From John R. Byrd Sr. - PLEA President September 4, 2011
PLEA Members and Visitors…….
If you’re visiting this site as a visitor why don’t you join? The cost is only $35 a year for an individual membership. Your PLEA Board is working hard to develop an attractive membership package for our membership. Go to the membership link on this website to get all the necessary information and forms. The more members we have the better this organization will be and we will have a stronger voice to advocate for your needs.
We had our mid-year board meeting on August 17th and got a lot of good work accomplished. We had a very good discussion about our membership and how to better handle the membership data base, renewals and membership categories. We also went over some administrative issues that will allow our organization to operate more efficiently and effectively.
I want to make you aware of the next three training opportunities that we have coming up so that you can mark them on your calendar. For the first time ever we are going to be offering a Mini-Institute October 18–20, 2011in Minnetrista, Minnesota. Our 34th Annual Park Ranger Institute will be January 2-6, 2012 at the North Carolina Justice Academy in Salemburg, NC and our 33rd Annual PLEA Conference will be March 19-23, 2012 at The Summit Conference Center at Haw River State Park in Brown Summit, NC (14 miles north of Greensboro). Information about all the details about these three training opportunities can be found under our training link on the homepage of this website.
As always please feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions you might have to make this organization serve you better.
Respectfully Yours,
Lt. John R. Byrd Sr., MS (Retired)
April 22, 2011
PLEA Members and visitors..........
We are almost three months out from our 32nd Annual Conference in Cincinnati, OH February 9 – 11. This was a joint venture with the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association. We had thirty attendees, 28 full registrations and 2 one day registrations. Our PLEA sponsored sessions were well attended and had several non-PLEA members in attendance. All of our sessions were very highly rated and all of our presenters did a very professional job. This is two years in a row that we have had a disappointing turnout for our conference.
Our next PLEA sponsored training is the Executive Development training scheduled for May 9-13 at Haw River State Park in Brown Summit, NC just north of Greensboro. As of this writing no one has yet registered for this training. This training is being offered at less than half of the cost it has ever been offered for as a special incentive to PLEA. We need to support these opportunities.
As you should know by now membership is my main priority and is still a source of great frustration for me. I initiated the saying “Everyone Get One” when I took over as your President. If we all do that our membership will increase exponentially. We are working hard to provide a very attractive benefits package for our individual members. The more members we have the more benefits we will be able to attract. As I have mentioned many times, it will take a team effort to get this association to where it needs to be I can’t do it by myself. Won’t you help me?
Please support PLEA by purchasing PLEA Merchandise. Go to the PLEA Gear link on the website and purchase your items. We have some left over conference items on sale.
Some of the things we are currently working on to make this association better are a reorganization of our membership categories along with a reorganization of our Board just to mention a few. Please feel free to contact me with your suggestions and ideas. I want to wish everyone a Blessed Easter Holiday.
Respectfully Yours, Lt. John R. Byrd Sr., MS (Retired) President - PLEA
November 17, 2010
PLEA Members and visitors..........
As we are coming into this Holiday Season I first want to wish you and your families a very safe and happy Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year.
I just wanted to update you on the current goings on of your Association. We had a very good mid-year board meeting back in September in Cincinnati, OH. While in Cincinnati we toured the conference facilities and they are outstanding. We have a rejuvenated board that is wanting to work together to get this Association to where we want it to be, a truly nationally recognized player. We want to be recognized as the voice for park operations issues and represent those working in the field whether sworn or non-sworn.
We have two training opportunities coming up that are very critical to accomplishing that goal. The 33rd Annual Park Ranger Institute is January 2-7, 2011 at the campus of the North Carolina Justice Academy in Salemburg, N.C. Please go to our website at www.parkrangerinstitute.org to access all of the information about the Institute and the necessary registration forms. Secondly we have our 33rd Annual PLEA Conference in conjunction with the Ohio Parks And Recreation Association Annual Conference which will be February 9-11, 2011 in Cincinnati, OH. We hope that by developing this partnership with OPRA that it will prove to be a beneficial outcome for both organizations. The PLEA Conference information and registration are on the PLEA website at www.myparkranger.org . Please mark these dates on your calendar and make every effort to send staff to both of these very worthwhile training opportunities.
I am often asked “Why join PLEA?” “What are the benefits?” I would like to address the benefits of joining the Park Law Enforcement Association as I see them; which are encouragement, communication, opportunity, fellowship and information.
Encouragement – I encourage each and every one of you to become involved. This is your Association, without being involved, you might not truly see the benefits of being a member. I have been a member for over 25 years, and each meeting that I attend, I am encouraged through conversations and networking with others in the profession. Surround yourself with positive people and participate.
Communication – Through our newsletter and website, our goal is to keep you in the loop and keep you informed. You have the opportunity to send articles to be printed in the newsletter or as a link on our website. Please send all articles to Carl Nielsen our Executive Director at nielsen4397@comcast.net . You truly have a voice, exercise it.
