On January 9-11, 2020, I (Secretary James Franco) attended the FOP Labor Coalition Conference in Deerfield Beach FL with President Bramwell, 2nd VP Talbot, VP/ National Trustee Shailor, and Brother Moriarty from BPD Detectives FOP Lodge 82. Brother Talbot presented along with Dr. Hamrock on the wellness screening program currently underway in Boston. After the presentation, I was able to speak to many of the members who indicated it was amazing how the work currently underway in Boston is clearly defining the wide range of health issues affecting police officers. National FOP is also interested in the possibility of expanding the services nationally and hoping to be able to use the numbers to put pressure on insurance companies to test law enforcement officers earlier for certain health problems. It was an eye opening experience to many people in the room. I wish to thank Mike for the presentation and excellent work they are continuing to do in Boston, they are most definitely saving lives.

There was also a presentation by National FOP Wellness Director Sherri Martin on the work the FOP is doing in officer wellness. One of the big takeaways from this block was that the wellness survey conducted last year was completed by over 8000 FOP members from across the country. The results were so big and wide it gained the attention of many national organizations and instantly gave the FOP credibility and a voice in the area of national officer wellness efforts. The FOP is part of a National Consortium on Prevention of Officer Suicide and Director Martin reports she is often the voice of reason in a room full of well-intended scholars who do not truly understand why normal programs won’t work within our community. Martin reports she has been speaking on many task forces regarding all aspects of officer wellness and programs associated with them, and the FOP has been granted three separate grants so far to continue work in these areas.

Other topics covered during the three days included a labor and legal update, and a group work activity to define the vision, mission and values of the FOP in labor going forward (the results of this will be presented to national trustees at the spring board meeting for further discussion and refinement). Finally, Steven Gervasio from Aetna spoke about a new FOP Aetna medicare Advantage program they are unrolling. Basically, if the FOP can sign up 25000 over 65 members in their Medicare program (currently have 8000), Aetna will then provide an insurance benefit to cover members and families from retirement until they reach age 65. Steve has reached out to our board and is looking for an opportunity to speak with this board or our membership at our next conference to explain the program. In all I found the three days of training relative, important, and informative. With a new change in the Board members of the National FOP Labor Coalition, I look forward to where the organization is going and the future trainings it will provide.