Greetings! We are looking forward to getting together in San Marcos, TX, this month for the 2018 PLEA conference. The theme for the conference is going to be Emergency Action Planning. Chief Scott Raven has prepared an outstanding program. We all have to deal with the ravages of mother nature from hurricanes, to floods, to tornados, to fires. Is your agency prepared for what you might encounter?
Join us at the 2018 PLEA conference
Join us at the 2018 PLEA conference
Make your plans now to join us in San Marcos Texas for our next annual conference.
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Hotel Registration: Embassy Suites San Marcos - Hotel, Spa & Conference Center1001 E Mccarty Ln, San Marcos, TX 78666 Reservations: 512-392-6450
The registration code is: PLE |
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2018 Conference Agenda
2018 PLEA Training Conference
Emergency Action Planning
Agenda/Schedule
Sunday, February 25
Optional – Golf, Landa Park, New Braunfels – Meet in lobby at Noon. Cost $35 and includes a cart. Lunch options available. RSVP to sraven@sanmarcostx.gov.
Monday, February 26 – Board of Directors Meeting and Registration
1PM – 5PM – Board of Directors Meeting – Private Dining Room #1 - (PLEA board members only)
4-7PM – Registration
5PM – Set up classroom and display
5:30-7:30PM – Managers Reception, Lobby.
7:30-11:30PM – Hospitality Room, #201 or #202
Notes:
Managers Reception is a complimentary nightly open bar and light snacks in the hotel lobby. 5:30-7:30PM for registered hotel guests.
The complimentary morning breakfast is a huge buffet, as well as cooked to order station for eggs, omelets, etc. in the hotel reception area. 6-8:30AM for registered hotel guests.
Tuesday, February 27 – Classroom Training Day #1
6-8:30, Breakfast, Lobby.
8-8:30 - Registration
8:30AM – Welcome, President and Host Agency. Colors and pledge by San Marcos PD Honor Guard – Chautauqua Room
8:45AM – Training the Somali National Police – Hugo McPhee, Director of Public Safety, Three Rivers Park District
9:45AM - Round Table Introductions
10:00AM – Morning Break
10:30AM – Educational Presentation – Event Planning 101, Small to Large – Scott Raven, Chief Ranger, City of San Marcos
11:30 – 1, Lunch (On your own)
1:00PM - Educational Presentations – Stop the Bleed – Train the Trainer – Katie Contreras, Ranger I, City of San Marcos
3:00PM – Afternoon Break
3:30PM - Educational Presentations – Stop the Bleed – Train the Trainer – Continued
4:30PM – Leadership - Hugo McPhee, Director of Public Safety, Three Rivers Park District
5:30 - Details on tomorrow schedule - Class adjourns.
5:30-7:30PM – Managers Reception, Lobby.
7-11:30PM – Hospitality Room, #201 or #202
Wednesday, February 28 – Field Training Day
6-8:30, Breakfast, Lobby.
8:30AM Meet busses outside the lobby. Bus to the Texas State University, Meadows Center.
Narrated glass bottom boat tour of the Edwards Aquafer fed Spring Lake. This lake is the start of the San Marcos River.
Narrated walking tour of wetlands/board walk.
Tour on your own at the educational center.
Bus to City Park
Walk the river walk to Lucio Park.
11:30AM, Bus to Lunch – Keith Blacks BBQ or Mamacitas
1:00PM, Bus to New Braunfels, Landa Park. Jess Devin, Urban Forester and Marika Misangyi, Ranger Superintendent, City of New Braunfels.
Tour several New Braunfels Parks and the Comal River.
5:00PM Bus to Embassy Suites
5:30-7:30PM – Managers Reception, Lobby.
7-11:30PM – Hospitality Room, #201 or #202
Thursday, March 1 – Classroom Training Day #2 and PLEA Annual Awards Banquet
6-7:50, Breakfast, Lobby.
7:45 - 8:00 - Registration
8:30AM – Decision Support Services – Suzanne Lenihan, Chief Program Officer, Silver Spring MD and Mike Coyne, Deputy Regional Director Southern Region HQ, Fort Worth TX - National Weather Service - Chautauqua Room
09:30AM – Morning Break
9:45 - Decision Support Services – National Weather Service - Continued
11:30-1, Lunch (on your own)
1:00PM – Wildland Fire Structural Triage and WUI/Park Interface – Jacob “Jake” Grosschalk, Texas Fire Service
2:00PM – “The Fight After the Fight, Three Rounds and Counting”. An Officers Story of Survival Before, During and After a Critical Incident. – Officer Ann Carrizales
3:15PM – Afternoon Break
3:30PM – “The Fight After the Fight, Three Rounds and Counting”. An Officers Story of Survival Before, During and After a Critical Incident. – Officer Ann Carrizales – Continued.
