Newsletter - PresidentsMessage

February 2013

2/19/2013 12:00:00 AM

Greetings to all,

I hope this message finds you all well, as the Flu has hit California Hard.

It is with great sadness that I must announce our Conference Chairman, Robyn Boersma, recently retired to an on the job injury, has resigned her post. Robyn has had a set back with her condition and needs to concentrate on getting healthy and did not feel she could give the conference planning her full attention. Please join me in wishing Robyn all the best. I will truly miss her planning and friendship with the organization.

July 2012

7/31/2012 12:00:00 AM

President Message

July 2012

I trust that everyone is having a great summer so far. As I write this today, I am reflecting on our profession and the collateral duties we all have chosen to undertake. The recent events in Colorado have reminded me about how things can change in a moment's notice, doing the things we normally would not think twice about doing. While we don't quite yet know the full story of what happened at the theatre, it appears the responding officers handled the situation appropriately for what they were confronted with. Ultimately the suspect was waiting for the police and was taken into custody without incident. While there was not a hostage or barricaded subject at this location, this situation could have quickly become out of control. My thoughts and prayers go out to not only the victims and their families, but more importantly to the responding officers, deputies, fire fighters and medical personnel.

There have been, in recent months in California, numerous shootings and some hostage taking events. If you are a Facebook member and are "friends" to the Texas, Florida and Western States Hostage negotiation associations you continue to see updates about events occurring in their areas. If you are not I would recommend you "Friend" them as the articles posted are not only interesting but continue to provide learning points for all of us. This continues to remind me of how important our jobs as Negotiators are, whether in a large or small agency. This is why any training you can attend, whether it be through CAHN or another agency, it is so important to what we do to be ready and confident in our skills. Our skills are as perishable as are those skills POST requires us to train on every two years.

Your Conference Chair Person, Robyn Boersma, has been working hard to put together an agenda for you to enhance your skills and it looks great. Check the website to see the agenda as it evolves. Remember that Berkeley is a temporary site for us as we look for a hotel venue that can accommodate our group and maybe a multi-year contract. For the 2013 Conference we are negotiating with the Embassy Suites Anaheim South in Garden Grove (just blocks from Disneyland). They are working with us for group rates and transportation to an Angels game and we can work with Disneyland to get group rate tickets as well.....more to come on those venues so stay tuned.

As always, this is YOUR association and we welcome and look forward to your input, so please feel free to contact anyone on the board with your ideas or questions you may have. If you see or read about an interesting event that would relate to what we do please contact one of your regional representatives and they will explore it to see if we can utilize it in one of our regional or annual training conferences.

Stay safe and keep up the passion for negotiations that you all have.

Matt Thomas

President

March 2012

3/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

Greetings CAHN Members, I hope this message finds you all well.

We had to say Good-bye to Rose Herrera, your conference chairperson for this year. Rose has been transferred to a new unit and will have numerous training classes to attend and did not feel she would be able to give her full attention to the conference. Thank you Rose for your time with us and good luck with your new assignment.

Robyn Boersma (Berlin) had told me several months prior to Rose's announcement that she was interested in becoming involved with the board again. So I am happy to report Robyn has accepted the Conference Chair position and is once again working with us. Please join me in welcoming Robyn back to the board.

