Professional Services

In order to guarantee its members the high level of employment protection that is absolutely necessary in today's world, a law enforcement officers' union must provide total representation. This means that a complex battery of resources and a broad spectrum of specialized expertise must be readily available, at all times, to every member of the organization. In other words, the union must be armed with complete service capacity and a dedicated staff of eminently qualified professionals who will consistently deliver these services in a timely and coordinated fashion.

Maximum appropriate financial compensation for the work they perform.
The best possible employment benefits, including pension and medical insurance.
Working conditions maintained at the highest standards.
Protection of all employees' rights, as established by law.
Immediate access to top-quality legal counsel whenever necessary.
Direct availability of professional assistance in matters of financial, insurance and retirement planning.
The strongest possible collective voice in communicating needs, opinions and positions to national and state lawmakers.
An internal communications program that keeps everyone in the organization fully informed and which shares ideas and which functions as a two-way interconnection between the membership and the organizational leadership.
A media relations program which informs the public about the organization's position on issues affecting the membership and/or local associations.
A leadership structure which represents the membership's collective interests and goals in the creation and implementation of the organization's operating policy.

Total representation therefore entails delivering full-service in negotiating and enforcing contracts, guarding all members' rights, helping members plan their futures and protect their families, providing the membership with political and communications clout and guaranteeing that the organization's operating policy reflects the sum total of the membership's needs, objectives and ideals.

The Michigan Association of Police is a full-service public employees union in every sense of the term. Each element of M.A.P.'s extensive professional services if profiled on the following pages.

M.A.P.'s staff of labor relation's professionals is acknowledged as number one in experience and proven expertise in the state. It has earned this recognition by achieving an unequaled record of success in all phases of union representation.

Experience is, obviously, an extremely valuable commodity in the law enforcement union business. It reflects not only longevity - many years of performing highly specialized work - but also steady growth and adaptation, plus total familiarity with every phase of an increasingly complex field of knowledge.

Expertise is, of course, a similarly valuable attribute. Except for documented credentials, however, it is largely a matter of the level of esteem afforded by other prominent figures in areas of labor relations.

As the following individual profiles will clearly illustrate, each M.A.P. Labor relations specialist has accumulated many years of experience in all aspects of representation, has established superb credentials and has gained unsurpassed respect throughout Michigan's labor relations community.

Most important, though, these personal sketches demonstrate the proof of achievement. For example, M.A.P. negotiated the state's first-ever contract to pay officers more than $40,000 in annual wages (Sterling Heights). It should be noted that this amount is in income alone, and that the pact also included across-the-board improvements in benefits and special features. M.A.P. contracts consistently rate near the top in wages and benefits, especially when compared with those under which like-size associations in other union's work.

Achievement is what ultimately pays superior dividends to the hundreds of officers who have wisely invested in their futures by associating with the Michigan Association of Police.

Fred Timpner, a former president of the Southfield Police Officers' Association (SPOA) has more than two decades of experience as a law enforcement labor leader. Within a year of joining the department in 1971, he was chosen as a shift steward for his local association. Soon afterward he was elected vice president. A subsequent election made him president of the 100-member group.

Timpner's obvious leadership qualities and rapidly demonstrated talents in labor relations made him a high-profile candidate for a new career as a law enforcement union professional. Fortunately for the many hundreds of officers who since have benefited form his negotiating and advocating skills and knowledge, he decided to enter the field. Armed with his considerable natural abilities, his valuable local association experience and a full complement of college-level labor relations studies, he became a full-time union service professional just a few years into the modern era of the law enforcement labor movement.

From that beginning, Timpner has earned an enviable reputation as an expert in contract negotiations, grievances and grievance arbitration's. His tremendously successful record has been highlighted by negotiating two "breakthrough" contracts: the agreement in Sterling Heights which for the first time brought base wages of over $40,000 a year to officers in Michigan and the pact which, years previous, smashed the $30,000 a year barrier in the state. Just as important, Timpner is established as one of an elite few professionals who are experienced in presenting Act 312 arbitration cases.

His credentials are such, in fact, that the former outstanding student of the discipline has been called upon to teach college courses in labor relations.

Ronald Palmquist is a veteran of 21 years as a Southfield police officer with an ideal background. He was a union steward in the early 1970's, became his POA's secretary by 1980 and served as its president during the '80's. After he was promoted to sergeant in 1986, he was elected the Southfield COA's wage negotiator, which meant he was the chief of the bargaining team. After retiring in 1991 he came to work full-time for the Union. Since then he has gained immeasurable experience negotiating contracts and handling grievances through arbitration for member units.