5:30 – Details on tonight’s banquet - Class adjourns.
5:30-7:00PM – Managers Reception, Lobby.
7-9PM – Park Law Enforcement’s Annual Awards Banquet – San Marcos Room. Dinner is provided.
9-12PM – Hospitality Room, #201 or 202
Friday, March 2
6-8:30, Breakfast, Lobby.
11AM Checkout
Class Descriptions:
Monday:
Training the Somali National Police
Chief McPhee will share his experiences on his trip to Mogadishu to train the fledgling Somali National Police in Mogadishu. This internationally recognized effort was the result of two individuals chatting over coffee on how best to bridge police diversity efforts in Minneapolis and resulted in over two tons of police equipment, two ambulances and a fire truck being donated to the Somali National Police as they build their Department. Additionally, Chief McPhee taught and accompanied first responders in the field as they toured the city and responded to IED detonation sites.
Presenter- Hugo McPhee, Director of Public Safety, Three Rivers Park District
Event Planning - Small to Large
They City of San Marcos is home to two busy river recreation areas, over 3300 acres of parks and green spaces and is home to Texas State University. We have events such as concerts, carnivals, festivals, major holiday weekends and college football games to name a few. This class provides an overview of event plans from small, medium and large scale actual events and gatherings. Bring a thumb drive and you can have all the forms and documents to take back home, modify and begin using immediately.
Presenter – Scott Raven, Chief Ranger, City of San Marcos
Stop the Bleed – Train the Trainer
Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign and a call to action. Stop the Bleed is intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives.
No matter how rapid the arrival of professional emergency responders, bystanders will always be first on the scene. A person who is bleeding can die from blood loss within five minutes, therefore it is important to quickly stop the blood loss. Those nearest to someone with life threatening injuries are best positioned to provide first care. According to a recent National Academies of Science study, trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans under age 46.
This is a classroom instruction with a hands on skills stations in wound packing and tourniquet application and results in a training certificate. You can begin teaching this class on your own immediately after.
Instructor – Katie Contreras, Park Ranger I/Paramedic, City of San Marcos
Leadership
This brief training focuses traditional leadership principles towards a better understanding of followership, mentoring and leading by example. The roles of generational differences, group dynamics and leadership of self will be explored to help today’s leaders shape and change organizational attitude to reflect stated mission and visions.
Presenter - Hugo McPhee, Director of Public Safety, Three Rivers Park District
Wednesday – Field training: Please dress according to the weather and have good walking shoes.
The day starts with being transported to the Meadows Center at Texas State University. Half of the group will take a narrated tour on the glass bottomed boats on Spring Lake. The other half of the group will take a narrated tour of the wetlands. The two groups will switch when completed. Time will be given to spend time on your own to tour the Meadows Center.
The tour continues and the groups will walk along the San Marcos River through 5-6 City of San Marcos Parks along the river. The local Rangers will discuss some of their special events in the river parks and their seasonal tubing operations and year round river recreation. We will stop by the Ranger Station and look at some of the equipment that the San Marcos Rangers use to patrol and protect their parks.
Lunch will be provided at one of our better local TXMEX or BBQ establishments.
The group will be transported to the neighboring City of New Braunfels. The group will tours several of the River Parks and the Comel River recreation area. Local Park Rangers will discuss the seasonal tubing operations and will ask for input and suggestions from the group.
Thursday:
Decision Support Services
The National Weather Service will teach us how we can access their services and gain weather forecast information that will help us make decisions for our events and incident responses.
Instructor – Suzanne Lenihan, Chief Program Officer, Silver Spring MD and Mike Coyne, Deputy Regional Director Southern Region HQ, Fort Worth TX - National Weather Service
Wildland Fire Structural Triage and WUI/Park Interface
The Texas Fire Service staff will present a class on Wildland Structural Triage and Wildland Urban Interface in a park setting.
Presenter: Jacob “Jake” Grosschalk, Texas Forest Service, Mitigation and Prevention Division
“The Fight After the Fight, Three Rounds and Counting”. An Officers Story of Survival Before, During and After a Critical Incident.
