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 June - July 2008 The Silver Badge is the only news publication produced by the El Paso Municipal Police Officers' Association. The main purpose of the publication is to provide news and events to E.P.M.P.O.A. members, written by members on police related issues. Any Association member can and is encouraged to submit news stories which would be of interest to the membership. The publication is published approximately once a month and is currently printed by Raytheon Media Solutions (Technical Services Company). The Silver Badge is a "mini newspaper" and has a staff consisting of an editor, assistant editor, reporters from each regional command plus headquarters, feature writers, a photographer and an advertising manager. The Silver Badge is sent to Association members and subscribers by mail, and the publication is paid for by Association dues money and subscriptions. Subscriptions are available for $12.00 yearly. Some articles currently appearing in the Silver Badge include: The President's Message: Submitted by the President of the Association concerning the welfare of the Association. (See President's Message page for article) Minutes of the Board and General Meeting Minutes: These articles enable the membership to find out what was discussed at these meetings in the event any member was unable to attend. Roll Call News: This article is submitted from the different stations and reported by the station Directors providing information on what is happening in their station.
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Medco
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Dental/Vision Supplemental Insurance) You will see"
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EL PASO MUNICIPAL POLICE OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION All members are present except for: Andy Rodriguez (On a call); Bion Bell; Ricardo Prangner; Henry Rivera (Training); Saul Villalobos; Enrique Davila (County Court #1); and Ron Martin. Guests and Presentations: CLEAT Attorneys Patrick Lara and Jim Jopling - There was a motion by Treasurer Adrian Pina to enter into Executive Session for discussion; seconded by Northeast Director Patrick Natividad. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. Discussion in Executive Session followed. Treasurer Adrian Pina made the motion to exit Executive Session; seconded by Pebble Hills Director A.J. Perez. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. All EPMPOA members are reminded that after a duty-related shooting, they MUST give the following information as part of a public safety statement: 1.) Did you shoot? 2.) How many rounds did you shoot? (Only if you know the number) 3.) What general direction did you discharge your weapon? This information is used solely to ensure there were no unintended victims in the area that may have been struck by stray bullets or bullets that passed through the intended target. Minutes for May 2008: A motion was made by Headquarters Director Randy Rodriguez to dispense with the reading of the minutes from the May 2008 meeting; seconded by Northeast Director Danny Zamora. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. Membership Report: No members have left the Department since last month's report. Some retirements are pending and will be reported when they become official. Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Adrian Pina gave the financial report to the EPMPOA Board of Directors. Northeast Director Danny Zamora made the motion to accept the Treasurer's Report; seconded by 1st Vice President Robert Gomez. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. All financial records of the EPMPOA are viewable by any member in good standing at the EPMPOA offices upon request. Correspondence and Bills: None. Association New Business: Academy Graduation - 111th academy graduation is on July 2. Association President Bobby Holguin will be going to the Academy on June 30 to sign up the new members. Committees: P.A.C. - R. Gomez - Emma Acosta won the City Council seat that was recently vacated by Representative A. Lozano. PAC Chairman Gomez met with her to discuss the current EPMPOA issues, including pay and benefits for officers. Safety - R. Martin - Ron Martin advised he had nothing new to report. Discipline - R. Rodriguez - There were four new cases received this month. Nine cases are still pending the setting of arbitration or hearing dates. No cases have been closed or disposed. No cases are pending decision. There are 12 cases still in the investigation phase. Donations - H. Rivera - H. Rivera advised he had nothing new to report. EPSO Deputy Mike Torres - Due to the death of Deputy Torres, discussion was held regarding a donation. Northeast Director Danny Zamora made the motion to send flowers to the Torres family out of the floral account; seconded by Secretary Michael J. Short #1293. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. Grievance - R. Gomez - The grievance regarding payment to a probationary officer, who had money wrongly deducted from her pay when she put in for vacation, was settled by Chief Greg Allen. By-Laws - A. Nevarez - Adrian Nevarez advised he had nothing new to report. Scholarship - R. Martin - Ron Martin advised he had nothing new to report. Novelties - H. Rivera - Pebble Hills Director Henry Rivera not present to report. Building - A. Piña - Treasurer Adrian Piña advised on problems regarding the Memorial Hall employees. The Board decided to let the problems be handled by the Hall Manager, who has the full support of the Board. Members’ Activities - B. Holguin - Bobby wanted to remind Board members of the upcoming events: 1) EPMPOA Picnic (July 20) - Some discussion was held as to arrangements that are still being made. 2) The EPMPOA Golf Tournament - Scheduled to be held on September 19. 3) The EPMPOA Awards Banquet- Scheduled to be held on October 17. Old Business: None. Welfare of the Association: Headquarters Director Randy Rodriguez made the motion to award the member of the month to officer Jesus ‘Volcano’ Herrera for his continued support of the membership. Officer Herrera has consistently organized wing drives for members in need. Thank you Volcano, for your support of the membership! Adjournment: Secretary Michael J. Short made the motion to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Treasurer Adrian Pina. The meeting was adjourned.
