A New Year's Message from OACP President Chris Skinner
Happy Holidays OACP!
The New Year is fast approaching and if your experience is anything like mine, it’s filled with a sense of urgency to finish all those projects before we start 2023. This time of year is always filled with hope as I think about all the things I want to accomplish in the upcoming year. It’s hard to believe that I will be passing the baton to Chief Matt Scales in just a few short months but until then, we have some important work to do together. Thank you to everyone who has embraced the dues structure and are on top of paying your agency dues for 2023. I know that payment midyear is hard and especially hard when you may not have planned for the increase. Your commitment to the association is appreciated and I can assure you that we are growing stronger as an organization headed into the future. One of the new changes for 2023 that I’m particularly excited about is the launching of the new Training Center hosted by OACP. It has always been our mission to provide quality and contemporary training to its members and this is a game changer for many of us that need an online option. I’m also very excited about more closely partnering with DPSST as we continue to discuss how much of their training may also be posted on our online platform. This partnership would provide a very robust training library in a short amount of time for members.
2023 brings with it the long legislative session and some interesting possibilities for public safety. I’m hopeful that our elected officials will see the need for all of us to settle in and take the appropriate time to implement all the legislative mandates from 2021 as well as the continued work on implementation of BM 114. I know that I have already started connecting with my elected officials and the message out of Eugene is focused on mental and behavioral health reform. I believe that our collective voice needs to be heard on the impact that mental illness is having on our communities and that law enforcement is not the right resource for that need. Many of you have been engaged in OACP’s legislative effort in the past. This year will require all of us to be engaged at various levels if we are going to make substantive change in the system. Our first opportunity to organize around this effort is coming up in January at the ELTS conference in Seaside. If you haven’t already registered, please consider coming over and spending whatever time you can, not only for the training, but for the connection and coordination with your fellow colleagues.
Lastly, I just want to say congratulations on navigating a tough 2022 year. Feels like every year is tough these days but all too often you don’t get the credit you deserve for working through all the challenges put before you. It has been a privilege being in this role within the OACP and it’s not lost on me how busy you all are. Thank you for the hospitality when I have come to visit and thank you for taking on the extra work of the association. I’m looking forward to the new year and a fresh start as well as finishing what we started together in 2022.
All the best,
Chief Chris Skinner
OACP President