It is a difficult time for the American police officer. A violent and aggressive war has been waged against law enforcement and it is killing our officers in astounding numbers. Police survival has never been a more vital subject of training than it is now. As a result, training is increasing and evolving in an effort to better equip officers with the tools necessary for survival of deadly encounters. Officers are trained to win the fight, but they are not taught how to win the fight that comes AFTER the fight, which is often the most difficult part. One of the most dangerous wars that police officers face is the war against post-traumatic stress (PTS), yet this is not a major area of focus for training.
The focus of this presentation is to illustrate the importance of a survival mindset BEFORE, DURING and AFTER a critical incident. An officer may possess all of the vital tactical training needed to survive a deadly attack; however, if he/she does not possess a well-trained survival mindset, chances of survival decrease significantly.
Officers will hear a riveting story that will challenge them to take an honest, hard look at their own mental toughness/will to survive and ponder the tough question of "Am I truly prepared?" The presentation will provide them with the opportunity for survival against one of the most dangerous opponents they could ever face...THEMSELVES.
Presenter – Officer Ann Carrizales, Meadows Place, Texas PD
Back up classes:
De-escalation- an Introduction to Integrating Communications Assessments and Tactics (ICAT)
Officer Doughty, Three Rivers Park Police (MN) Use of Force and De Escalation trainer, will demonstrate field proven tactics to de-escalate volatile situations by utilizing the Integrating Communications Assessments and Tactics best practices training put forth by the Police Executive Research Forum in Boston, MA. Through lecture, video and demonstrations, attendees will learn valuable information about de-escalation statistics and officer mindsets that reduce the use of force and result in safer outcomes for all.
Presenter - Mike Doughty – Three Rivers Park District
Policies-Stone Tablets or Pirates Code?
We all have policies that most likely stemmed from one incident or one person’s transgression and now there is a policy to prevent future misgivings. This brief training session focuses on the transformational nature of policies and moves away from the transactional nature of policies. Properly crafted, a policy helps to change employee conduct, guide staff behavior towards organizational goals and helps you create a value based – not rule based, organization. The goal becomes staff doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, not because failure to comply results in consequences.
Presenter - Hugo McPhee, Director of Public Safety, Three Rivers Park District
2018 PLEA Training Conference
Emergency Action Planning
Agenda/Schedule
Sunday, February 25
Optional – Golf, Landa Park, New Braunfels – Meet in lobby at Noon. Cost $35 and includes a cart. Lunch options available. RSVP to sraven@sanmarcostx.gov.
Monday, February 26 – Board of Directors Meeting and Registration
1PM – 5PM – Board of Directors Meeting – Private Dining Room #1 - (PLEA board members only)
4-7PM – Registration
5PM – Set up classroom and display
5:30-7:30PM – Managers Reception, Lobby.
7:30-11:30PM – Hospitality Room, #201 or #202
Notes:
Managers Reception is a complimentary nightly open bar and light snacks in the hotel lobby. 5:30-7:30PM for registered hotel guests.
The complimentary morning breakfast is a huge buffet, as well as cooked to order station for eggs, omelets, etc. in the hotel reception area. 6-8:30AM for registered hotel guests.
Tuesday, February 27 – Classroom Training Day #1
6-8:30, Breakfast, Lobby.
8-8:30 - Registration
8:30AM – Welcome, President and Host Agency. Colors and pledge by San Marcos PD Honor Guard – Chautauqua Room
8:45AM – Training the Somali National Police – Hugo McPhee, Director of Public Safety, Three Rivers Park District
9:45AM - Round Table Introductions
10:00AM – Morning Break
10:30AM – Educational Presentation – Event Planning 101, Small to Large – Scott Raven, Chief Ranger, City of San Marcos
11:30 – 1, Lunch (On your own)
1:00PM - Educational Presentations – Stop the Bleed – Train the Trainer – Katie Contreras, Ranger I, City of San Marcos
3:00PM – Afternoon Break
3:30PM - Educational Presentations – Stop the Bleed – Train the Trainer – Continued
4:30PM – Leadership - Hugo McPhee, Director of Public Safety, Three Rivers Park District
5:30 - Details on tomorrow schedule - Class adjourns.
5:30-7:30PM – Managers Reception, Lobby.
7-11:30PM – Hospitality Room, #201 or #202
Wednesday, February 28 – Field Training Day
6-8:30, Breakfast, Lobby.
8:30AM Meet busses outside the lobby. Bus to the Texas State University, Meadows Center.
Narrated glass bottom boat tour of the Edwards Aquafer fed Spring Lake. This lake is the start of the San Marcos River.
Narrated walking tour of wetlands/board walk.
Tour on your own at the educational center.
Bus to City Park
Walk the river walk to Lucio Park.
