Executive Director ’ s Message
Frank V . Rotondo GACP Executive Director
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In early November , President Dennis S . Nelson emailed the membership to make them aware that I was selected to receive one of the State of Georgia ’ s 2017 Governor ’ s Public Safety Awards in the category of “ Outstanding Contribution Which Enhanced the Profession ”. ( The other award in that category was given to one of our Active Members , Colonel Eddie Henderson , of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources .) That honor was conferred upon me in early December and I am humbled by the experience . I must admit I feel unworthy of such a high honor . Upon reflection , that award belongs to every member of this association . Each of you , no matter your classification of membership , have supported GACP ’ s progressive approach to professional policing . GACP has become one of the best , if not the very best , state law enforcement association in the country over the last 20 years .
I would be remiss if I did not thank all of you who took the time out of your busy schedule to attend the Public Safety Award ceremony or send a congratulatory note , email or letter . Frankly , I was surprised to see so many Active , Professional , Life and Corporate members in attendance , including Tiffany Brannen Taylor of Brannen Motor Company , one of our “ Sustaining Sponsors .” Several GACP staff members ( past and present ) attended , along with many political allies of law enforcement . And , to my surprise , one of my Suffolk County , New York Detective Division supervisors ( from 37 years ago ) showed-up with his wife . He told everyone who would listen old war stories and was sure to tell everyone , “ If you think Frank is running at full speed now , you should have seen him in his hay days ”. On that note , I will end here by simply saying , “ thank you ” for supporting me as the Executive Director of this great association .
During the last few months , I have attended various meeting dealing with our state ’ s upcoming 2018 legislative session . I am not totally certain what type of bills will be introduced in 2018 , but I can speculate there will be numerous bills attempting to address law enforcement salaries and benefits . Many concepts of those projected bills come from the Senate ’ s Local Law Enforcement Compensation Task Force , which is commonly called the COPS Task Force . GACP has four practitioners sitting as members on that COPS committee : Adam Lowe , Denise Downer-McKinney , Gary Yandura and Augustus “ Gus ” Palmer . All our COPS members agree there is no magic wand that can resolve the law enforcement compensation inequities associated with being a law enforcement official in Georgia .
I can almost a guarantee that a license plate reader ( LPR ) retention bill will pass and become law in 2018 . HB 79 is still active , but was put on hold only because the state ran out of time during the 2017 session . The author of the LPR bill , Representative Pezold , has worked with the GACP
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