Wednesday, May 14, 2008 The next PBA Board Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at the Franklin Templeton location (in Carrillon) and will be catered by Cuban Delight Cafe. Please call the office if you need directions to Franklin Templeton at 727-532-1722. PBA MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS LEGAL DEFENSE BENEFIT As a new member of the Florida PBA, we want you to know that one of the primary benefits of membership is legal assistance. Florida PBA has a team of five "in-house" attorneys and over 40 law firms to provide you with the best legal services available to Florida's law enforcement officers. These services are provided as part of your membership, and there is NO cost to you:    Legal Representation: Disciplinary Cases and Arbitration The Florida PBA will provide you legal representation if you are suspended, demoted or dismissed by your agency. This representation can take two forms: legal assistance in a career service appeal or through the grievance/arbitration process.          Legal Representation: Before CJSTC If you are the subject of a certification disciplinary case or inquiry from the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission (CJSTC), the Florida PBA will provide you legal assistance at all three stages of the process, including the probable cause hearing, the administrative case and the final hearing before the full CJSTC.          Legal Defense: Shootings/Serious Accidents If you are involved in a duty-related shooting incident, an on-duty vehicle crash or other accident which results in a serious injury to another person, Florida PBA will provide an attorney "on-scene" to assist in any internal, criminal investigation or questioning about the incident.          Legal Defense: Civil Suits/Criminal Actions If you are sued civilly, subject to a grand jury investigation, or criminal action for an incident arising out of and within the scope of your law enforcement duties, the Florida PBA will provide an attorney to represent you and cover the costs of defending the case against you.          Legal Duty Officer We provide access to a legal duty officer, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to your emergency, duty-related legal needs. To ensure these benefits are available to you, you must be a member in good standing on the date of the incident and must continue to be a member during representation. PBA DEATH AND DISABILITY PLAN This is a program, free to members, which provides certain death or disability benefits to the member, spouse or dependent children when the member is killed or permanently injured in-line-of-duty. Please contact the PBA at 1-800-733-3722 for more information. LEGISLATIVE SERVICES Our most important function is obtaining legislation supporting officers' rights, working conditions, wages and any other areas of concern. PBA protects you politically from any and all sources which attack your salaries, pensions and working conditions. PBA maintains a professional team of lobbyists who aggressively fight for legislation beneficial to ALL law enforcement and corrections officers. Throughout each year, your legislative team drafts new legislation, seeks sponsors for new legislation and continuously urges pro-low enforcement/corrections legislation for adoption. We have established a PAC account and a CCE account, to which a total of 75¢ of each member's dues every month is deposited for the purpose of contributing to political candidates and for maintaining a strong political voice with pro-law enforcement/corrections legislators. In addition, every two years, extensive political screening is done throughout the State to ensure that pro-low enforcement/corrections legislators are elected. Between legislative sessions, PBA has continuous contact with legislators, providing them with up-to-date information on law enforcement and corrections issues. ORGANIZATIONAL SERVICES Since membership services is the primary mission of the Florida PBA, quick and dependable service is priority number one. PBA has eight staff representatives throughout Florida. We take pride in the fact that our staff representatives can assist you in every way. Since a staff representative is your first line of contact for representation, they have been trained extensively in filing grievances on your behalf; conducting consultation meetings with management; assisting you to better understand your contract; assisting in internal affairs investigations and administrative hearings; visiting your work site on a regular basis; and, benefit number one, being on-call at all times. In addition to eight staff representatives, PBA has a member services representative available at 1-800-733-3722 (FPBA), extension 432, Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., to answer any immediate questions you may have. In case of an emergency (serious incident or shooting), this 800 number is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week---a quick call-back response is guaranteed! As you can see, membership services is job one and the Florida PBA is there for you in your time of need. PUBLICATIONS The Florida PBA has proven without a doubt that our publications department is extremely dedicated and proud. Newsletters are published on a regular basis to keep you up-to-date on the latest issues concerning departmental rule changes, contract negotiations, legislation and your legislators, not to mention member feedback and editorials. Each edition of the Roll Call (which is sent to all members) continues to be more detailed and informative. All chapter newsletters are recognized for having more facts about the issues you need to know. We would like to urge all members to write to us on issues they feel are important and to respond to articles often. With member input, such as this, we can only better serve you. COMPUTER SERVICES On your behalf, PBA maintains a database containing comparative data on salaries, fringe benefits and other terms and conditions of employment within most law enforcement agencies. PBA regularly surveys members and agencies regarding their opinions on working conditions, salaries and other employment issues. We can then use this information to gauge the morale of individual departments and their employees and utilize this information to better your work environment. Past surveys have been used to communicate departmental "shortcomings" to legislators for statewide departments and to individual local agency administrators. PENSION SERVICES PBA retains the services of a professional consultant to assist with questions about pensions. We maintain current information on the Florida retirement system as well as municipal police pension systems. Your PBA staff is ready to assist with any inquiries regarding pension problems. TOLL FREE NUMBER You can reach the PBA 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in case of emergency at 1-800-733-3722! Our various departments are open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. To reach a particular department, just dial the 800 number listed above and press the following extension: Legal Services......................... 407 Legislative Services................ 426 Publications Department.......... 422 PROFESSIONAL, PROUD, AND PBA! PBA Forms   Collective Bargaining   The Charity Fund   Criminal Law Updates   Upcoming Events   PBA Event Pictures   Shop Online Copyright 2006 © by Pinellas County PBA All rights reserved worldwide.