11:30AM, Bus to Lunch – Keith Blacks BBQ or Mamacitas
1:00PM, Bus to New Braunfels, Landa Park. Jess Devin, Urban Forester and Marika Misangyi, Ranger Superintendent, City of New Braunfels.
Tour several New Braunfels Parks and the Comal River.
5:00PM Bus to Embassy Suites
5:30-7:30PM – Managers Reception, Lobby.
7-11:30PM – Hospitality Room, #201 or #202
Thursday, March 1 – Classroom Training Day #2 and PLEA Annual Awards Banquet
6-7:50, Breakfast, Lobby.
7:45 - 8:00 - Registration
8:30AM – Decision Support Services – Suzanne Lenihan, Chief Program Officer, Silver Spring MD and Mike Coyne, Deputy Regional Director Southern Region HQ, Fort Worth TX - National Weather Service - Chautauqua Room
09:30AM – Morning Break
9:45 - Decision Support Services – National Weather Service - Continued
11:30-1, Lunch (on your own)
1:00PM – Wildland Fire Structural Triage and WUI/Park Interface – Jacob “Jake” Grosschalk, Texas Fire Service
2:00PM – “The Fight After the Fight, Three Rounds and Counting”. An Officers Story of Survival Before, During and After a Critical Incident. – Officer Ann Carrizales
3:15PM – Afternoon Break
3:30PM – “The Fight After the Fight, Three Rounds and Counting”. An Officers Story of Survival Before, During and After a Critical Incident. – Officer Ann Carrizales – Continued.
5:30 – Details on tonight’s banquet - Class adjourns.
5:30-7:00PM – Managers Reception, Lobby.
7-9PM – Park Law Enforcement’s Annual Awards Banquet – San Marcos Room. Dinner is provided.
9-12PM – Hospitality Room, #201 or 202
Friday, March 2
6-8:30, Breakfast, Lobby.
11AM Checkout
Class Descriptions:
Monday:
Training the Somali National Police
Chief McPhee will share his experiences on his trip to Mogadishu to train the fledgling Somali National Police in Mogadishu. This internationally recognized effort was the result of two individuals chatting over coffee on how best to bridge police diversity efforts in Minneapolis and resulted in over two tons of police equipment, two ambulances and a fire truck being donated to the Somali National Police as they build their Department. Additionally, Chief McPhee taught and accompanied first responders in the field as they toured the city and responded to IED detonation sites.
Presenter- Hugo McPhee, Director of Public Safety, Three Rivers Park District
Event Planning - Small to Large
They City of San Marcos is home to two busy river recreation areas, over 3300 acres of parks and green spaces and is home to Texas State University. We have events such as concerts, carnivals, festivals, major holiday weekends and college football games to name a few. This class provides an overview of event plans from small, medium and large scale actual events and gatherings. Bring a thumb drive and you can have all the forms and documents to take back home, modify and begin using immediately.
Presenter – Scott Raven, Chief Ranger, City of San Marcos
Stop the Bleed – Train the Trainer
Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign and a call to action. Stop the Bleed is intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives.
No matter how rapid the arrival of professional emergency responders, bystanders will always be first on the scene. A person who is bleeding can die from blood loss within five minutes, therefore it is important to quickly stop the blood loss. Those nearest to someone with life threatening injuries are best positioned to provide first care. According to a recent National Academies of Science study, trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans under age 46.
This is a classroom instruction with a hands on skills stations in wound packing and tourniquet application and results in a training certificate. You can begin teaching this class on your own immediately after.
Instructor – Katie Contreras, Park Ranger I/Paramedic, City of San Marcos
Leadership
This brief training focuses traditional leadership principles towards a better understanding of followership, mentoring and leading by example. The roles of generational differences, group dynamics and leadership of self will be explored to help today’s leaders shape and change organizational attitude to reflect stated mission and visions.
Presenter - Hugo McPhee, Director of Public Safety, Three Rivers Park District
Wednesday – Field training: Please dress according to the weather and have good walking shoes.
The day starts with being transported to the Meadows Center at Texas State University. Half of the group will take a narrated tour on the glass bottomed boats on Spring Lake. The other half of the group will take a narrated tour of the wetlands. The two groups will switch when completed. Time will be given to spend time on your own to tour the Meadows Center.
The tour continues and the groups will walk along the San Marcos River through 5-6 City of San Marcos Parks along the river. The local Rangers will discuss some of their special events in the river parks and their seasonal tubing operations and year round river recreation. We will stop by the Ranger Station and look at some of the equipment that the San Marcos Rangers use to patrol and protect their parks.
