Published on Dec. 25, 2022

As the year winds to a close and the holidays are upon us, I wanted to take this opportunity to recognize and to thank all of you for your outstanding leadership in 2022. Undoubtedly, a number of unprecedented challenges to law enforcement have persisted including new, sometimes confusing legislation and continued recruitment and retention issues. Throughout the year, our law enforcement officers, statewide, have displayed resilience, courage and commitment. You, your leadership teams and all of the members of your agencies are to be commended for everything that has been done to continue providing the best in public safety services here in Illinois. I am proud to work alongside each of you

I am also grateful to the ILACP staff, Board of Officers, Executive Board and the Chairs and committee members who have all contributed so much to our Association and to Illinois Law Enforcement over the past year. As much as we have individually been challenged, I can assure our membership that all of these individuals have worked incredibly hard within their respective roles to ensure that Illinois Law Enforcement is positioned to be successful in every arena. I am proud to work alongside them as well.

As I reach the waning days of my presidency, there is still a lot of work to be done and I intend to finish all that I set out to do. That said, I wanted to share a couple of the highlights from this past year. Coming off a successful conference in April, I wanted to ensure that I had the best understanding of the unique challenges our membership is facing and that I was effectively communicating the Association’s business to everyone. It is important to me that, to the extent possible given the size of our Association, each of our members remains informed, feels valued and has input into the direction of the ILACP.  To that end I implemented a number of initiatives including:                

  • Regular Messages from the President to provide updates. 
  • Quarterly meetings with the Presidents of our 25+ Regional Associations.
  • Meetings with those organizations representing our line level officers/deputy sheriffs to discuss and understand issues relating to their constituency.
  • The creation of a Public Information Section to better communicate our message statewide.
  • Realignment of committee oversight by our Board of Officers engaging the Regional Vice Presidents.
  • Creation of the Committee Spotlight which will ensure our membership remains aware of the incredible work being done on each our committees. 

I also continue to work on those initiatives that support our officers and law enforcement in general including:

  • Promoting and supporting the Ten Shared Principles of Public Safety and the 2 & 8 Across the State Campaign.    
  • The development and support of several new ILACP awards recently adopted by the Executive Board.
  • Working with state legislators to declare the last week in March each year as IL Civilian Law Enforcement Appreciation Week.
  • Working with state legislators and ILETSB on a recruitment and retention, statewide media campaign initiative.

I look forward to opportunities and possibilities in 2023, I, along with the Board of Officers and staff, are resolved to continue working for each of our members and their agencies. We have a lot to be grateful for and to be proud of in Illinois Law Enforcement. As we prepare to celebrate the holidays and to turn the page to a new year, let us remember those we lost and those who were seriously injured in 2022 and send to their families our heartfelt gratitude and best wishes for peace in any way they can find it. These officers have given us a lot to be grateful for and to be proud of in Illinois Law Enforcement. As have you and your teams. 

On behalf of the ILACP Board of Officers and ILACP staff, we send you and yours the brightest holiday greetings and wish you and your staff all the best in 2023!

 

Merry Christmas,

Lou