Let me first address the issue of our Conference in South Lake Tahoe not coming to fruition. We began speaking with the Western States Hostage Negotiations Association (WSHNA) about the possibility of joining our conferences together this coming year. WSHNA is having their conference in Reno again this year. The idea was to have a conference where two associations could benefit with training and networking. We had a meeting in November with representatives of WSHNA, CAHN, the Embassy Suites, and Harvey's hotel to discuss the possibility of combining conferences and meeting the needs of the space and rooms that would be needed. We would use the Embassy as our host hotel and the smaller meetings rooms there for breakouts and use the large meeting room at Harvey's for the general sessions. This of course was all dependent upon the number of rooms booked at respective hotels by each association. When we left that meeting in November it appeared as though we would join forces and be able to provide a conference for both associations. However, WSHNA reps took the information back to their board and it was decided to wait and look at joining forces in 2014, as they did not want to move their conference to September this year. When that decision came down, Rex Osborn and I where in contact with the hotels to see what impact this would have upon us for our conference. Harvey's could only provide two time frames for the reduced number of attendees, Labor Day week and the week of Halloween. Some of you responded to a poll and indicated a strong desire to move our conference away from the Holiday Week. This input coupled with the fact that school starts after Labor Day week in southern California and I did not want to impact those members in the south who may have children starting the new school year, we decided against having the conference during Labor Day week. The second date provided was Halloween week. This time of year in Tahoe is unpredictable with the weather. We would have to gamble (no pun intended) with being able to get our speakers into Reno then down to South Lake for their presentation, then back out again. This could prove to be too big of a challenge and I also did not want to impact those members who spend time with their children during Halloween.

Having the above information Rex and I began looking for another venue as we were running short on time. Thanks to Rex he was able to suggest a hotel he has used in the Berkeley area for other conferences, The Double Tree Berkeley Marina. Rex was able to facilitate a contract to secure this location for this year's conference. I know some of you don't think this may be an ideal location, but keep in mind this is a transitional time and we are still looking for another location for future conferences in the Northern Region. I thank you for being patient in this transitional time and am sure this conference will be as successful as years passed. Thanks again to Rex Osborn for his help in securing this location. There is plenty to do in Berkeley and the Giants will also be in town while we are there.

Remember, your membership is still due on 07/01/2012 and not at the conference this year. The conference will be from Monday to Thursday this year, not half day Monday and a half day on Friday. We will have four full days this year. The majority of registration will be done on Sunday so please plan on being there in time to get registered without missing any presentations.

July 2011

7/14/2011 12:00:00 AM

Hope this post conference letter finds you well,

Thank you to all who attended this year's conference. I have to say I was impressed with our turnout. It was very encouraging to have the numbers in attendance. It shows the board that your administrations still value this important tool in the department.

We had a very successful conference this year, I would like to give a huge thank you to Patricia Larrigan for all of her work with the speakers and the entire board for all of their hard work leading up to and during the conference. Your board is made up of all VOLUNTEER members that put a lot of personal time into providing the quality training throughout the year.

We are in the process of reading through the evaluations to see what went well, what we can improve on and provide feedback to the speakers. This process will take a little time and should be posted on the website once we have completed reading the evaluations.stay tuned.

Sadly, we will miss the Midway as our Monday night networking site, but it is time for us to move on from the Hyatt hotels, their cost continues to increase and have priced us out of the market. We are in the process of looking at the Embassy Suites in South Lake Tahoe for 2012. Negotiations are progressing nicely and we are also talking with our neighbors from the Western States Hostage Negotiation Association to join forces with our training and help the vendors travel to one location for dual conferences and also to help defer cost. Remember we will be moving the conference to early to mid September so we are in the beginning of the budget year and not the end, so more funds are available and more of our members may attend. Check back on the website in September of this year for updates. Bear with us while this process occurs.

If you would like to see any particular topics, vendors or entertainment please feel free to contact any board member with your suggestions, as always this is your association and we look forward to your input.

Finally I would like to thank all of our vendors who return each year to be with us. A big thanks to Enforcement Technology Group for their sponsorship on the Midway, it means a lot to our members.

Please be safe as you continue to make a difference to the communities you protect and serve.

Hope to see everyone in South Lake Tahoe next year.

Matt Thomas

President

January 2011

1/29/2011 12:00:00 AM

President Message

Happy New Year. I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season as we ushered in 2011.

Plans are well under way for this year's conference. Please refer to the website for schedule, which is a work in progress. It is never too early to register or reserve your rooms, so please do so early. REMEMBER, the conference date has been moved to June 6^th through the 10^th this year, so plan accordingly. Due to the economy and budget constraints we will be scaling back some things this year to keep our costs down, so please be patient and understanding. This will enable our organization to continue quarterly trainings throughout the year.