Lunch will be provided at one of our better local TXMEX or BBQ establishments.
The group will be transported to the neighboring City of New Braunfels. The group will tours several of the River Parks and the Comel River recreation area. Local Park Rangers will discuss the seasonal tubing operations and will ask for input and suggestions from the group.
Thursday:
Decision Support Services
The National Weather Service will teach us how we can access their services and gain weather forecast information that will help us make decisions for our events and incident responses.
Instructor – Suzanne Lenihan, Chief Program Officer, Silver Spring MD and Mike Coyne, Deputy Regional Director Southern Region HQ, Fort Worth TX - National Weather Service
Wildland Fire Structural Triage and WUI/Park Interface
The Texas Fire Service staff will present a class on Wildland Structural Triage and Wildland Urban Interface in a park setting.
Presenter: Jacob “Jake” Grosschalk, Texas Forest Service, Mitigation and Prevention Division
“The Fight After the Fight, Three Rounds and Counting”. An Officers Story of Survival Before, During and After a Critical Incident.
It is a difficult time for the American police officer. A violent and aggressive war has been waged against law enforcement and it is killing our officers in astounding numbers. Police survival has never been a more vital subject of training than it is now. As a result, training is increasing and evolving in an effort to better equip officers with the tools necessary for survival of deadly encounters. Officers are trained to win the fight, but they are not taught how to win the fight that comes AFTER the fight, which is often the most difficult part. One of the most dangerous wars that police officers face is the war against post-traumatic stress (PTS), yet this is not a major area of focus for training.
The focus of this presentation is to illustrate the importance of a survival mindset BEFORE, DURING and AFTER a critical incident. An officer may possess all of the vital tactical training needed to survive a deadly attack; however, if he/she does not possess a well-trained survival mindset, chances of survival decrease significantly.
Officers will hear a riveting story that will challenge them to take an honest, hard look at their own mental toughness/will to survive and ponder the tough question of "Am I truly prepared?" The presentation will provide them with the opportunity for survival against one of the most dangerous opponents they could ever face...THEMSELVES.
Presenter – Officer Ann Carrizales, Meadows Place, Texas PD
Back up classes:
De-escalation- an Introduction to Integrating Communications Assessments and Tactics (ICAT)
Officer Doughty, Three Rivers Park Police (MN) Use of Force and De Escalation trainer, will demonstrate field proven tactics to de-escalate volatile situations by utilizing the Integrating Communications Assessments and Tactics best practices training put forth by the Police Executive Research Forum in Boston, MA. Through lecture, video and demonstrations, attendees will learn valuable information about de-escalation statistics and officer mindsets that reduce the use of force and result in safer outcomes for all.
Presenter - Mike Doughty – Three Rivers Park District
Policies-Stone Tablets or Pirates Code?
We all have policies that most likely stemmed from one incident or one person’s transgression and now there is a policy to prevent future misgivings. This brief training session focuses on the transformational nature of policies and moves away from the transactional nature of policies. Properly crafted, a policy helps to change employee conduct, guide staff behavior towards organizational goals and helps you create a value based – not rule based, organization. The goal becomes staff doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, not because failure to comply results in consequences.
Presenter - Hugo McPhee, Director of Public Safety, Three Rivers Park District
Thank You Miami-Dade Parks for hosting the 2017 conference!
Click on the Conferences tab above for details.
Savannah Forsyth Park
PARK LAW ENFORCEMENT - Looking Back... 1979-1988
by Jerry Wimpee
[Past President, Park Law Enforcement Association]
I am obligated, by duty to those who are not present, to share my witness of the beginnings of our association along with some commentary.
“The farther backward you can look,
the farther forward you are likely to see.” -Winston Churchill
The 1960s was a period of revolution in America. It was a time when traditional values, authority, and laws were contested and subsequently changed. The associated events of civil disobedience, war protest, assassinations, and civil rights conflicts together altered the accepted tenets of order. I stand in awe of the courage and restraint demonstrated by law enforcement officers, in the face of such evil public behavior.
During the 1960s and 1970s, by necessity, new ways of maintaining order were developed primarily by the front line warriors, park law enforcement officers. Naturally, most of the Park and Recreation Executives/Politicians would be on a longer learning curve. As a result of officers’ experiences and their adaptability, they became the most knowledgeable group concerning new order maintenance planning/application. For law enforcement, it was time to shift to knowledge management. Most park law enforcement groups were limited in their effort to herald this knowledge due to the fact that they had limited professional recognition within the Park and Recreation Profession, a significant dilemma.
