ALADS is in the final stages of planning for the Ninth Annual ALADS River Trip. The River Trip is to take place in Laughlin, Nevada on Father’s Day weekend June 13-15th. On Saturday, June 14th ALADS provides a BBQ with drinks and a DJ. This event is an excellent opportunity to spend time with your fellow deputies and district attorney investigators in a non-work environment. Every year we have a terrific turnout and everyone has a great time. For more information, please call ALADS’ Secretary George Hofstetter of San Dimas Station at (909) 720-6644.

Every year ALADS honors our fellow deputies and district attorney investigators who have gone beyond the call of duty. These heroes are not acknowledged by the Sheriff’s Department or the District Attorney’s office. However, they are recognized by those who saw them perform extraordinary acts in incredible circumstances or perform with excellence on a daily basis. The 8th Annual ALADS Awards Banquet is scheduled for Saturday, June 28th at 6:00 PM at the Sheraton Universal Hotel. You are cordially invited to join us at the premier law enforcement event in which we honor our own. To receive two complimentary tickets available to ALADS members call the ALADS offices and ask to speak to Cindy Flores. We look forward to seeing you there.

No matter if you have spent hours turning wrenches, or are just a fan of classic cars, the first annual ALADS car show will be an event that both you and your family will enjoy. We will have approximately 150 classic cars, there will be over 25 awards given, a 50/50 drawing, music and vendors. The car show will be held at the ALADS offices on Saturday, July 26 and will run from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. If you would like more information or would like to enter your car, please contact Pete Brodie at (213) 247-0648.

We are proud to announce that the ALADS Website has been updated. The website has an entire new look and feel to it and we encourage you to visit it at www.ALADS.org. Information regarding all of the upcoming events has been added and documents for members are being added daily. We are also in the process of adding back issues of the ALADS Dispatcher and photos from Baker to Vegas. Please feel free to send us feedback on the website from the contact us page.

The 8th annual ALADS Awards Banquet is scheduled for Saturday, June 28 at the Universal Sheraton Hotel in Universal City. We are currently accepting nomination for this year’s event. Nominees must be a current Full-Service ALADS member. All nominees must have been a Deputy Sheriff or District Attorney Investigator who, have never received recognition from their department for the incident they are nominated for.

Nominations are welcome until the end of February. All nominations must contain the following information to be considered: The full name of the Deputy or D.A.I. along with a current phone number. The station/ aggisnment the nominee was working during the incident. A police report of the incident and any newspaper articles concerning the incident.

Only nominees with correct contact information and incident information will be considered for an award. All nomination received after the cut off date will be considered for next years awards. Please mail your nominations to the ALADS office attention Steve Remige.

Please check the ALADS web-site for a list of all upcoming events and dates.

The ALADS Political Endorsement Committee has set two dates in January to interview candidates running for open seats in the state Assembly and Senate as well as the open seat for the 2nd Supervisorial District in Los Angeles County.

As county employees, we will be in a unique position to help elect the next Supervisor for Los Angeles County.

Candidate interviews are set for Wednesday, January 9, 2008 and Wednesday, January 16, 2008. Both meetings will begin at 5:30 p.m. January 16 will be the night that both Supervisoral candidates will interview.

All members are encouraged to attend, to listen to the candidates and hear their visions for Los Angeles County and why they are the best choice for the position. Call the ALADS office at 323-213-4005 for further information on the Political Endorsement Committee and to reserve your seat.

The Bicycle Club Casino in Bell Gardens will be hosting the annual Fallen Police Officers Charity Poker Night on Sunday, February 24, 2008. This event raises money for the families and survivors of fallen police officers.

Registration for the event will begin at 3:00 p.m. with dinner and raffles from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Poker will begin at 5:00 p.m.

For questions and to pre-register, contact Scott Diamond at 909-561-3863 or e-mail at smdiamon@lasd.org.

The ALADS Board of Directors would like to wish everyone a Happy and Safe New Year for 2008.

At the November 16, 2007 Board of Directors meeting the board installed the Executive Board who will serve in the following capacities:

President	Steve Remige
Vice-President	Floyd Hayhurst
Secretary	George Hofstetter
Treasurer	Dean Galarneau
Director	Robert Connor
Director	Armando Macias
Director	Bruce Waldo

Thank you to all of the members who took the time to vote. The new Board of Directors looks forward to the challenges of representing the 7,500 Deputy Sheriff’s and District Attorney Investigators in the following year.

Over the past decade, the Sheriff’s Department has routinely and appropriately asked ALADS for bonus position waivers. These waivers are usually for extending a bonus selection list to keep it from expiring, or for increasing the number of qualified applicants from 5 to some other number. ALADS has signed over 200 waiver agreements with the Sheriff’s Department over the years and will continue to do so.

Recently however the Sheriff’s Department has demanded that ALADS exclude any language in the waiver that protects deputy’s rights on working conditions. Why is it that the Sheriff has instructed his staff to exclude language that would protect you in your job?

ALADS is committed to protecting your rights when it comes to working conditions and will not let the Sheriff put your career in jeopardy. If you are told by your station Captain that ALADS is holding up the bonus selection at your unit of assignment, you are flat out being lied to.

Evidence continues to mount that demonstrates that the Sheriff and his department managers are causing working conditions and the quality of public safety services, and the morale for deputy sheriff’s to deteriorate.

Please call the ALADS office for the true information, if you are told the bonus list at your unit is held up.

Petitions are being circulating at public sites to qualify an initiative for the statewide ballot in 2008. These petitions are an attempt by former state assemblyman Keith Richman to cut retirement benefits for public employees. The petition signature gatherers are paid individuals that get anywhere from $2 to $3 per signature. The initative as analyzed would:

• Rollback retirement formulas to 2.2% at age 55 for public safety employees;
• Cap the maximum benefit at 60% to 70% salary for 30 years of service;
• Add 5 years to the minimum retirement age for firefighters and police;
• Require voter approval on all future benefit enhancements to your retirement and medical benefits.

Please tell your friends and family not to sign any petition that is labeled as a tax payers for better government initiative, without looking at the wording first. Dedicating a career to public safety should earn us a secure retirement.