On May 29th, 2008, on the second floor of city hall Durham City Council will be holding budget hearings on the Police Department’s budget, which include pay raises requested by Chief Lopez. It is important that we have a strong showing. I am asking for as many people that can possibly be there to show up for the hearings.

The North Carolina Sheriff Police Alliance has been working on pay raises for eight months now, but we need your help to complete the deal. It doesn’t matter what organization you belong to, now is the time, for us to stand together to support Chief Lopez and his request for better pay for our officers. We are facing a crisis and we need to show a united front. We stood together in 2003 and it led to the biggest pay increases in the history of the City of Durham. Yet here we are again five years later facing many of the same issues. We believe that the City Council is aware of the crisis and is inclined to support us. However, one never knows when it comes to money.  That is why I am issuing a call to arms. 

Please come out on May 29th to support our call for pay increases. This issue is vital to all of us. Now is the time to show the community that law enforcement is still united. Together we can accomplish great things. Fractured we will have to settle for whatever crumbs we can get. I don’t know about you but, I would like to be seated at the table during the feast, instead circling the table waiting for crumbs to fall. Let’s prove once again that we can unite for the common good. Come join me on May 29th on the second floor of city hall. Answer the call to arms with me as I will be representing each of you through out this process!

Speaking of a united front, the U.S. Senate is expected to debate the collective bargaining bill on June 10th. The League of Municipalities is asking all of its members to call our senators and ask them to continue to vote against this bill. If you ever want to have the right to collective bargaining for law enforcement officers now is the time to flood our senators with calls and emails asking them to support this measure. Also give Senator Ted Kennedy a call or email telling him that you are a North Carolinian and you support collective bargaining for law enforcement officers. We need the right to meet and bargain for our pay and benefits. Of course the administrations we work for don’t want that to happen. They want to keep paying us what they feel like. Its been working pretty good for them up until now.  We need to stand together. United we stand, divided we fall. That statement was never truer than now.
 
And don’t forget our monthly meeting is every fourth Saturday of each month. The place is the Millennium Hotel in Durham at 9:00 am. I hope to see each of you there.
 
God bless ya’ll,
Andy Miller, President
N.C. Sheriff Police Alliance
andy@ncpolice.org
866 736-2772 x 1