El Paso Municipal Police Officers' Association Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 7:07 PM, chaired by President Bobby Holguin. Pledge of Allegiance led by Bobby Holguin Invocation by Chaplain Sam Faraone Roll Call: All board members present except for: Michael Short (training), Tony Portillo, Adrian Nevarez, Rick Prangner, Kiki Davila & Luis Jimenez. Guests and Presentations:
Minutes of May 2008: Motion by Adrian Pina to dispense with reading of the minutes of January 2008. Motion seconded by Danny Zamora. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Membership report- Randy Rodriguez reported that so far, for calendar year 2008, 15 members have resigned from the department and 8 members have retired. There have been a total of 23 departures from the ranks of the El Paso Police Department to date. Treasurer’s report- Adrian Pina reviewed the Treasurer’s and Expense Reports. Motion by Julio Sanchez to accept Treasurer’s Report. Motion was seconded by Ron Martin. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Report on file. Correspondence & Bills – None received. Association New Business – Bobby Holguin reported on the upcoming graduation of the 111th Police Academy class along with the recent graduation of 3 laterals. Ceremony to take place on July 2nd. Committees: P.A.C. – Robert Gomez advised on PAC activities for the month.
Safety – Ron Martin advised that he had nothing new on which to report. Discipline – Randy Rodriguez reported that there were 4 new cases for the month. Since last month’s report zero cases were closed or otherwise disposed, no discipline cases are currently pending arbitration or hearing, 9 cases are pending the setting of hearing/arbitration dates; and 10 cases are pending investigations. Report is on file. CLEAT attorney Patrick Lara reported on Matt Jones’ recent officer involved shooting and thanked Westside Director Saul Villalobos for his quick response and assistance. Donations- Henry Rivera reported on the donation of flowers for deceased S.O. Deputy Mike Torres. Grievance- Robert Gomez reported on a grievance regarding vacation time taken by an officer not quite off of probation. There was an unintentional error made due to the, not yet applicable, Civil Service Rules used in allowing the officer to take time off. Chief Greg Allen determined that the error was not the officer’s fault and the grievance was settled. Member to be paid the money deducted from her paycheck. Bylaws- Nothing new to report. Scholarship- Ron Martin reported that the annual fundraiser for the scholarship fund, the EPMPOA Golf Tour, is scheduled to take place on Friday, September 19, 2008, at Ascarate Golf Course. Teams were encouraged to register early. Novelties- Henry Rivera advised that he had nothing new on which to report. Building- Bobby Holguin reported that current Hall managers Tommy Zubiate & Irma had done a great job in renovating and operating the hall. They originally came on board on a temporary basis, and have been extended to a month-to-month arrangement. They were also given the support of the board to handle all matters involving personnel and hall management. Members’ Activities – Bobby Holguin reported on the following:
Old Business: Welfare of the Association – Class II Director Nominations: a. Pebble Hills Regional Command
b. Mission Valley Regional Command
c. Central Regional Command Center
d. Westside Regional Command Center
There were no other nominations. Nominations closed. Election to take place first week of August 2008. Adjournment: Motion by Robert Gomez to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by Mark Campos. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Meeting concluded at 7:46 P.M. CLEAT Dental Goes PPO/DPPO Did you know that starting July 1 the CLEAT Benefit Trust Dental Plan will work as a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) or Dental Preferred Provider Organization (DPPO)? Do you know what that means to you? Well, let me see if I can explain. For several years, the CLEAT Dental Plan has provided our members with great coverage without passing on steadily increasing costs to the plan. We all know that medical coverage along with everything else has gone up in price and, like everything else, CLEAT has struggled to keep those costly increases from you. So, instead of raising premiums to you, the member, the CLEAT Benefit Trust Dental Plan will go DPPO. This means that if you would like to continue to enjoy the current benefit from the plan, you will have to see a dentist that has an agreement with DENTEMAX starting on July 1. You will still be covered if you see a dentist outside the plan, but it will be at a lower rate (listed below). Why is this being done? To be responsible for those you represent and to continue to give the best benefits available without going broke. The dental plan has become more and more expensive to maintain and without increasing your monthly premiums, the only way to continue to give our members the great coverage they have become accustomed to, the DPPO was the only way to go I spoke to Lyndon A. Smith, President for Employer Plan Services, Inc./EPSI Benefits, Inc., who sent me the list of dentist who are already participating in DENTEMAX. He tells me that an additional nine other dentists have submitted applications to be included in the Dentemax network. Lyndon also told me that EPSI, along with DENTEMAX have been aggressively recruiting, and that the efforts will be ongoing to continue in giving you a bigger pool of dentists to choose from. I am passing on a comparison of benefits under DENTEMAX and what your Out Of Network benefit would be. If your dentist is not a PPO provider you can request that they join the DenteMax provider network by contacting Mr. Dairen Braak, DENTEMAX Network Development Team Leader at 1-800-752-1547 ext. 149. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call at 915- 526-8585.