This will more than likely be our last conference with the Hyatt Grand Manchester as we search for venues that are not quite so costly. It is with much sadness we leave these venues as the Hyatt has been a good friend to CAHN hosting our conferences over the past several years. Unfortunately the costs continue to rise as our economy continues to suffer. We are looking at a northern venue for 2012 of South Lake Tahoe as well as moving the date to September/October to coincide with the budget year. Our hope is by moving the conference to the beginning of the budget year it will enable more teams to obtain the funds to attend rather than scrape and the end of the budget year. We may revisit some older incidents in future conferences as we have a group of new negotiators who may have not had the extensive training from Waco to Ruby Ridge and even the Montana incidents. If you have any questions or input, please don't hesitate to contact your state or regional board member.

There are several positions that will be available on your regional and state board.

February 2010

2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM

Happy New Year CAHN Members!

First let me start this message with some sad/happy news. The sad news is that one of your southern representatives, who has served this association for many years, reluctantly resigned her post in January.

The good news is Pam Curry, having put in her years of service to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has retired and moved on to bigger and better things. Though the executive board will miss Pam and all she has done for us over the years we wish her well in her new endeavors in building her lake front home in Tennessee.

I am also pleased to welcome Rosemary Herrera (Torrance PD) to the Southern Region board to fill the last several months of Pam's tenure. I am happy to see some new members becoming involved in the regions, it is good to have some new blood on the regional boards as most of us serving now have been around for a while and will not be around forever.

Thanks to all who have stepped forward to run for open positions.

Your Conference Committee is hard at work for this year's ATC in Monterey. I know budgets are tight this year and it becomes a challenge to attend, but we are exploring options to help in the future to offset funding so we can keep this valuable training resource moving forward. You may register for the conference now and also book your room if you find the funding, so don't wait for the last minute, let's get yourself registered.

There are new voting procedures that were announced at the regional trainings and should be posted in this newsletter. Please read them carefully and elect a representative from your team to place your vote. We are trying this on-line to allow all members to vote via an electoral process and not just at a regional training or ATC you may or may not be able to attend.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to e-mail an executive board member and we will be happy to answer your questions.

The regional trainings seem to be going well. I am happy to see teams stepping forward to provide incident debriefs and talk about what went well and what didn't go so well. It is a great learning tool for us all.

If you have an incident to debrief or an idea for training, please contact your regional reps so they can assist you or help to bring the desired training to your regions and maybe ultimately to the rest of the membership.

As always, this is your association, please don't hesitate to call or e-mail anyone on the executive board with your ideas or concerns.

See everyone in Monterey in May.

Matt Thomas

President

June 2009

6/29/2009 12:00:00 AM

I hope this edition of the newsletter finds everyone well. Thanks to everyone who attended this year's annual conference, it was a great one. For those of you who were unable to attend, we missed you, although we understand. Hopefully we all will weather this storm and return to the training schedule soon. I would like to thank Tim Hunter and his committee for an excellent and successful conference.

I know some of the attendees had difficulty with checking into their rooms prior to 1500, but please keep in mind the industry standard is check-in after 1500. The hotel, just as the airline industry, overbooks to cover for the "no shows", so they had difficulty keeping up with cleaning the rooms for preparing for our arrival. They have been made aware. Otherwise the hotel staff was accommodating and took good care of us.

The banquet on the Midway was a great success and the food was excellent. Everyone had a great time.

Remember when we return to San Diego in 2011 we will move the conference a week a forward, the week after Memorial week, as a high tech company has negotiated a deal with CAHN for our meeting space during our normal week, so mark your calendars for 2011.

Just to keep everyone in the loop for the future, we have begun to search for new hotels and locations to conduct our 2013 conference. I have looked at several hotels in the Anaheim area and we are also going to look into the Long Beach area as well. Any input you have on locations would be gladly accepted.