Prevailing attitudes within the parks and recreation profession were that their law enforcement services were a necessary evil, “after all they are in the fun and games business and therefore it is unpleasant to correct an invited visitor.” Such attitudes contributed to the absence of the proper understanding of the “modern” role and professional support for thousands of park and recreation employees working in law enforcement and visitor protection services. Subsequently, a void existed which would limit the parks and recreation role and mission. For park law enforcement professionals, it was time to fish, or cut bait.
Let’s Fish! Respectable partnerships would be required to create a forum to improve the status quo position. Such a forum needed to appear as a third party endeavor in order to obtain travel approval, etc. In 1978 Dallas Park Police Chief, Jerry Wimpee visited with Dr. Jim Fletcher, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University and discussed our issues. In response to the professional void and linkage, Texas A&M University and the City of Dallas Park Police organized a Park law Enforcement and Visitor Protection Workshop. This annual workshop began in 1979 for the purpose of having a creditable vehicle to facilitate the needs of the law enforcement practitioners.
The first Park Law Enforcement and Visitor Workshop was held on the Texas A&M campus. Following the initial meeting, a Workshop Advisory Board was created to shepherd future workshops. Additionally, the Advisory Board set in motion the formation of a park law enforcement association. The National Alliance of Park Law Enforcement Association was created to strengthen professional networks and to expand educational opportunities. NAPLEA was chartered as a non-profit corporation in the State of Colorado.
We purposed to keep the original people in charge through its formative years believing that each would best know when to place their shared dream into the custody of others. All advisors were in agreement on the importance of organizational stability during the first several years of this new association.
The name Park Law Enforcement Association was chosen by the Board because of its straightforward relationship to our function. This occurred June 1984 in a Special Meeting of NAPLEA Directors at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. The officers, at this time, were President Jerry Wimpee, newly elected Vice President J.C. Lindsey, and Secretary/Treasurer Gordon Greenwell. PLEA officers and board members remained the same as NAPLEA except Gene Moore stepped down from vice president to board member. At this time PLEA was chartered as a non-profit corporation in the State of Texas.
In 1984, we were provided with an opportunity to “come through the front door” which proved to be a most productive time for park law enforcement. It started with my introduction to John Davis, Executive Director for the National Park and Recreation Association. He invited me to come visit NRPA headquarters and to stay at his home with him and his wife for a few days. What a perfect way to spread our message from the top down. John Davis invited me to be a presenter to the NRPA Trustees at their upcoming annual meeting in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The opportunity to personally make the trustees aware of the park law enforcement voice and to judge for themselves our honest endeavors to improve the situation from within the park and recreation profession worked great. The role of professional park law enforcement was now seen from the top down in the park and recreation profession. Our message was warmly received by the trustees, and they encouraged our continued involvement with them. I was invited to present again at their next trustee meeting held during the 1984 NRPA Congress in Orlando. Additionally, we were given an educational slot on the general program agenda.
PLEA’s formal NRPA affiliation began in April 1985. John Davis, NRPA Executive Director, and Jerry Wimpee, PLEA President, executed a Memorandum of Understanding setting forth special services/responsibilities to address a mutual working relationship between National Parks and Recreation Association and the Park Law Enforcement Association. This event completed our original start-up recognition objectives, which were:
- Academic recognition via Texas A&M University.
- Profession recognition via National Park and Recreation Association.
There were Five Milestones during the formative period of the association:
1. The Partnership of Strangers - who became trusted friends while working
together to improve park law enforcement.
* Dr. James Fletcher, Texas A&M University, Texas
* Chief Gordon Greenwell, South Suburban Park District, Colorado
* Chief Ranger Ralph Hayes, Johnson County Park District, Kansas
* Training Coordinator Andy Hutchinson, National Park Service, FLETC
* Deputy Chief J. C. Lindsey, U.S. Park Police, Washington D.C.
* Capitan Gene Moore, Land Between The Lakes, Kentucky
* Professor Dan Murrell, Cecil G. Humphries School of Law, Tennessee
* Chief Jerry Wimpee, City of Dallas Park Police, Texas
* Chief of Rangers Bourbon Zeigler, Cleveland Metro Parks, Ohio
2. The Partnership with Texas A&M University - which provided the forum, needed to begin and to continue.
3. The Partnership with Land Between The Lakes - which improved workshop
participation for many practioners, due to its accessibility, for three consecutive years. Many of the needed future leaders attended our workshop during this period.
4. The Partnership with National Parks and Recreation Association - which provided needed recognition for law enforcement within the park and recreation profession. Such creditability helped mitigate the “necessary evil” stigma.