Job Related Disabilities: What To Do? When is an EPPD officer covered by worker's compensation? Many officers are not sure how worker's compensation covers them if and when they are hurt on or off-duty. Most officers take it for granted that their salary will be covered 100 percent whenever they are injured on the job. First of all, the coverage is broken up into two parts. Worker's compensation is paid through an insurance company, which covers about 72 percent of an officer's salary. The second part is Accident With Pay (AWP), which is the salary supplement that the City pays (about 28 percent). An officer who is injured on duty while engaging in law enforcement activity usually receives worker's compensation and AWP without any problems. An important thing to remember is that an officer must file an AWP extension in 30-day increments after the initial injury. The 30-day extension must be accompanied by medical evidence stating the injury or illness is recoverable. If an officer is injured while in the performance of work or an off-duty employer and the injury or illness is related to a police officer's activity, this creates a different situation. If the off-duty employer does not carry worker's compensation insurance, a claim may be filed under the City's worker's compensation. In this case, the salary supplement (about 28 percent) will be deducted from the officer's sick leave. Once the officer's sick leave is exhausted, the City will then pay the difference. The problem with this procedure is that there are too many gray areas. What is a law enforcement activity? When is an officer on or off duty? What is a police officer's activity? When is an officer engaged in law enforcement-related activities? An officer can be covered under worker's compensation, but can also be denied AWP. According to the City, each injury or illness will be handled on a case-by-case basis. If an officer believes they are wrongly denied worker's compensation or AWP, they may appeal their case. A police officer is able to appeal AWP and worker's compensation separately. An officer should their his or her rights and be familiar with Article 15, Section 6 and Article 16 of the Articles of Agreement (contract) between the EPMPOA and the City of El Paso. If there is any need for assistance with this matter, the EPMPOA Board of Directors will be happy to assist any officer in any and every way possible.
