|
Welcome!
Thank you to all who
provided suggestions regarding our inaugural issue of this publication!
Based upon the feedback we received, the quarterly newsletter has been
adjusted to offer more inclusivity. The publication is still meant to be a
resource for all loved ones of OACP members - it's new title simply better
reflects that purpose! Read on to see what's new in this issue.
Peer Profile: Meet Becky
Soules - educator extraordinaire, lovely wife of former Chief Jim Soules,
and the focus of today's profile.
Notes & News: The countdown to Christmas has officially begun (deep
breaths, you still have time!). In the spirit of this beautiful but
bustling time of year, we've collected several holiday-themed articles and
updates.
Peer
Profile
Peer: Becky Soules
Husband: Retired
Chief Jim Soules
Department Affiliation: Prineville
PD
Many thanks to Becky
Soules for sharing her story and advice with us! Her husband, Jim, is a
current OACP retired member and former Prineville Police Chief. Chief
Soules has long been involved with OACP leadership and events.
Loneliness may not be the most prominent of challenges in
marriage to a police chief, but it can be one of the most biting.
"You can feel very isolated," said Becky Soules, wife of former
Prineville Police Chief Jim Soules. "As a Chief's wife, you cannot be
pals with the other wives because your husband may have to discipline their
husbands if it's needed. We're seen as people who should be able to fix
things, but we can't. We can only listen, and care, and love."
Becky married her husband in 1971, the same year he became a police officer.
Chief Soules' career would take his family from Warm Springs to
McMinnville, before eventually landing in Prineville, where he held the
position of Chief for 24 years.
"Jim ended up becoming Chief at just 30 years old. He cleaned up the
department, which was pretty dysfunctional at the time," Becky
explained. "He spent much of the first five years trying to gain the
respect of the community, and that was extremely difficult. Small towns, in
my opinion - and justifiably so - have high expectations for their
Chiefs."
Read more
Notes
& News
Project
Blue Light: honoring law enforcement during the holidays
Live 5 News
For years, law enforcement supporters have asked people to place a blue
light in their windows during the holiday season as part of Project Blue
Light. The color blue is symbolic of peace. The idea is to honor those
officers who have fallen in the line of duty and support those officers who
continue to work throughout the holiday season.
Read more or Learn
more here
20
Ideas for Serving Others as a Family This Christmas
Family
Life
As much as we want our children to get excited about all of the
festivities of the holidays, we also want to teach them to focus their
hearts and minds outward on others.
Read more
3
Ways To Have a Merry Christmas Without Your Husband
Love
& Blues
When you're married to a first responder, you pretty much get
used to doing things alone. Trips with the kids, eating dinner, going
to family events, etc. But when Christmas comes around and your spouse
has to work, that's when his demanding schedule can get especially
frustrating. Whether that's because he's putting out house fires,
pulling over drunk drivers, or because he's battling overseas for his
country, the holidays just aren't meant to be spent alone.
Read more
A Marriage Redeemed From the Rubble
Family Life
Just 18 months before, in April 1995, a bomb had destroyed the
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people and wounding hundreds
of others. The memory remained fresh in the minds of those attending a
FamilyLife Weekend to Remember® marriage getaway in Oklahoma City during
the spring of 1996. On the first night of the getaway, speaker Bob
Lepine asked firefighters, policemen, and military personnel to stand and
be recognized. As police officer Chuck Douglas and others stood, hundreds
of attendees began clapping louder and louder, until thunderous applause
filled the large meeting room.
Read more
First Responder Holiday Community Events NEAR YOU!
Salem Police toy drive has heartbreaking inspiration
Statesman Journal
He thought of that little girl often, especially during the
holidays, wondering where she was and how she was doing, like so many
others did, from dispatchers to deputy chiefs. And she became the
inspiration behind the agency's toy drive that makes Christmas merrier for
hundreds of local children each year.
Read more
Portland Police Bureau Sunshine Division
Sunshine Division
Since 1923, the Portland Police Bureau Sunshine Division has
been providing food and clothing relief to Portland families and
individuals in need. Whether due to the loss of a job, domestic crime,
illness, or victims of fire or disaster, the Sunshine Division has built a
94-year legacy of mobilizing quickly and efficiently to assist distressed
Portlanders.
Read more
Shop with a cop! (Clackamas County, along with many other
agencies around the state)
CCPOBF
The concept behind the Shop with a Cop program is to locate
kids whose families have had some enforcement contact with police, or
require assistance for a variety of reasons. Sometimes this may
involve an adult family member or older sibling who may have been arrested.
The trauma of seeing a family member arrested can cause many young
kids to have some very negative feelings towards police, as they rarely
hear the whole story, objectively, from those involved.
Read more
Shop with a cop! (Salem/Keizer PD)
Tualatin - Holiday Events
Tualatin City
Check out how Tualatin Police are getting involved this
holiday season!
Read more
Lake Oswego - #youandblue
Lake Oswego
The City of Lake Oswego is striving to change the conversation
about law enforcement this holiday season by unveiling a new campaign
called #youandblue. The goal of the campaign is to celebrate the
partnership between citizens and law enforcement. The community is invited
to take to social media to share photos with the Lake Oswego Police
Department and include the hashtag #youandblue.
Read more
'Donut Day' coming to St. Helens Police Department
Portland Tribune
The St. Helens Police Department is participating in
"Donut Day" next weekend.On Saturday, Dec. 13, police officers
will be handing out Krispy Kreme doughnuts from the St. Helens Police
Station in exchange for canned and nonperishable food items for the
Columbia Pacific Food Bank.
Read more
Warrenton PD - Bike Donating to Local Toy Drive
Warrenton PD
For the third year the WPD will be donating all of our seized
and forfeited bicycles to the local toy drive. The volunteers take the
bicycles, clean them up and refurbish them to be given to families in need.
These bikes are normally sent to auction but we received permission from
the City Commission to donate them instead.
Dundee - Dundee Fire Department Holiday Parade
Dundee City
December 12, 2016 at 6:30
Read
more
OACP
Update
ELTS Winter Conference
January
17-19, 2017
To see more information on the upcoming Executive Leadership Training
Seminar (ELTS) Winter Conference...
click here
OACP
Annual Conference
April 11-14,
2017
To see more information on the OACP Annual Conference next
April, click here
|
In
This Issue...
1.
Welcome
2.
Peer Profile
3.
Notes & News
4.
OACP Update
Use
this link
or the one located on the main navigation bar above to browse an extensive
list of resources, from blogs and books to organizations. Make sure to
check out the Christmas resources we have listed in this publication.
|
