Feature

On November 19–21, several hundred members will make their way to Reno, Nevada, for the 74th annual PORAC Conference of Members, where they will hear important updates from the Association’s leaders, trusts and partners, network with fellow members from across the state, and tour several vendor booths at the exhibitor expo. They will also have the opportunity to attend two training sessions that are eligible for both POST and STC credit: “Gilroy Garlic Festival Mass Shooting: Leadership, Response and Recovery” and “Workicide: Overcoming Burnout and Toxic Workplaces.” Read More

On September 14, PORAC and California Professional Firefighters (CPF) hosted a rally on the west steps of the State Capitol, bringing together hundreds of peace officers, firefighters, association leaders and their families from across the state to urge Governor Gavin Newsom to sign AB 1383. Read More

PORAC has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down bans on the semiautomatic rifles its members carry on duty and are required to surrender when they retire. On September 4, PORAC, joined by the California Association of Highway Patrolmen (CAHP) and the Crime Prevention Research Center, filed an amicus brief in Viramontes v. Cook County, No. 25-238, supporting the petitioners’ challenge to Cook County’s rifle ordinance and Illinois’s Protect Illinois Communities Act. Read More

It has now been a quarter of a century since the day the world stood still, watching in fear and shock as a coordinated series of attacks on the United States took the lives of nearly 3,000 people. On the morning of September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger airliners and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center in New York City and a third into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, was headed toward D.C. when it crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers courageously fought to regain control from the hijackers. These horrific events represent not only the single largest loss of life from a foreign attack on American soil, but also the deadliest incident ever for first responders, causing more law enforcement line-of-duty deaths than any other single event in U.S. history. Read More

October 9, 2024, was arguably one of the worst nights of my life. It started right after I fell asleep. The kids had been tucked in and the house picked up. My husband was downstairs, and I had been blissfully unaware of the external world, answering to no one but the sandman, until the phone rang. Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court has reaffirmed that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a firearm for self-defense throughout the ordinary course of daily life. In Wolford v. Lopez, 609 U.S. ___ (2026), the court, by a vote of six to three in an opinion authored by Justice Alito and joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett, struck down a Hawaii statute that made it unlawful for licensed concealed carry holders to possess their weapons on private property open to the public absent the owner’s express consent. (This is commonly known as the “vampire rule” because mythical vampires cannot enter a premises without an express invitation.) The court held that such a law imposes an unconstitutional burden on the right to bear arms. Our firms filed an amicus curiae brief with the Supreme Court on behalf of PORAC, the California Association of Highway Patrolmen (CAHP) and the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), urging the court to reverse the Ninth Circuit. Read More

Across the country, law enforcement agencies are increasingly integrating animal-assisted therapy (AAT) programs into wellness initiatives. What was once viewed as a simple morale booster is now being recognized as a legitimate early intervention strategy with many science-backed benefits. As a former cop and a current handler of a certified therapy dog, I have been fortunate to witness this shift firsthand. I am increasingly being asked to present on both the science and implementation of therapy dog programs within first responder environments, and one thing has become abundantly clear: these programs work best when agencies understand three key concepts — nomenclature matters, dog acquisition can happen through multiple pathways and therapy dogs should be viewed as a bridge to care rather than the entire wellness system. Read More

On August 4, tens of thousands of law enforcement members across the country, including PORAC members and their local associations throughout California, will participate in National Night Out, a time-honored tradition that brings peace officers and their communities together to promote partnerships, foster camaraderie and enjoy activities that help make neighborhoods safer places to live and work. Held annually on the first Tuesday in August (and on the first Tuesday in October in Texas and several other areas), the event features officers, along with fire and emergency services personnel, collaborating with their jurisdictions to host fun-filled gatherings such as block parties, festivals, barbecues and other events featuring safety and K-9 demonstrations, informational booths and seminars, youth activities, vehicle and equipment displays, exhibits and more.
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Although they share a bond as first responders, law enforcement and firefighters are typically seen as members of separate and distinct worlds — often with a friendly rivalry between them that serves as the basis for charity sporting events and other fundraisers, as well as plenty of insider humor. But there are some jobs where the two spheres overlap. Cynthia Sato is a 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department who holds the rank of firefighter/paramedic and has been assigned to the LAFD’s Arson Section for the past seven years. She and her fellow arson investigators are sworn peace officers under Penal Code Section 830.37(a) and members of PORAC through the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City (UFLAC), International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 112. Read More

Every year, law enforcement officers across the United States are struck and killed on the side of the road — not in foot pursuits, not in firefights, but while working traffic incidents. The statistics are sobering. Secondary crashes at incident scenes kill hundreds of people annually, and officers working those scenes face a disproportionate risk of being struck by passing vehicles. Traffic Incident Management (TIM) training, developed under the Federal Highway Administration’s SHRP2 program, exists precisely to change that equation.
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