Page 35 - September 2019 FOP Newsletter

Thank you, Mr. President
National conerence celebrates Chuc Canterbury or his unpreceente serice
■ BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
A hush actually came over the crowd at the New Orleans Con- vention Center when Chuck Canterbury began his farewell ad- dress as National FOP President. Canterbury could have cited dozens of accomplishments and actions that have elevated the FOP to become the supreme voice of law enforcement in the U.S. to define his service. And FOP members were anxiously awaiting to celebrate any and all of those defining moments.
But the retiring president had something more meaningful to say about his eight terms as president and 24 years serving on the National FOP executive board. He recalled a moment in 1996 when he started as second vice president.
“My wife had just passed away and my first inclination was to leave the order to raise my two children,” he recounted. “But my kids came to me and said, ‘That’s not fair. All our friends are in the FOP. Everybody we know is in the FOP. It’s not fair for you to quit so that we can’t see our friends.’”
Clearly, Canterbury matriculates as a paragon of modern fraternalism in law enforcement. He continued his address by thanking members of Coastal Carolina Lodge 12 and the South Carolina State Lodge for staying with his children when he had to go on the road for FOP business.
He teared up recalling two years earlier, when his son had to be rushed to the hospital with an aortic disruption and 70 officers were waiting for them. That didn’t include those who provided police escorts to get doctors and nurses to the hospital.
What truly defines how Canterbury served is the way the Na- tional FOP has bonded to become omnipresent. It’s a presence that led President Trump to call on Canterbury to become the next director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex- plosives (ATF), which he will do pending congressional approval at the end of September.
That was the message he intended to emphasize to the thou- sands of delegates attending the national conference.
“I don’t care whether you agree with my politics or don’t agree, if you call me, I’m coming,” Canterbury charged. “And when I call you, you’re coming as well. That’s what makes us different than anybody else in the country. It’s what we do and I am damn proud
to have served as your president.”
During his terms, the National FOP advanced legislation that
improved the salaries, rights and reputations of law enforcement officers. He led the creation of a Labor Services Division that has provided support for more than 100 bargaining units. He was called to testify at confirmation hearings for three U.S. Attorney Generals and two U.S. Supreme Court nominees.
Up until the last weeks of his final term, Canterbury was at the forefront of leadership. In July, he publicly demanded that Chica- go Mayor Lori Lightfoot apologize to rank-and-file Chicago Police Officers — and “conduct herself with more dignity and less imma- turity”— after she was captured on an open mic insulting Chicago Lodge 7 First Vice President Pat Murray.
The list of Canterbury’s accomplishments goes on and on, almost as long as the standing ovation that came after his sev- en-minute farewell address. Afterward, a motion came up on the conference floor for Lodge presidents across the country to endorse Canterbury as the new director of ATF. It passed unani- mously and sent him on to his next endeavor with the same pas- sion that made him so successful in this one.
“We have seen our influence grow, and we have improved the quality of life for every law enforcement officer in our country,” he noted. “I leave you with my promise that I will never stop advocat- ing for law enforcement. I will never stop supporting the Fraternal Order of Police.”
A bobblehead promoting Patrick Yoes for national president was one of the many items included in campaigning for office at the National FOP Confer- ence.
mere 179 votes, or 4 percent of the elec- torate. In the race for national secre- tary to replace Yoes, Jimmy Holderfield of Jacksonville Lodge 5-30 edged Dave Mutchler of River City Lodge 614 in Lou- isville by 21 votes. Gamaldi’s victory over Roger Mayberry of California seemed like a landslide with a 392-vote margin. National Second Vice President Les Neri of Pennsylvania, National Treasurer Tom Penoza of Delaware and National Chair- man of Trustees Rob Pride of Colorado were re-elected to their executive board positions.
Gamaldi echoed the urgency all can- didates expressed when he commented to Lodge 7 members about the need to get right to work.
“I think the first thing we need to do is to make sure that we have an effective communication network for our mem- bers across the country,” Gamaldi assert- ed. “We need to provide a strong oppos- ing voice to the anti-police rhetoric and the false narratives that have plagued us
for entirely too long. We need to be united and move forward as one to start pushing out all those positive stories, and we’ll make sure every member is proud to be a member of the FOP.”
Since taking office, the new national board has begun working on initiatives to lead the National FOP into this new era. From the desk of Yoes, some of these include:
• Unite and empower leaders who will collaborate on the vi- sion and strategic direction necessary to influence the future of the law enforcement profession.
• Activating a social media task force to develop a platform that will foster collaboration among FOP Lodges, appeal to FOP members of all ages and attract younger members who are the future of the National FOP.
• Implement strategies that infuse more expertise into the leg- islative evaluation process.
• Make post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and officer well- ness initiatives among the highest priorities.
• Given the poor perception and negative opinions about law enforcement in today’s society, call on the diverse experience of members to overcome the adversity.
“It will be my unwavering mission to build relationships and earn the confidence of leadership and members alike to achieve our united goals,” Yoes emphasized. “We need to be a louder voice in articulating who and what we are, and what role we play in the im- portance of society. No one can say it better than police officers.”
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ SEPTEMBER 2019 35