Please continue to attend your quarterly trainings to keep current as your regional boards continue to work hard to provide you with great training.

As always this is your association, so please don't hesitate to contact any member of the regional or state board with input or questions.

Thanks for another great year,

Matt Thomas

President

March 2009

3/2/2009 12:00:00 AM

Happy New Year to you all. I know budgets are tight this year and it will be tough for all to attend trainings and the annual conference. As I talk to members at regional trainings the discussion usually turns to finding creative ways to finance teams to attend the ATC. Some agencies were looking for corporate sponsors, some doing fundraisers. In Petaluma, for the past 7 years, we have held a golf tournament to raise funds for our team. The first year it was slow going, but each year it has grown and become a very popular community event. There are many types of fundraising possibilities out there. I have found that many businesses were very happy to help their local law enforcement agencies.

As a brief reminder, be diligent with your credit information: After the 2008 ATC we discovered an unknown individual began using one of the Northern Regions credit card numbers to make overseas purchases. It has been a long process and we are close to recovering most of the monies taken. It just proves that no one, not even those of us in Law Enforcement, are safe.

As we approach the 2009 ATC your conference committee is hard at work planning the 20^th Anniversary conference. Back by popular demand is the USS Midway. This year we will visit the Midway on Wednesday evening in conjunction with our banquet. The banquet will be held on the Midway.

There will be plenty of great speakers for your learning enjoyment throughout the week. There will be some new presenters and some presenters you have heard before presenting new topics. We are always looking for presentations, so if you know of any presentations, please contact your local regional representatives. This is your conference and we welcome your input.

With elections drawing near we need your involvement. This is a volunteer board and works for the good of the membership. Those of us that are on the board are committed to this organization and work hard for our members throughout the year. Having said that there will come a point in time for some of us to move on so we need your involvement. Contact your local regional board and get involved at that level to see if you want to make a larger commitment in the future.

As always this is your association and we welcome your input and ideas

Matt Thomas

November 2008

11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM

I must start this newsletter with some somber news. On 11-12-2008 the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office lost Deputy Larry Canfield to a motorcycle accident.

July 2008

7/5/2008 12:00:00 AM

I hope this newsletter finds everyone well. I would like to thank Tim Hunter and the rest of the Conference Committee for an excellent Conference this year. I have heard a great response regarding the breakout sessions. We will continue to plan for breakouts in the coming years as they break up the full sessions and provide options for everyone to attend different topics. I have heard very good feedback on the speakers and everyone seemed pleased with the majority of speakers.

The food issues are always a hot topic as there is the high cost of providing this service, so allow me to address this concern: The morning coffee is not designed to replace breakfast; it is merely to be a supplement for your breakfast. Each morning we provide coffee, fruit, Danish and such which costs the Association approximately $2,000.00 to $3,000.00 each morning. The Banquet cost anywhere between $30,000.00 to $35,000.00, depending upon whether we are in the South or North. Our total food bill including Monday night hospitality, Lunch on Thursday, all morning service and Thursday evening was $53,633.21. This is just a brief overview of the food costs so you understand why we don't just keep refilling the tables and coffee each morning. This seems to be a hot topic each year when the coffee seems to stop flowing. Last year in San Diego we were able to have a coffee cart at the hotel, a vendor who works with the hotel. I also received very good feedback on this issue as well. Unfortunately in Monterey this was not an option as there was not a vendor in the area to provide this service.

We can provide coffee throughout the day but just so you know there is a cost involved. I would be happy to take any suggestions you may have if you would like to have coffee provided all day.

The rest of the conference fees are to cover the costs involved in bringing the speaker's, and covering the audio for conference.

I would like to thank Robyn Berlin and her team for running the raffle. Robyn was responsible for the raffle prize donations, collection, organization and distribution. Robyn and her team continue to be an invaluable resource during the conference. It is a relief to see her team when they arrive.

