The Michigan Fraternal Order of Police (MI FOP) Political Fund is the political arm of the Michigan Fraternal Order of Police. The political fund will focus on legislative and political advocacy as well as recognize elected officials and political leaders and engage voters at the local and state-level to support the FOP’s Mission and political causes.
The Michigan State FOP as an organization is the voice of the women and men of law enforcement who have dedicated their lives to the protection and service of the members of our communities. We are committed to improving the conditions for law enforcement officers and for safety of those we serve through education, legislation, information, community involvement, and employee representation.
The Michigan FOP Political Fund’s purpose is to support and advance important political issues that affect police officers in the State of Michigan. Our political fund focuses on legislative and political advocacy as well as to educate and engage voters at the local and state level to support the FOP’s mission and political causes.
Law Enforcement Reform is the current buzzword. We can all agree that change needs to occur. It cannot be done without the influence and input of the community we serve and the officers themselves. There is no one-size-fits-all solution and the officers of our state desire to be a part of the solution. Activism and reality must work hand in hand to accomplish this very important task Change cannot occur by defunding the police. Reducing funding or the size of an agency or the quality of an officer will never attain a safe and desirable effect. In fact, exactly the opposite will occur. High quality officers will move on to better agencies or simply leave the profession, taking their experience with them, while possibly leaving behind a less desirable candidate… one with less integrity.
The public opinion is to train officers to be better and that’s a great concept. You must realize that In reality training costs money… lots and lots of money.
You have to schedule the training while maintaining coverage on the street. We simply cannot pull officers from patrol duties and send them to classes. Crime doesn’t take a day off and neither can we.
Training takes time. When you are short staffed, you cannot send multiple officers away all at once.
Training is intangible. The truth is, an agency’s training budget is where the first cuts occur each year at review. It’s hard to measure the degree of learning that occurs from training, but you can determine how much fuel your fleet uses.