Opportunity and Fellowship – The knowledge you gain through fellowship and the opportunities you might gain by attending our annual conferences and the Park Ranger Institute are integral components to keeping up with or being ahead of the curve when it comes to the constant change that is evolving in our profession. These training opportunities are only as successful as you make them by your attendance and support.
Information – The Education Committee is always looking for training programs and suggestions that will help assist you in day-to-day operations and keeping abreast of changes to the rules and laws that govern our profession. We as a profession continue to inform the public of the professionalism, integrity and goodwill of our PLEA members. Our Education Committee Chairman Hugo McPhee welcomes your suggestions for training topics. Send those to Hugo at hmcphee@threeriversparkdistrict.org. You truly have a voice, exercise it.
As always, I want to challenge all of you to be actively involved in your association. The organization is only as strong as its membership. If you know of someone that is not a member but that could benefit from membership in PLEA, please contact Mike Burko our Vice President & Membership Chairman at mburko@lakemetroparks.com and he will send them a prospective member packet and invite them to join our organization. If you have any suggestions on benefits that you would like to see us offer members send those to Mike also. You truly have a voice, exercise it.
I adopted as “Everyone Get One” as our goal for this next two years. If every member recruits just one new member each year the size of our association doubles. Before you know it we will have a couple thousand members and will start getting noticed nationally and develop more national credibility. Our association with other organizations such as the International Ranger federation is also a plus.
It has been a good year so far and I am encouraged and excited at seeing the dedication and vision of the current board. This is truly a team effort; John Byrd can't do this by himself. It is a great honor and privilege to serve as your President of PLEA, thank you for allowing me this opportunity. I hope to see all of you at The Park Ranger Institute in January and the PLEA Conference in February. I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones and listening to your opinions and perspectives about our association. Again I wish everyone a happy, safe and prosperous holiday season.
Respectfully Yours, Lt. John R. Byrd Sr. (Retired) Durham Police Department, NC Executive Director – The Park Ranger Institute 1401 Ned Moore Road Timberlake, NC 27583-8849 H: 336-364-4744 C : 919-608-4809 jrbsenior@charter.net
July 10, 2010
PLEA Members and visitors…………
We are almost three months out from our 31st Annual Conference that was held in San Antonio, Texas. I want to once again thank Capt. Ray Castro and his staff for putting together a wonderful conference for us. San Antonio especially the River Walk is one of the most amazing venues to host a conference of anywhere in the country. The topics covered were very informative and the presenters were all outstanding. The session on “Nontraditional Gangs” was definitely an eye opener. The session on “Drug Trends in America” really brought to light what is currently happening in our schools and parks. The session on “Covert Operations” just reinforced for me the need for agencies to have well trained and dedicated personnel working in our park systems to deal with the variety of offenses that are taking place right under the unsuspecting public’s noses. The session on the “Mexican Cartel” brought home the brutality and sheer disrespect for humanity that is the drug trade. If you were unable to attend this conference you missed something special.
We happy to announce some of our PLEA sponsored training that is already scheduled for 2011. The 33rd Annual Park Ranger Institute will be January 2 – 7, 2011 in Salemburg, NC check the Institute website at www.parkrangerinstitue.com for all the information and to get all the necessary registration forms. Also the 32nd Annual PLEA Conference is scheduled for February 9 – 11, 2011 at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, OH check that website at www.parkranger.com for all the conference information and registration forms. I hope everyone will mark their calendars and make plans to attend or send some of your staff to each of these outstanding events.
Until I update you again on the progress and accomplishments of your organization, take care and be safe-
John R. Byrd Sr
May 21, 2010
PLEA Members and visitors...............
I am very humbled to have been appointed your PLEA President. I want to first thank Fred McCormick for his past two years of leadership through some trying times for our organization. I also want to thank Carl Nielsen for all his hard work and effort on behalf of PLEA. It was great day in the history of this organization when Carl accepted the position of Executive Director. I look forward to working with our new officers, executive committee and full board to face the challenges we have before us.
As we stood in front of the Alamo for a group picture at our San Antonio Conference that just concluded I thought of the history of this organization. I thought of all the past officers and board members that have gotten us to this point and I thank them and appreciate their hard work, but we have much to do.
I liken this organization to the space program. Our past leadership has set the groundwork and gotten us to the moon, but like President Obama said we don't want to be satisfied with continuing to go where we have already been we want to stretch farther and set higher goals and expectations. The way to do that is to establish priorities.
I have two specific priorities for this next year. The number one priority is to increase the membership. The backbone of any organization is it's membership. We are somewhere between six and seven hundred members currently but there is no reason that our member ship shouldn't be five thousand, after all this is a national organization. Mike Burko our incoming Vice President is our Membership Committee Chairman and I am looking for great things out of his committee. I am going to task them with some specific assignments that I think will work to increase our membership. However; membership recruitment is every members responsibility not just the membership committee. I want to challenge every member to bring in at least one new member during this next year. If everyone will get just one new member we double our membership. I have recruited five new members since the San Antonio Conference myself. I want us to adopt the slogan for this next year “Everyone Get One”. I'd like for the membership committee to be able to announce at next years conference that our membership is in excess of fourteen hundred members.
