Special Election Discussion with CCLEA
March 8: The California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations (CCLEA) brought together public safety union leaders from throughout the state for a virtual board meeting on Monday. PPOA President Tab Rhodes and his fellow CCLEA board members had earnest discussions about the candidates campaigning for the Assembly District 79 special election, two of whom were interviewed by a CCLEA subcommittee last week. This AD 79 special election is the result of the resignation of former Assemblymember Shirley Weber, who was appointed by the Governor in January to serve as Secretary of State.

CCLEA, which represents 40 police associations and 150,000 peace officers, is the state's largest law enforcement organization. For more information, visit CCLEA.ORG.
Potential Revisions for Manual of Policy & Procedures
March 9: PPOA took part in a teleconference with Employee Relations representatives and LASD executives from Personnel Administration Bureau to discuss potential revisions to the Manual of Policy and Procedures (MPP). President Tab Rhodes and Executive Director Wayne Quint Jr. represented PPOA at this meeting.
PPOA Board of Directors Meeting
March 10: The monthly PPOA Board of Directors meeting took place on Wednesday. Directors participating in the Zoom video conference included: President Tab Rhodes, Vice President Ryan Vienna, Secretary Tony Coleman, Treasurer Robert Maus, and Directors Jim Blankenship, Henry Jimenez, Joyce Kato, Carlos Marquez, Chris Lee, Tony Romo, John Satterfield and Jim Schallert. Collectively, the PPOA board brings approximately 300 years of county experience to the table. 
LASD Sergeant/Lieutenant Promotional Grievance Update
March 10: PPOA Attorney Jim Cunningham hosted a teleconference on Wednesday to update 98 Sergeants and 29 Lieutenants — all promoted on April 28, 2020 — regarding ongoing administrative and legal efforts to ensure they receive proper compensation and back pay. Click here for more details.
COVID-19 Conference With PPOA Legal Team
March 11: PPOA hosted its weekly legal meeting on Thursday in order for President Rhodes, Executive Director Quint, Sr. Labor Rep. Venise Wallace, Labor Rep. Teresa O'Neil, Intake Representative Kevin Thompson and PPOA attorneys to address and analyze COVID-19 issues impacting PPOA members.
Sheriff Discusses Controversial LA County DA Policies
March 11: Sheriff Alex Villanueva was interviewed on FOX News this week for a frank discussion about the much-maligned policies and criminal justice reforms of LA County District Attorney George Gascon.

Memorial Service for Sergeant Armando Meneses
As the memorial service for Sergeant Armando Meneses (EOW: 2/16/21) takes place this afternoon, we are asking PPOA members to continue to keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. The devoted husband, father and 24-year LASD veteran also served his nation in the U.S. Army and was deployed for Operation Desert Storm. We are forever grateful for his service and sacrifice.
PPOA Board Member Spotlight:
Coroner Investigator Joyce Kato
As we celebrate PPOA's 70th anniversary, we want to acknowledge our many members who have stepped forward over the years to help lead this union. On that note, and in honor of Women's History Month, we are proud to shine the spotlight on PPOA Board Member Joyce Kato. The dedicated Coroner Investigator is a 26-year veteran with the Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner (DME) and serves as Chair of the Unit 631/632 contract negotiations team.

What is the best part of the your job?
I work in the Notifications unit at the DME. The best part of my job is when I successfully identify and notify a decedent's family of his/her death. Many families have close ties which makes my job easy, however throughout the years many more of our decedents have been homeless with no obvious ties to their families. The extra effort my partners and I place on these cases are rewarded by the gratitude of families who often describe the decedent's history of mental illness, physical and mental abuse, drug abuse, abandonment or the simple fact that they aged out of the foster care system or had no family as their parents were deceased, they had no siblings, and no cousins.  

Why did you choose to serve as a PPOA board member?
Back in the 1990s, the Coroner Investigators were represented by  SEIU. Two other Investigators and myself banded together and formed our own association - LACCIA: Los Angeles County Coroner Investigations Association. We collected $30/month from most of the Investigators and hired a law firm who helped us argue to the CEO that as we are California Peace Officers (CA P.C. 830.35), we deserved to be represented by a Peace Officers Union. They agreed and we ultimately were welcomed by PPOA. While we are a small department, I appreciate the support of our PPOA family who recognizes our Investigators and Criminalists as one of their own.

What advice would you offer young, newly-hired PPOA members?
I hope that our members recognize the strength of PPOA's membership. In the workplace, if we unite and recognize we are a family instead of just individuals, we have strength and power.  And in addition, with PPOA's support, we have the strength and power of thousands of members through our board and our attorneys.

You can read more about Board Member Joyce Kato in the upcoming April issue of Star & Shield magazine.
PPOA members: Thank you for your valuable input!
Brief surveys were emailed to PPOA members over the last two weeks in order to better understand how you prefer to receive news and updates from PPOA. We are very grateful to have received more than 800 completed surveys so far and will be emailing five final questions to members tomorrow regarding Star & Shield magazine. As always, thank you for taking the time to help move your union forward.
End of Watch: February 2021
We extend sincere condolences to the families and friends of the following PPOA members who passed in February 2021:

Retired Custody Assistant Fernando Martinez
EOW: 2/1/21

Retired Lieutenant Jim Burns
EOW: 2/2/21

Retired Deputy Thomas Lambrecht
EOW: 2/2/21

Retired Deputy Marshal Eugene Swanston
EOW: 2/5/21

Retired Sergeant Ronald Kliewer
EOW: 2/5/21

Retired Sergeant James Rowley
EOW: 2/5/21

Retired Deputy Marshal Charlie McClain
EOW: 2/5/21

Sergeant Jamie Arakawa
EOW: 2/8/21

Sergeant Armando Meneses
EOW: 2/16/21

Retired Sergeant Thomas J. Smith
EOW: 2/19/21

Retired Chief John C. Graham
EOW: 2/22/21
Upcoming Event to Support Family of Fallen Deputy
Please do what you can to support the Albanese family. As a lifelong public servant, Deputy Albanese was a highly decorated U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served four tours in Iraq before beginning his career with the Sheriff's Department in 2013 as a Security Assistant. He then promoted to Security Officer before ultimately promoting to Deputy Sheriff in 2015. Deputy Albanese is survived by his wife and two sons, ages 7 and 11.

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