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National Police Week and Unity Tour

Jerretta Sandoz
Vice President

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California Peace Officers’ Memorial: The California Peace Officers’ Memorial Foundation is a nonprofit charitable foundation whose mission is to recognize and honor California’s peace officers who gave their lives in the line of duty serving the citizens of this great state, and to provide support to the family members left behind.

National Police Week: In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation that designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as National Police Week. Currently, tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world converge on Washington, D.C., to participate in several planned events that honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

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I, along with several Directors, was honored to represent you at various ceremonies where we paid tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Those ceremonies included the California Peace Officer Memorial ceremony, the Police Officer Unity Tour and National Police Week in Washington, D.C.

On May 2, the California Peace Officer Memorial was held in Sacramento at the state capitol. Approximately 2,600 law enforcement officers throughout the state gathered to honor and enroll the four California law enforcement officers who paid the ultimate sacrifice in 2016, along with another law enforcement officers from the distant past who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

On May 9, nearly 2,200 law enforcements officers throughout the country participating in the 21st annual Police Unity Tour, a 300-mile bicycle ride along varying routes ending at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Southern California Chapter had over 300 police officers from across the country, including 108 LAPD officers. The primary purpose of the Police Unity Tour is to raise awareness about the police officers who have died in the line of duty. The Police Unity Tour’s motto is, “We Ride for Those Who Died.” Since its inception in 1997, the Police Unity Tour has raised over $20 million to support the memorial. It was truly an honor to support an incredible group of riders who shared a commitment to pay tribute to our fallen brethren.

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National Police Week was held in Washington, D.C., where I attended a variety of planned events, along with over 30,000 attendees from departments throughout the United States to honor our fallen officers.

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Measure C overwhelmingly passed!

The voters of Los Angeles spoke loud and clear in favor of more civilian oversight by passing Charter Amendment C with over 57 percent of the vote. Despite the opposition of BLM, The L.A. Times Editorial Board and the ACLU, common sense prevailed. This gives an officer the option of choosing an all-civilian board. Many people had a hand in getting us this far. Your board was determined to take steps in fixing this broken system. Although we have much more work to do, this is a step in the right direction. There are many people who helped us that we would like to thank—Mayor Eric Garcetti. I would also like to thank Council President Herb Wesson who worked with us to place Measure C on the ballot. They did not waver in their support throughout this campaign.

There were many others that helped to make this happen: Councilmember Mitch Englander, who signed the ballot argument, and Councilmember Nury Martinez, County Supervisor Janice Hahn and Police Commissioner Cynthia McClain-Hill, who all appeared repeatedly in campaign materials.

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Charter Amendment C vote totals*

Yes: 92,874 – 57.14 percent

No: 69,647 – 42.85 percent

*Totals as of May 17, 2017, 1:20 a.m., L.A. City Clerk website.

As always, if there is ever anything I can do to better support you, do not hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected] or call me at (213) 545-4903. Be safe.

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