The honor guard has traditionally gone to Washington, D.C. each May for National Police Week. During this week they honor our 35 fallen Phoenix Police Officers and participate in numerous events. It is also an opportunity for the entire country to see the professionalism of the Phoenix Police Department. Unlike previous years, this year the honor guard was required to use their own vacation time to represent the City of Phoenix. It is unimaginable for the Police Department to force these officers to burn their “own time” when there is clearly a benefit to the City of Phoenix by having the honor guard attend National Police Week. This is even after PLEA and the honor guard’s 501.c.3 charitable arm funded the entire trip for the four PLEA members who attended and no Department funds had to be used.
Thankfully, City Manager David Cavazos and Assistant City Manager Ed Zuercher have common sense and were willing to “do the right thing” and correct the error. On the same day that they were notified of situation, they exercised leadership and made the decision to restore these officers’ leave banks and place them on City Business time for that week. This is another example of PLEA partnering with City management to serve the PLEA membership. PLEA would like to thank both David Cavazos and Ed Zuercher for their fast response and understanding the importance of our Honor Guard.