Page 5 - TPA Journal November December 2014

From the Desk

of the Executive Director

Erwin Ballarta

Dear TPA Family,
We wish all our law enforcement family a safe and blessed Thanksgiving Holiday and Merry
Christmas! We would like to keep all of you in our prayers as you keep Texas safe. I understand your
personal sacrifice on having to miss many Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays away from your spouse
and children. We also send our thoughts and thanks to the spouses that keep the home strong and the
family united.
Our President, Ray Chandler, has declared the theme for 2014-2015 during his presidency to be
focused on “Family”. When we talk of family we mean the Law Enforcement, Personal, and Community
Family. Every society depends on brave men and women who are willing to give their lives for the greater
good. These community servants have a sense of duty, courage, dedication, and are willing to withstand
hardships. In the same breath, we must recognize their spouses who experience hardship and
uncertainty. We are in the planning stages to create programs supporting our officers and family in
dealing with hardships and traumatic experiences. We would like to also further our community
involvement in our schools and special programs.
On October 20-23, 2014 we attended the TCOLE Conference. The keynote speaker was Kevin
Gilmartin, Ph.D. on Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement. Other speakers were Glenn Bard “Current
Trends in Electronic Evidence”, Chief Harry Dolan “Surviving Verbal Conflict”, and Randy Means
“Managing for Organizational Integrity; The Integration of Policy, Training, Supervision, and Discipline
in Law Enforcement Agency”.

The TCOLE staff that made the TCOLE Conference a success being
recognized by TCOLE Executive Director Kim Vickers.

Nov/Dec. 2014 www.texaspoliceassociation.com • 866-997-8282 1