as our new partner, and congratulate Guy on this most prestigious appointment. I was privileged to represent Florida chiefs on Guy's "transition team."

He selected a team of eight colleagues and professionals who represent FDLE's constituency and partners for the purpose of providing a framework in which FDLE would officially review the quality of its service delivery.

The team identified nine categories of interest that are under review. I want to thank the Florida Chiefs who provided input to me which I addressed with the transition team. I was very encouraged by the overwhelming positive comments the team heard about FDLE and its service to the law enforcement community. We now look forward to our new partnership with Commissioner Tunnell and his FDLE team.

In closing, your FPCA Board of Officers held a busy, effective and meaningful strategic planning session in September in Maitland. Many of you already are becoming a participant in this exciting agenda for FPCA. I have and will continue to travel throughout the state and visit chiefs within our districts, so please don't hesitate to ask me to visit your regions.

Stay tuned for our December article in which I will outline key initiatives that will positively affect our association this year and in the future.

Until next time, let's continue to lead by "doing the right thing always."

Paul G. Rumbley