Select agents praise conventions
By Maj. Riachard Markle
OSI Public Affairs
Criminals travel. Evidence crosses jurisdictions. And
accomplices, witnesses, victims, friends, and relatives live
all over the place.
Consequently, law enforcement officials around the world
understand the value of building liaison relationships with
other cops, sheriffs, state police, federal agents, and
international law enforcement officers.
OSI agents are no exception, and grassroots liaison between
OSI units and other agencies is as common as a cup of coffee
on a stakeout.
Headquarters, too, gets into the act by choosing agents
from around the command to attend the annual conventions of
five major law-enforcement associations. The associations are
the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the
Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association, the
National Sheriffs' Association, and Women in Federal Law
Enforcement.
Special Agent Sandra Orlando, the command's international
programs assistant, coordinates the attendance.
"OSI's corporate philosophy includes taking advantage
of the networking and liaison opportunities that exist at
these law-enforcement conventions," Orlando said.
"They're great opportunities for agents who are used to
networking at the local level to interact with other agencies
and more senior people in the law-enforcement community."
Another benefit is training. All the conventions feature
days of seminars on diverse topics pertinent to law
enforcement, such as combating terrorism, investigating gang
activity, working with the news media, self defense, and much
more.
Regions send nominations to Orlando in the spring. She
compiles them and forwards them to the OSI commander, vice
commander, executive director, and command chief master
sergeant, who vet them and make selections. Last year, more
than 60 OSI agents were selected and attended one of the
conventions.
"Nominations work differently between regions,"
Orlando said, "so agents interested in being nominated
should make it known to their chain of command for
consideration."
Agents who attended 2002's conventions gave high grades to
the experience.
Special Agent Ellen Tews, from Det. 204, Offutt AFB, Neb.,
attended the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement
Executives convention in Tampa, Fla., July 19-25. It was her
first time attending such an event.
"I was very impressed. It was fantastic," she
said. "The liaison opportunities were wonderful."
An added benefit, Tews said, was discovering just how far
OSI's positive reputation extends.
"I wasn't really surprised that the reputation is
good, because I see that at the local level, and I've never
heard anything different," Tews said, "but this was
on a much larger scale. No matter who I talked to, at the
state or federal level, everyone had wonderful things to say
about OSI, and just about everybody had a 'war story' about
working a joint case with us."
Special Agent Derrick Dagwood, from Det. 409, Lackland AFB,
Texas, attended the National Sheriffs' Association convention
in Tulsa, Okla., June 22-26. He said he most valued networking
with people from agencies that he has rarely, if ever, worked
with.
"I got to talk to some agents from the Postal
Inspectors and the Department of the Interior, which I've
never had a chance to work with yet," he said.
"There are definitely some perspectives you can gain from
them, and just because you haven't worked with them yet
doesn't mean you're not going to in the future."
Dagwood said he also valued the chance to visit the booths
of vendors displaying the latest law-enforcement technology,
from communications gear to computer systems to new forensics
technologies.
"We're an organization that needs to stay on the
cutting edge of technology in order to do our jobs well,"
Dagwood said. "You can find out a lot about the new tools
of the trade from the commercial companies that have things on
display."
Special Agent Cindy Upton, from Det. 113, Hill AFB, Utah,
attended the Women in Federal Law Enforcement convention in
Washington, D.C., Aug. 13-15. As a relative newcomer to law
enforcement, having been an agent for just two years, she said
she valued networking with women with much more tenure.
"It was beneficial to network with women who've been
in law enforcement for years or decades, who've done very well
professionally in a career field that's still largely
populated with men," Upton said.
Among the law-enforcement-related seminar topics at the
convention were discussions on discrimination and harassment,
which, Upton said, she hasn't experienced in OSI.
"It taught me that I'm lucky to be part of an
organization that doesn't have those problems, at least not
nearly on the scale of what you see in certain places on the
outside," Upton said. "But I think we can bring our
perspective to that discussion - a perspective that comes from
a place where women and other minorities are treated equally
and, if there is a problem, there's a place to report it
without being looked at as a troublemaker."
Special Agent Art Romano, from Det. 301, Scott AFB, Ill.,
attended the Hispanic American Police Command Officers'
Association convention in Albuquerque, N.M., Aug. 19-23.
"I think it's important for OSI members to belong to
groups like this in order to stay abreast of the types of
law-enforcement issues that these groups are addressing and to
add our voices to the issues," Romano said.
Putting his money where his mouth is, Romano joined the
association while attending the convention. He even did some
networking on the international scale, linking up with the
delegation from Puerto Rico, which included the major and
chief of police. Romano impressed the group by quickly
coordinating a tour of nearby Kirtland AFB, complete with
lunch at the officers' club and a trip to the base exchange.
"We talked about OSI, Eagle Eyes, and how OSI fits
into the Air Force structure," he said. "So now they
have a better understanding of what it is we do, and if we
ever need to do an investigation in Puerto Rico, I have a
direct connection to the chief of police and the mayor."
Since the convention, Romano and the Puerto Ricans have
exchanged information about training, and Romano has even
helped guide them toward setting up an Eagle Eyes-like program
in Puerto Rico.
Special Agent Rick Pann, from the Air Force Special
Investigations Academy, Glynco, Ga., attended the
International Association of Chiefs of Police convention in
Minneapolis, Oct. 5-10. He said he had never heard of the
organization before the convention, but after the fact he
termed the convention experience "fantastic."
Most interesting to Pann was the realization that
law-enforcement agencies around the world seem to wrestle with
the same issues.
"The obvious example is anti-terrorism," he said.
"It's on everyone's mind right now, and everyone seems to
be dealing with the same headaches of exchanging information
and working in partnership with other organizations… just
like we do."
Pann said he attended several workshops on that very topic
and learned about it from many different levels.
When he wasn't attending workshops, Pann spent time in the
OSI convention booth, set up among the hundreds of exhibitors
at the convention, talking to prospective recruits and selling
them on the benefits of joining OSI.
"I was amazed at how much interest our booth
generated," he said. "I think it stemmed from the
wide array of missions we perform. That makes us an attractive
option against the other agencies that have a narrower mission
base."