5. The Partnership with Advancement - which was the pathway to success. PLEA enjoyed the position of having many qualified people prepared to lead. In 1988, it was time for the founders to place their shared dream in the custody of others.
In closing, I herein take the liberty to deliver a message from the association founders to all of you who have followed us. We are especially pleased with your success and for carrying our dream forward. Your devotion, hard work, and good conduct brings honor to the park law enforcement profession, each day. Thanks, thank you, and forever thanks.
Jerry M. Wimpee
Rockwall County Texas
2013
[Past President, Park Law Enforcement Association]
I am obligated, by duty to those who are not present, to share my witness of the beginnings of our association along with some commentary.
“The farther backward you can look,
the farther forward you are likely to see.” -Winston Churchill
The 1960s was a period of revolution in America. It was a time when traditional values, authority, and laws were contested and subsequently changed. The associated events of civil disobedience, war protest, assassinations, and civil rights conflicts together altered the accepted tenets of order. I stand in awe of the courage and restraint demonstrated by law enforcement officers, in the face of such evil public behavior.
During the 1960s and 1970s, by necessity, new ways of maintaining order were developed primarily by the front line warriors, park law enforcement officers. Naturally, most of the Park and Recreation Executives/Politicians would be on a longer learning curve. As a result of officers’ experiences and their adaptability, they became the most knowledgeable group concerning new order maintenance planning/application. For law enforcement, it was time to shift to knowledge management. Most park law enforcement groups were limited in their effort to herald this knowledge due to the fact that they had limited professional recognition within the Park and Recreation Profession, a significant dilemma.
Prevailing attitudes within the parks and recreation profession were that their law enforcement services were a necessary evil, “after all they are in the fun and games business and therefore it is unpleasant to correct an invited visitor.” Such attitudes contributed to the absence of the proper understanding of the “modern” role and professional support for thousands of park and recreation employees working in law enforcement and visitor protection services. Subsequently, a void existed which would limit the parks and recreation role and mission. For park law enforcement professionals, it was time to fish, or cut bait.
Let’s Fish! Respectable partnerships would be required to create a forum to improve the status quo position. Such a forum needed to appear as a third party endeavor in order to obtain travel approval, etc. In 1978 Dallas Park Police Chief, Jerry Wimpee visited with Dr. Jim Fletcher, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University and discussed our issues. In response to the professional void and linkage, Texas A&M University and the City of Dallas Park Police organized a Park law Enforcement and Visitor Protection Workshop. This annual workshop began in 1979 for the purpose of having a creditable vehicle to facilitate the needs of the law enforcement practitioners.
The first Park Law Enforcement and Visitor Workshop was held on the Texas A&M campus. Following the initial meeting, a Workshop Advisory Board was created to shepherd future workshops. Additionally, the Advisory Board set in motion the formation of a park law enforcement association. The National Alliance of Park Law Enforcement Association was created to strengthen professional networks and to expand educational opportunities. NAPLEA was chartered as a non-profit corporation in the State of Colorado.
We purposed to keep the original people in charge through its formative years believing that each would best know when to place their shared dream into the custody of others. All advisors were in agreement on the importance of organizational stability during the first several years of this new association.
The name Park Law Enforcement Association was chosen by the Board because of its straightforward relationship to our function. This occurred June 1984 in a Special Meeting of NAPLEA Directors at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. The officers, at this time, were President Jerry Wimpee, newly elected Vice President J.C. Lindsey, and Secretary/Treasurer Gordon Greenwell. PLEA officers and board members remained the same as NAPLEA except Gene Moore stepped down from vice president to board member. At this time PLEA was chartered as a non-profit corporation in the State of Texas.
In 1984, we were provided with an opportunity to “come through the front door” which proved to be a most productive time for park law enforcement. It started with my introduction to John Davis, Executive Director for the National Park and Recreation Association. He invited me to come visit NRPA headquarters and to stay at his home with him and his wife for a few days. What a perfect way to spread our message from the top down. John Davis invited me to be a presenter to the NRPA Trustees at their upcoming annual meeting in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The opportunity to personally make the trustees aware of the park law enforcement voice and to judge for themselves our honest endeavors to improve the situation from within the park and recreation profession worked great. The role of professional park law enforcement was now seen from the top down in the park and recreation profession. Our message was warmly received by the trustees, and they encouraged our continued involvement with them. I was invited to present again at their next trustee meeting held during the 1984 NRPA Congress in Orlando. Additionally, we were given an educational slot on the general program agenda.
