CATHY KNAPE
Training Coordinator
PORAC

Want to learn more about the top-notch training available to PORAC members? In this series of articles, Training Coordinator Cathy Knape offers a crash course on the educational opportunities offered through the PORAC Training Institute.

Every year I try and pick different and interesting training sessions for our events. With the help of our Training Committee, we came up with great training for our Annual Symposium, and for the first time, one of those training sessions will be repeated at Conference. You might be thinking … “What?!” 

One of the training topics I’ve been wanting to present to our members is a course on retirement. I’ve heard stories from officers who have retired, and they talked about how they felt lost when they didn’t wear the badge anymore. Preparing for retirement should be a process that happens over years, and not just months after you submit your paperwork.

When I set out to find the right speaker for this topic, one of the first people I thought about was Sarah Creighton, former assistant chief of police for San Diego P.D. She’s had a great career in law enforcement, understands what it feels like to make it to the other side of retirement and has reinvented herself to continue helping her brothers and sisters in blue. She is the director of law enforcement services at the Institutes of Health, which is a multi-specialty clinic assisting with trauma, chronic pain, brain injuries, PTSD, sleep problems and drug addictions.

I know you’re still asking … “Why repeat the retirement session?” The answer is simple and complicated. One day, you’re a cop, and when you retire, you are a civilian. Those worlds can be very different and confusing for a lot of officers. Creighton has put together an amazing session that will guide you through the processes you should be thinking about years before you retire. You need to attend this session no matter when you choose to hang up your bulletproof vest.

Mark Sikorski with UBS will present “Investing for Your Association.” We hope you will be able to return to your board with a lot of great ideas on how to invest to keep your association running smoothly for years to come. Sikorski will also be addressing the topic of deferred compensation, which gives you additional important information to take back to your members.  

The session titled: “Crisis: Advocating for Best Practice Care and Claim Management” will be a surprising look at how the worker’s compensation system works against law enforcement. I hope you take the time to read Creighton’s article on page 16. She is not the speaker for this session; however, Dr. Anbar will give you the information to be ready to assist you or your members when they need to maneuver through this broken system. You’ll want to grab a seat in this session.

Our last session of Conference will be on the topic of social media and your association. Brandi Harper will present on how associations should be using social media to their advantage, what their members should know about their personal social media and why they need to be mindful of what they post. Attend this session and take back the ideas presented to your members. You might just save someone’s career one day.

This Conference, we’re also going to try out separating the long afternoon session into two 75-minute sessions. I hope you appreciate my candor — some say sass — but I find it’s always hard to get our attendees to put their butts in the seats for the training sessions at Conference. However, when it’s part of the event, you should attend. Not all training is good, and not all training that’s good is for your association, but please remember we do put a lot of work into creating a fantastic program for you!