WESTSIDE NEWS ARTICLE
NORTHEAST NEWS ARTICLE Well hello from the great Northeast, where morale is high once again. Officers and supervisors are once again able to feel free to do their jobs. Supervisors now have more time to concentrate on their shifts and run the shifts without being told how to do their job or how to deal with an officer when an issue comes up. Officers are more relaxed, wanting to come to work, and bust their butts trying to bring the crime down, so the great citizens of the Northeast can say they are proud to live in this area of our great city. So with that said, let me welcome our new Commander Scott Graves to the Northeast. Commander Graves came in, evaluated the region, and has made changes in the working environment for the supervisors and most importantly for the officers here at the station. The changes that have been made in such a short time are very noticeable and commendable. The officers are now not so worried about being written up for the tiniest mistake that they may make out in the field, and they feel they can be police officers knowing that their leaders will support them in any way they can. So, again, welcome aboard Commander Graves and we here at the Northeast will do everything possible to make your command a proud one to be associated with. Now, let's get to some police officers who made some great arrests. On May 16, at approximately 1:23 a.m., officers where dispatched to one our local convenience stores in reference to a robbery. Once the officers arrived on the scene and gathered all needed information, a spot was put out on the vehicle and subjects. After about 30 minutes, the subjects were spotted by Officer J. Gomez inside the vehicle that matched the description. Officer Gomez, who was traveling in the opposite direction, had spotted the vehicle just sitting at a green light. Officer Gomez immediately turned around and conducted a traffic stop. Once the traffic stop was initiated, it turned out to be the subjects and the vehicle wanted in the robbery. The following officers are commended on taking these three bad guys off the street: J. Campos, J. Findley, D. Garnica, J. Harvel, M. Gonzalez, J. Cararez, N. Perez, E. Limas, J. Melendez, and of course, the great leadership of crazy legs Sgt. Holmes. Great job by all! On Saturday, May 24, at approximately 6:25 a.m., Day Shift officers responded to a 7-11 reference to an aggravated robbery. While conducting an investigation into the robbery, a second robbery went out at another 7-11 convenience store at approximately 6:40 a.m. Officers immediately gathered all the information and were able to determine that both robberies were linked to together. A spot was put out on the description of the suspect's vehicle. Officers Guevara and Palomino proceeded to check the area of the Devil’s Triangle, at which time they spotted the vehicle that matched the description. The vehicle was stopped and all subjects inside the vehicle were detained for investigative purposes. Officers conducted an one-on-one with the clerks from both stores, at which time, all the subjects were positively identified as the subjects involved. A search of the vehicle revealed evidence linking the subjects to the robberies. Great job to the following officers from the Day Shift on taking these subjects off our streets and placing them into a five-star hotel downtown: Officers E. Gutierrez #1345; J. Medina #1504; J. Martinez #2012: K. Guevara #2135; and J. Palomino #2580. Well, J. Ontiveros #2152 does it again! Officer Ontiveros was at a shoplifting call involving a subject wanted on Capital Murder charges. During the investigation of the shoplifting call, Jeremy, being the inquisitive person he is and as observant as he is, immediately remembered a flier that was put out on the subject. Officer Ontiveros looked at the flier that he had and found the picture on the flier to match the picture of the subject he had on the shoplifting call. Officer Ontiveros immediately placed the subject into custody and notified our great guys and gals down at the CAP office. Now knowing how great our CAP detectives are, they were able to obtain a confession from the subject implicating himself as an accomplice. With the case previously mentioned and several other arrests, Officer Ontiveros received the Howdy's Officer of the Month once again. Jeremy will be receiving a $50 gas card for his efforts. Jeremy, how about sharing the wealth and quit hoarding information?! I believe you have CIs out there helping you with these arrests just to make yourself look good. No, I’m sure they would want to wish their old partner congratulations and remind him to keep up the great work. Well everybody, thanks for all your hard work and keep up the efforts on crime. We can and will show everyone that we will bring our crime down here in the Northeast with the new leadership. Stay safe and God bless each and every one of you and your families.
PEBBLE HILLS NEWS ARTICLE CENTRAL NEWS ARTICLE MISSION VALLEY NEWS ARTICLE Greetings all, Day Shift - Special thanks goes out to Officer Joe Gonzalez for representing the Mission Valley in the Battle of the Badges. You were awesome, and deep inside everyone knows you would have won the match had it not been stopped. Welcome back, Officer Jaime Castaneda! It took some time but in the end, everything worked out. On April 28, at approximately 9:20 p.m., an Aggravated Robbery occurred at the 7-11 at 9052 Alameda. CAP was called out and the case was investigated. On this date, CAP Detectives Jimmy Aguirre and Deanne Hicks located the subject Fernando Ortiz at 405 Cadwallader. Officers from the MVRC TAC Unit (Dean Kinder, George Pacheco, Jesus Hernandez, and Mando Reyes; Patrol Officers Mike Baranyay, Oscar Gomez, Victor Mijares, and Juan Castaneda) located the subject in the backyard. Officers identified the subject and arrested him without incident. It was with the