We made a few changes to the board at the last board meeting. Robyn Berlin has vacated the Northern Region Director position and is now the Co-Conference Chair, at her request, to assist Tim Hunter in conference planning. Rex Osborn has been appointed, at his request and Robyn's recommendation, to complete her term. Rex's representative position replacement is pending.

Tim and Robyn as well as the rest of the board are already working on the 2009 ATC, our 20^th Anniversary, in San Diego. We are already working on a new logo, different t-shirts, a special edition challenge coin and many other ideas. On a sad note; the place Enforcement Technology Group hosted a hospitality event in 2007, the Kansas City Barbecue (aka: the "Top Gun" bar), was destroyed by fire the past week. The owners have said they will rebuild, but it is unknown at this time whether it will be rebuilt in time for our conference. We are looking for another venue and welcome any ideas you have for a Monday night hospitality event. Please send your ideas to Tim Hunter via his email which is located on the website.

As always this is your association and the board welcomes your input.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4^th of July

Matt Thomas

February 2008

2/9/2008 12:00:00 AM

President’s Message

Happy New Year to all of you, it’s hard to believe a new year is already upon us.

Tim Hunter and his conference staff are hard at work on the upcoming Annual Training Conference (ATC) in Monterey in May.

June 2007

6/25/2007 12:00:00 AM

2007 Post Conference
President’s Message

I would like to thank Tim Hunter and his staff for an excellent conference. The speakers were top notch.

February 2007

2/28/2007 12:00:00 AM

It seems time continues to fly by and here we are preparing for our annual conference. Tim Hunter and crew are working hard to bring you an outstanding conference. I look forward to all the new activities that are in store for you all in San Diego.

We are working toward obtaining POST certification for our quarterly trainings as well at the annual ATC. This process will take some time to complete and hear from POST. Please be patient while we are working towards this certification. It appears the quarterly trainings will be easier to get certified for POST plan IV. It is entirely possible the ATC could only be certified for professional credits. Part of obtaining the certification may require your board to keep roll each day of the conference. The new ID card system will assist us in our records keeping, but may require you to swipe your ID card at the beginning of each day and again when you leave for the end of the day. Please be patient while we contact POST and continue in this endeavor.

We have been working diligently with the IRS to clear up our tax issues over the past several years. Thanks to John Hill, a certified public accountant the board hired, we are very close to being complete and up to date with our tax information.

Lastly, the Sunday, prior to the conference, CAHN will be hosting the annual meeting of the National Council of Negotiations Associations (NCNA). Two representatives from each association from across the US will meet to discuss issues related to Negotiations on a national level. A reciprocal agreement exists between each association for two board members to attend trainings to keep our contacts and professional relationships cohesive. As a result you may see several of the representatives attending our conference, please make them feel welcome.

As always this is your association should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me or any board member with your input.

Be safe and we will see you in San Diego.

Matt Thomas

December 2006

12/3/2006 12:00:00 AM

Time seems to be flying by this year. It seems only yesterday we were enjoying the hospitality and great weather of Monterey, yet here we are with Christmas Holidays upon us.

I have been reading about a lot of incidents in the paper and seeing news clips both on the internet and the evening news. This brings to mind that our quarterly trainings are very important to our membership current in our methods. To this I am happy to report that quarterly trainings are receiving high ratings and praise for their content. I have to commend and thank the regional and state board members who are working hard to bring relevant information to everyone. As always you are doing an outstanding job.

During this time I would like to address two subjects:

The first is the membership cards. It appears while I was working with the company who created the software for our membership cards, we encountered a minor problem. While creating our design template, I was instructed to delete the field which reads and translates the information onto the back of the membership card. Deleting this field made the magnetic strip on the back of the card useless. Patricia Larrigan has been in contact with the manufacturer to work on this issue. I am hopeful we can solve this problem soon. We are working with the manufacturer to provide replacement cards and several ribbons for the printer to complete the task. However, it will mean we will have to replace all of the membership cards that have been distributed. Please hold onto your cards and we will issue you new ones as they come on line. I apologize for any inconvenience and hopefully will have this problem solved before the next conference.