PLEA’s formal NRPA affiliation began in April 1985. John Davis, NRPA Executive Director, and Jerry Wimpee, PLEA President, executed a Memorandum of Understanding setting forth special services/responsibilities to address a mutual working relationship between National Parks and Recreation Association and the Park Law Enforcement Association. This event completed our original start-up recognition objectives, which were:
- Academic recognition via Texas A&M University.
- Profession recognition via National Park and Recreation Association.
There were Five Milestones during the formative period of the association:
1. The Partnership of Strangers - who became trusted friends while working
together to improve park law enforcement.
* Dr. James Fletcher, Texas A&M University, Texas
* Chief Gordon Greenwell, South Suburban Park District, Colorado
* Chief Ranger Ralph Hayes, Johnson County Park District, Kansas
* Training Coordinator Andy Hutchinson, National Park Service, FLETC
* Deputy Chief J. C. Lindsey, U.S. Park Police, Washington D.C.
* Capitan Gene Moore, Land Between The Lakes, Kentucky
* Professor Dan Murrell, Cecil G. Humphries School of Law, Tennessee
* Chief Jerry Wimpee, City of Dallas Park Police, Texas
* Chief of Rangers Bourbon Zeigler, Cleveland Metro Parks, Ohio
2. The Partnership with Texas A&M University - which provided the forum, needed to begin and to continue.
3. The Partnership with Land Between The Lakes - which improved workshop
participation for many practioners, due to its accessibility, for three consecutive years. Many of the needed future leaders attended our workshop during this period.
4. The Partnership with National Parks and Recreation Association - which provided needed recognition for law enforcement within the park and recreation profession. Such creditability helped mitigate the “necessary evil” stigma.
5. The Partnership with Advancement - which was the pathway to success. PLEA enjoyed the position of having many qualified people prepared to lead. In 1988, it was time for the founders to place their shared dream in the custody of others.
In closing, I herein take the liberty to deliver a message from the association founders to all of you who have followed us. We are especially pleased with your success and for carrying our dream forward. Your devotion, hard work, and good conduct brings honor to the park law enforcement profession, each day. Thanks, thank you, and forever thanks.
Jerry M. Wimpee
Rockwall County Texas
2013
Identity
Synopsis: Jerry M. Wimpee
Jerry Wimpee is an eight-generation Texan. He was born in and continues to live in Rockwall County Texas. Jerry and Sherry have been married for 47 years and are blessed with three children and six grandchildren, so far. Jerry has been a member of the First Baptist Church for 59 years where he serves as a Deacon.
Jerry Wimpee began his 48-year public service career with the City of Dallas Park Department. During his 28 years with the city he served as Assistant to the Director, Assistant Director of the Zoo & Aquarium, General Manager of Fair Park, Park Superintendent and Chief of the Dallas Park Police. Additionally, Jerry was an elected Rockwall County Commissioner. During his 20 years as an elected official, he was the County Judge Pro Tem for 10 years. In 2011 he chose not to seek reelection to the office of county commissioner. He completed his term of office and then stepped out of the “public arena” effective January 1, 2013. Jerry and Sherry plan to use 2013 to conclude several deferred tasks, to complete postponed travel, and to consider future possibilities.
Graduate of: East Texas State University
Texas A&M Executive Development Program
AZA Biology School - University of North Carolina
Leadership Southwest
Criminal Justice Program - University of Virginia
FBI National Academy
Curriculum 2000 - Texas Association of Counties
Jerry Wimpee is an eight-generation Texan. He was born in and continues to live in Rockwall County Texas. Jerry and Sherry have been married for 47 years and are blessed with three children and six grandchildren, so far. Jerry has been a member of the First Baptist Church for 59 years where he serves as a Deacon.
Jerry Wimpee began his 48-year public service career with the City of Dallas Park Department. During his 28 years with the city he served as Assistant to the Director, Assistant Director of the Zoo & Aquarium, General Manager of Fair Park, Park Superintendent and Chief of the Dallas Park Police. Additionally, Jerry was an elected Rockwall County Commissioner. During his 20 years as an elected official, he was the County Judge Pro Tem for 10 years. In 2011 he chose not to seek reelection to the office of county commissioner. He completed his term of office and then stepped out of the “public arena” effective January 1, 2013. Jerry and Sherry plan to use 2013 to conclude several deferred tasks, to complete postponed travel, and to consider future possibilities.
Graduate of: East Texas State University
Texas A&M Executive Development Program
AZA Biology School - University of North Carolina
Leadership Southwest
Criminal Justice Program - University of Virginia
FBI National Academy
Curriculum 2000 - Texas Association of Counties