combined, committed team work of all the officers involved, beginning with the Evening Shift officers doing an excellent job as first responders, and the subject was able to be apprehended. Great job to all involved! And to Liz, good luck with your TDY transfer to the Academy represent the Mission Valley well. Evening/B Shift - The volume of calls on your shift is higher than ever since school let out. The B Shift is looking into potential problems occurring at Margaritas and other night clubs in our region. There have been numerous fight calls and other related problems. Your efforts in gathering Intel for TABC are also greatly recognized. Your investigative skills while you handle your calls are recognized by our CID and TAC section by creating strong positive leads to solving these crimes. Graveyard Shift - Kudos for their hard work and dedication! On May 22, at approximately 1:24 a.m., Officer R. Garcia #2681 was patrolling 7750 Gateway East, which is a high crime area for burglary of vehicles, where an aggressive self-initiated patrol has begun. While patrolling the area, Officer Garcia was blacked out in a marked police unit when he observed two subjects casing the area in the parking lot of the Saturn dealership, which was closed for the night. The two subjects observed the unit and started running from the officer. Officer Garcia gave chase running after the two subjects in the Saturn parking lot. He called out for assistance while providing the units with detail subject description. MVRCC TAC Units Officers Knutson, Flores, Mendez, Arrelano, Villanueva, and Patrol Officer J. Hernandez, Mendoza, Piñon, Quinones, and Sanchez arrived to assist. Officer Hernandez observed one of the suspects with the same description given out by Officer Garcia walking Eastbound on Giles. Patrol officers along with the TAC officer flooded the area and after a short foot pursuit, placed the subject under arrest. With one subject still outstanding, Officer Garcia and Officer Mendoza jumped a chain link fence behind the dealership and located the second subject hiding underneath a parked vehicle in the rear of the yard. Officer Flores conducted a follow-up at 7628 Wilcox #12 (suspect’s residence) in reference to the evading arrest to attempt to obtain positive identification. TAC Officer Flores observed a Playstation, and DVD movies in plain-view on top of a table in the living room of the apartment. The listed property matched the description of the property that was stolen on May 16 from 7628 Wilcox #11, an apartment next door to that of one of the suspect’s apartment. Both subjects implicated themselves in the burglary and most of the stolen property was recovered. It was with the combined committed team work of all officers involved, beginning with Officer Garcia doing an excellent job as first responder, that the subjects were able to be apprehended. Great job! TAC - It had been approximately one month since the Valley area was hit pretty hard with several burglaries of vehicles. The prime target area appeared to be along Kernel and Betel. The Initial investigation revealed that TBD (The Brown Dawgs) had been responsible for these burglaries. As the investigation was continuing, TAC conducted surveillance in the area of Betel and were able to arrest the below listed offenders for four burglary of vehicles. A week prior is when 9133 Kernel was hit with 11 burglaries of vehicles. Their prints were sent off for comparison and a subsequent hit came back on one of the vehicles. Officer Sierra #2392 and Det. Diaz #1744 did a great job in re-interviewing the juvenile involved, where he admitted to being involved in all 11 burglaries of vehicles that occurred at 9133 Kernel. He implicated the adult offender, as well. As it turned out, they are TBD members. I would like to recognize the work of these two officers, as well as Frankie's crew (Night TAC) for the initial arrest, which allowed us to do the appropriate follow-ups. Special thanks goes out to Officer Ruben Garcia #2681 for his processing of the vehicle out at 9133 Kernel. It was through his work that we were able to link these two separate cases together and ultimately made it very easy for us to interrogate these guys. This case is still ongoing because both of these offenders admitted to a couple more burglaries that involved the Valley, as well as the Pebble Hill areas. Great job and congratulations go out to Sgt. Briones, Officer Arrellano, Officer Flores, Officer Knutson, Officer Mendez, and Officer Villanueva on your selections as Officers of the Month. CID - Thank you for your keen investigative skills in solving the Smash and Grab cases in our region. Congratulations to Detective Candia, Detective Vaughn, Detective Pennington, and Detective Hooper on your nominations as Officers of the Month. Traffic - Congratulations to Officer M. Baranyay on your selection to Officer of the Month for catching subjects involved in beer runs in our region. Hang in their guys. With temperatures in the triple digits, take ample breaks and stay hydrated. Make sure to find that fishing hole under a tree! The wall hanging in the hallway of the MVRCC was donated by our volunteer, Jose Campos. This wall is in memory of and to honor officers who have passed away while assigned to the Valley, although not in the line-of-duty. Our Family in Blue will always be remembered! The wall hanging in the big conference room opposite our memorial wall is donated by CDR Zarur and Lt. Lockhart, in recognition of all the officers of the Graveyard Shift who contributed to the very first Patrol Unit of the Year 2007. When you have a minute, please stop and take a look, as this is something we can all be proud of in the Mission Valley. On June 27, our station will be having a cookout from 3 to 11 p.m. in recognition of the great service to our region. Until next time, stay safe!
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