St Paul Police K-9 Foundation, US

The Minnesota Police & Peace Officers Association ( MPPOA ) was founded in 1922 and is the largest association representing police officers in Minnesota. Its membership consists of police officers working full time for every level of government in Minnesota. Its membership consists of municipal police officers, county deputy sheriffs, and peace officers employed by the state of Minnesota. Since its beginning, the Association has been a strong voice for its membership going back to the days that it was instrumental in passing the civil service enabling acts of 1929 and 1933. Officers of the Association made hundreds of trips to address the governing bodies of cities, towns, villages, and counties. As a result, civil service coverage is now the rule rather than the exception. Much of the Association's energy is expended in furthering the passage of laws on the state level that will aide in efficient law enforcement. In addition, it has become the legislative voice for rank and file officers continually striving to improve the quality of benefits and working conditions for officers, as well as the benefits for the families of the officers. The Association through its untiring efforts has made Minnesota one of the leaders in benefits made available to officers' families that are killed in the line of duty. The Association assisted in winning the long fight to enact a special section in the public employee retirement association's pension law, giving the many peace officers in this group preferential treatment, a lower retirement age and greater financial support. Adequate training of police officers has always been a vital concern of the Association. As early as 1936, we allocated funds for a statewide traveling police training school. In 1959 we were successful in urging the legislature to pass legislation for a volunteer law enforcement training program. In 1967, we were successful in working with the legislature for the passage of the mandatory Minnesota Peace Officers Training Law. This law created a training board advisory to the attorney general and then finally in 1977 helped to create the Peace Officers Standards and Training Board ( P.O.S.T. ) which was the first law enforcement licensing system in the United States. It has since served as a model throughout the nation. The MPPOA is proud to have worked over the years on legislation involving P.O.S.T. which has served to raise the eligibility requirements of those entering law enforcement as well as enhancing the standards, training and professionalism of our police community. Strong confidence in the skill and the character of our peace officers is essential in gaining public trust, and the Association continues to work with the P.O.S.T. Board toward building and maintaining that confidence. The MPPOA firmly believes that education and training are essential to achieve the goal for professionalism of all law enforcement officers.