The second item I would like to address is press inquiries. I have been contacted on numerous occasions by press asking for a critique of an in progress incident or asking what tactics a negotiator would use in a given situation. Each time I have responded that CAHN would not comment on an in progress call as we do not want to be perceived as critiquing another agencies operation. I also do not feel comfortable having only the press agencies view of events. They don’t always give us the straight info or in most cases don’t have all of the facts. Each time I have responded that I would be happy to provide information once I have had the time to gather the facts from sources other than the press agency making the inquiry. Each time I have received the response “I need the info now; I’m working on a deadline”. The press has found our website and contacted several state board members for comments, going down the list when they don’t get an answer or a reply. I would caution anyone making any statements to beware as the press will take a small comment and make more out of it than what your intention would be. They will also ask you what agency you work for, even though they may have contacted you as CAHN member. The most recent incident I can think of was a “jumper” in San Francisco. A Fire Department Lieutenant approached a subject who was on the ledge and in active negotiations with Police on the ground. The Lieutenant did not tell/nor ask permission from the police command post about what he was going to do. The end result was a failed attempt to grab the subject and pull him to safety. Instead the subject was startled, did not know what was happening and began to fight and subsequently fell to his death. A member was contacted and gave a statement, which I agreed with and was right on track with our training. This is just a reminder to be careful when talking with the press and ask for time to research the incident before answering questions for the press. This is how the state board has been asked to handle the situation.

As always, if you have any questions or input, please do not hesitate to contact myself or any regional or state board member. We are happy to have your input for your association.

Happy Holidays to you and your family and be safe.

Matt Thomas

Summer 2006

8/10/2006 12:00:00 AM

President’s Message

I can hardly believe another year has passed. I would like to extend my thanks to my Conference Committee, they did an incredible job. The presentations were well received and provided some insight on how others work. I hope everyone learned a lot, rekindled some old friendships and had a good time. Stay tuned in 2007 as we will try to bring the Chinese presenters to you. I know there were some issues with the coffee service and the limitations of our locations. Also due to area limitations, we tried some different entertainment this year. They seemed to be crowd pleasers and we will try to do the same in San Diego. Check back soon for a quick survey that will be posted on the website to help us plan the 2007 conference. Thanks to everyone who was able to attend and provide the feedback on the surveys.

The membership cards handed out at the conference as your name tags will be used at all trainings from this point forward. Each region will have a card scanner for you to swipe your card at check in. The membership database will tell us whether your membership is current or needs to be renewed. Please keep these cards with you for these training sessions as it will hopefully make the check-in process flow quicker and smoother.

The new board members are in place for the next two years. Hopefully this will help to keep things running in the same direction. I would like to see a process put into place so the conference in the North and the South use the same process so we do not reinvent the wheel, the merchandise ordered will be the same amount etc… This will make planning the conferences a little easier and allow us to concentrate on finding quality speakers.

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for the conference or anything else, feel free to contact myself or any board member as we are always happy to have your input. After all this is your association.

Thank you again for another successful year,

Matt Thomas

May 2006

5/11/2006 12:00:00 AM

Just a quick follow-up to the last letter. I am happy to announce our membership is at approximately 1100 members, thanks in large part to the website.

Winter 2006

2/24/2006 12:00:00 AM

First of all we must extend our Congratulations to Valerie Harris as she was promoted to Chief of the Auburn Police Department in January. It is also with great sadness that Valerie will have to resign her position as the state treasurer to fulfill her Chiefly duties.

Summer 2005

6/25/2005 12:00:00 AM

Another year has passed and the torch passed from one president to the next. I first want to extend my congratulations and thank you for an excellent conference put on by Lisa McConnell and committee.