Sea Land Aquarium

Through ESM all members can now receive a discount to Sea Land Aquarium, located at Arizona Mills. Tickets are normally $18.50, but through ESM, they are $9.00. Children under 3 are free. I was there for a meeting yesterday, and can attest to the fact that it is a great place to take children. It was designed for a child's enjoyment and point of view. This benefit as well as all others can be accessed through the ESM web site.
 
Jeffrey Saul
State Benefits Chairman
Jeff Saul Jeff4440@AOL.COM

Issues

Sometimes an issue is developing and the employee doesn’t even see it coming.  When an employee has written reports, or sometimes failed to document events, a supervisory level employee, DW, Captain or Lieutenant, may call that employee in to ‘discuss’ or ‘clear up’ the matter.  One thing the employee may be certain of; this ‘discussion’ is an entry level investigation.  Usually the employee will be instructed to write reports if they haven’t already, or write supplements to an already submitted report.  This is the time the employee must be self aware and collect copies of all related reports, or at least save copies of their own reports.  Any substantial event that requires a report, employees should retain copies of that report.  The written report is your only ‘evidence’ of what you said and did.  Of course the employer has a responsibility to accurately document the event, ensure policy and procedures were followed, and clear up any discrepancies.  If the employee has been called upon to ‘clear up’ a matter, it is also a good time to contact your local representative or Labor Services for advise; this matter has a high probability that it will go to a 601 or official investigation.

Investigation or Clarification

When interviewed by your immediate supervisors or management, it is often difficult to determine when it is an ‘official’ investigation or just clarification; whichever is the case, answer as if you were with an ADC investigator.  Answer only the questions, do not volunteer information, stick to the point, never discuss ‘other’ matters and most importantly, do not start the interview with “I want my union representative!”  When you start by asking for your union representative, you start the discussion in an adversarial manner.  You may also lead the questioner to feel you have already done something to hide.

ADC is your employer and has the right to clarify information and by policy, you have no right to have a union representative present unless it is an official investigation.  ADC has no right to badger you, harass you, yell at you or embarrass you publicly.  Certainly ADC has no right to use vulgar or profane language.  ADC will try to intimidate you, make you nervous and apprehensive about what you have written or stated.  Always strive to be calm and self assured.

Anything you say can and will be used against you.  It is common practice to ask an employee to ‘explain’ or ‘expand’ on an information report.  If you did your job, all the information should already be in your report.  The questioner is basically asking ‘What have you left out that you don’t want us to know?’  If you don’t have the report, ask the questioner for a copy; review it to yourself and if it contains all the necessary information, tell the interviewer there is nothing else to expand on or to explain.  Remember to ‘stick to the point’ and never volunteer information.

The Department must serve you notice if you are under an official ADC investigation; ask for union representation for any questioning following that notice.  Remember your FOP representative works for you, so call if you’ve been interviewed and think there might be a supervisor’s complaint or investigation.  Never wait until you have already been disciplined to ask for help; our knowledge, expertise and personal help is part of why you joined.  You should call you representative if you believe you have been mistreated during an interview or investigation.  Both you and your employer have rights and both should be respected. 

Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, announced that the Steve Young Memorial Scholarship Program has awarded a scholarship to Erika Mitchell of Mesa, Arizona.

“The F.O.P. sees the Steve Young Memorial Scholarship Program as part of its obligation to our extended law enforcement family,” Canterbury said. “When Mrs. Mitchell lost her husband in the line of duty, she became a single parent and a sole supporter of her family. This scholarship is designed to help families in these circumstances.”

The Steve Young Memorial Scholarship Program, created by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, is administered by the National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation to assist the spouses of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Officer Larry B. Mitchell was an officer with the Gallup Police Department. On 5 May 2001, he was the first one on the scene of a SWAT team call and was shot three times. He is survived by his wife and five year old son.

The scholarship enables recipients to receive personalized career counseling at one of the more than 1,900 One-Stop Career Centers, where they will develop an individual employment plan to help them reach their career goals. F.O.P. Grant Liaison David Heshley will accompany Mrs. Mitchell on her initial visit to the Mills Memorial Computer Learning Center to meet with her Career One-Stop Case Manager. While Mrs. Mitchell is currently undecided on how she wants to utilize the scholarship, she looks forward to the guidance of her Case Manager at the One-Stop Career Center to help her meet her career goals.