President’s Message
Friday, June 5th, 2009, by Andy MillerJun
05
2009
Risking Our Lives While They Empty Our Pockets
I am making all of our members aware of an issue that has surfaced that may negatively impact each sworn officer in this state. For the upcoming budget the House of Representatives has proposed a licensing fee for sworn law enforcement officers. The proposal calls for charging each officer who applies for certification a $100.00 fee. If you have never been assessed a fee before it will be $250.00. That means every time you change jobs you will be billed $100.00. They will not certify you until you pay. If that isn’t bad enough they have proposed a yearly fee of $100.00 for every officer who has completed in-service training for the year. Remember they are the ones who require in-service training. So they require you to have a certain amount of training each year and then charge you $100.00. Of course if you don’t pay you know they are going to decertify you.
The North Carolina Sheriff Police Alliance is taking a stance against this proposal. We are against any fee that is assessed based on training required to keep your certification. This is just a tax to pay to keep your job. It is no different than the old poll tax that was used to keep disenfranchise certain groups. It is deplorable that the elected officials of this great state would want to unfairly tax the very individuals that every day put their lives on the line for the citizens of this state. What is next? A combat certification fee for our N. C. soldiers fighting in Iraq! When will this madness stop?
The N. C. Sheriff Police Alliance has put in a call to Governor Purdue to meet with us on this urgent issue. We plan on taking this issue to the citizens for a resolution. Law enforcement officers sacrifice every day in service of their community. They miss nights, weekends, holidays, and birthdays with their families to protect strangers. They are willing do this and ask far less in return than lawyers or doctors. Yet when most officers in this state are not getting raises the House of Representatives want to put their hands in our pockets. We are asking you and your families to contact your local representatives to let them know what you think about this proposed fee. Rest assured the N.C. Sheriff Police Alliance is not going to let this go by without a fight. We are your representatives and we are going to fight for you!
Andy Miller, President
N. C. Sheriff Police Alliance
866 736-2772 x1
andy@ncpolice.org
