A Christmas Message from Chief Matt Scales, OACP President
Christmas is here and I am grateful to serve all of you. The holiday season is a time when I reflect on how truly blessed I am and how excited I am about the opportunities for the coming year.
More than anything this Christmas, I am excited to have our daughter home from college for some time before she heads off to finish her Sophomore year. I am continually amazed by her resiliency and determination to become a nurse, and how she grinds through it. I’ve asked her why she’s like that knowing some of her peers don’t have that same drive. She says, "because if it was easy anyone could do it."
In that same vein I am amazed by all of you. This past month I have been able to carve out time and spend it listening to some of you during my listening tours as your President. I am impressed by our law enforcement community’s resiliency and our willingness to do the hard things. Because if it was easy, anyone could do it. You all make me confident that, as I finish my tour of duty as a police chief in the next couple of years, the state of Oregon is in excellent hands when it comes to our profession. We are uniquely set up to do some exceptional things in our cities and as an association.
I want to share some quick reminders regarding OACP. Please register for our ELTS conference in Seaside. There are some excellent training opportunities and I know the Second in Command committee has put together some excellent training during the committee meetings on our first day there. I would also like to say that April is fast approaching and we are headed to a new venue in Pendleton for our Annual Conference. For those of you who may have to drive a bit further this year, I would ask you to think of the 10-15 years previous when those on the east side of the state have had to drive over to us. Please join us in Pendleton, and let’s make this conference the best it can be. I’d also like to share that I am going to be discussing with our Executive committee what an OACP Peer Support Group might look like in the future. As leaders, we are often laser-focused on our staff’s well-being, almost to the detriment of our own health. I’d love for us to explore this a bit more.
Lastly, I want to recognize a few chiefs who are retiring at the end of this year or in the new year. Congratulations to Chief Darla Huxel (Umatilla), Chief Dave Rash (Hubbard), Chief Kathy McAlpine (Tigard), and Chief Henry Reimann (Forest Grove). If I have missed anyone, please accept my apology. My hope is that retirement is everything you have worked so hard for.
In closing, Merry Christmas and blessings to you and your families. Our association and our state are blessed to have all of you leading your respective organizations.
Chief Matt Scales
OACP President