Remember even though our name is Park Law Enforcement Association we accept anyone involved in park safety, security, conservation, environmental education etc., we are not limiting our membership to just sworn park patrol officers.
Our second priority is to increase attendance at our Annual Conference which is our main source of income for the organization. Ray Castro and his staff in San Antonio put on an out standing conference, anyone that didn't attend really missed a treat. That being said Hugo McPhee has hit the road running and put together an outstanding Education Committee that will be sending out a survey in the near future to find out exactly what the membership wants in a conference. Please respond when you receive your survey, this information will be very instrumental in how we go forward with our conferences in the future.
I want to thank Carl Nielsen and Tom Costello for their efforts in getting our website updated and more user friendly. Please check the website often for new information and updates, that being said anyone having any pictures of past conferences or any articles you would like to submit please send those to Carl.
In closing I look forward to representing you as your President, my door is always open. If you have ideas for how we can make this organization better please don't hesitate to share them with me. As I said earlier the membership is the backbone of this organization. Please feel fee to exercise your right to get involved
Respectfully Yours, Lt. John R. Byrd Sr. (Retired) Durham Police Department Executive Director – The Park Ranger Institute 1401 Ned Moore Road Timberlake, NC 27583-8849 H: 336-364-4744 C: 919-608-4809 jrbsenior@charter.net
It is hard to imagine how two years have passed by so quickly. In my initial address to the membership as President I said that it would be our goal to increase our membership, I believe we have done that; currently we are 700 plus members strong. Another goal was to have a strong leadership for the future. Every two years we elect new Executive Officers to serve our Association. As one of my final tasks I have appointed a Nomination Committee to seek out the best qualified leadership for our future. I have appointed our Executive Director, Carl Nielsen, to chair this committee, myself and Past President Col. Steve Newsom are the other committee members. The Nomination Committee is accepting names to develop a slate of candidates for consideration of election as Officers to the Executive Board and Directors to the Board of Directors. If you are interested in and would like to be an active participant in your Association please let one of the committee members know. Their contact information is listed on the Board of Directors page. The deadline for submission is no later than April 2, 2010.
I have appointed Chief Hugo McPhee from Three Rivers Park District, as our new Chairman of the Education Committee. In addition to being the Director of Public Safety, Hugo is currently on the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Board of Directors. He has extensive park law enforcement experience, training, and has been involved in crime scene reconstruction. He enjoys teaching many disciplines of his expertise nation-wide. Hugo has a Master’s Degree in Management with a Human Resources emphasis and possesses the Senior Professional Human Resources certification. We are proud to have him on board.
Please join me in recognizing Chief Greg Loftus of Cleveland Metro Park who was instrumental in organizing the Ohio Chapter of PLEA. Thanks Greg, we appreciate your hard work and continued dedication to our profession.
I look forward to seeing you all in San Antonio for the upcoming PLEA Conference.
Sgt. D. Fred McCormick PLEA President Minneapolis Park Police 2117 West River Road North Minneapolis, MN 55411 Office: (612) 230-6550 Cell: (612) 919-9598
Greetings, PLEA Members and Park Law Enforcement Professionals.
It is truly an honor for me to have been appointed the new President of P.L.E.A. I am excited about the new challenges ahead. My commitment as President will be to increase our membership through recruitment and outreach. We have highly motivated board members on our membership committee dedicated to strengthening our numbers.
I want to express my sincere thanks to our host agencies, Cleveland Metroparks and Lake Metroparks, for the 2008 Park Law Enforcement Conference in Cleveland. I believe that our annual conferences are one of our primary strengths. The conferences provide an opportunity for continued education in contemporary methods for policing our parks. They also provide a valuable opportunity for park law enforcement professionals from around the country to network and share their experiences. I would like to take a moment and welcome the new Executive Board: Larry Habegger as Vice President, John Nesbit as Secretary, and Dale Steele as our Treasurer. Larry will be chairing the Membership Committee, John the Education Committee, Dale the Awards Committee, and Larry Brownlee the Past President’s Committee.
Welcome our new Board Members: Reginald McCrary from the Forest Preserve District of Will County Police Department and Tom Wakolbinger from the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.
With the generous contributions of time and effort from Chuck Shelton, our webmaster, we have been able to reach out to many new members. A special thank you to our Executive Director, Carl Nielsen, for his continued leadership, guidance, and dedication to our organization.
I encourage our members to submit articles of interest to Chief Mike Burko, our Newsletter Editor, for publication in upcoming editions. Check out the discussion board on our website for any issues concerning park law enforcement. This is a useful communication tool. There are many new and exciting ideas being planned for the future. We are exploring a web-based seminar, new technologies in web conferencing, and additional educational sessions for the conferences. We are expanding by adding new state chapters. There are other ideas in the works that will be shared as they are developed. Members should submit any new ideas or suggestions. The success of your organization is determined by your input.. We want to know what P.L.E.A. can do for you.
In conclusion, I would encourage you to become active in and supportive of our P.L.E.A.
From John R. Byrd Sr. - PLEA President 