He has good background experience in dealing with employers and has a firsthand knowledge
of what officers need and how to help them get it. He possesses exclusive knowledge in health care and pension plans.

"The proof is in the pudding" as the old adage says, and if it is, one has only to look at some of the collective bargaining contracts negotiated by Ron. They are some of the best that are in the public sector.

Joel Felt is our staff organizer. This former Pontiac police officer was shift steward for five years, chief steward for two years, secretary of his local union for two years and vice president of his local union from 1990 through 1992. He has been active in grievance investigations since 1978. As organizer, his knowledge of state ran elections helps everyone understand the complicated procedure outlined under the Public Employer Relation Act.

His knowledge of 312 arbitration, worker's compensation and his position
as grievance investigator makes him a real asset in the recruitment
of future M.A.P. groups.

Troy Scott has worked for MAP for over six years. He has 10 years of previous experience as a police officer in Brownstown Township and Oakland University. While at Brownstown Township he served as secretary, vice president and president of the local association. During his tenure at Oakland University, he served as the vice president.

Troy has had considerable experience in the investigation and handling of grievances and contract negotiations and has served as advocate with regard to numerous grievance arbitration cases.

Troy has extensive experience in labor negotiations both in the private and public sector. Troy has earned his reputation as a tough, tenacious labor representative that fights for his members.

Troy is currently working on his Master's in Labor Relations from Wayne State University.

Patrick Baidel is a long-time union leader on both the statewide and local levels. He has been employed as a Green Oak Township Police Officer since 1990, and has served four terms as president of the MAP Board of Directors. Pat's role as president involves him in all of the key policy-making processes that assure that the widest possible range and highest possible quality of services constantly be provided to the Union's members. His experience as a Green Oak Township Police Officer and as an active member of the local MAP association has given him a special appreciation for the needs of law enforcement professionals and the importance of all representation to local associations of all sizes. Baidel, who served as president of the Green Oak Township Police Officers Association / Michigan Association of Police, negotiated contracts and handled many grievance procedures for that group. As a MAP Labor Relations Specialist, he continues that work on behalf of other MAP associations.

Expert, specialized legal representation is an essential service element for any public safety professional union in the modern era. A complex body of laws and regulations governs the relationship between workers and their employers. Many of these are established to protect the rights of the employees. Importantly, the protection afforded by law and regulation is only as effective as a union's legal talent makes it.

Farrell & Associates P.C. M. Catherine Ferrell is the principal in Farrell & Associates P.C., a law firm specializing in Labor and Employment Law.

Ms. Farrell was managing partner of Hoekenga & Farrell P.C., and was a senior partner and former managing partner of the law firm of Levin, Levin, Garvett & Dill P.C. which specialized in labor and employment law and transactional matters.

Ms. Ferrell is also an active arbitrator. She serves as a member of both the commercial arbitration panel and employment law arbitration panel for the American Arbitration Association in the Detroit Region. Ms. Farrell holds a B.A. from American University, a M.S. from the State University of New York at New Paltz and a J.D. from St. Louis University.

The unique relationship between the Michigan Association of Police and these highly skilled legal professionals is as important to the union's members as the firm's talent base. Over the years, the attorneys have teamed with MAP's labor relations' specialists in literally hundreds of cases of all kinds providing representation that is unsurpassed by any other union.

Hoekenga & Associates P.C. Senior partner Dan Hoekenga, who has represented law enforcement officers in all types of labor matters for many years, handles much of this vital work. All of Mr. Hoekenga's Associates provide a formidable combination of highly respected talent and years of experience in successfully handling precisely the kinds of matters that are most relevant to members.

The Extra Protection of Special Counsel

Because of the very nature of their duties, law enforcement officers are at serious risk of becoming the subjects of several types of litigation, which do not affect persons in other professions. The immediate availability of legal representation for non-labor matters therefore is a vital facet of MAP's spectrum of service.

Attorneys Richard Beemer, Arthur Weiss, John Goldpaugh & Michael Vincent are retained by M.A.P. as specialists in matters involving shootings and chases. Each has maintained a general law practice, with a concentration in criminal law, for years.

Beemer served as a police officer before entering the legal profession and this experience gives him an especially "real" perspective in handling law enforcement officers' legal matters. Weiss has considerable experience representing officers in a variety of types of cases. Goldpaugh has represented Detroit Police Officers in shooting situations for over 20 years. Vincent served as an Ypsilanti Police Officer before retiring and entering and specializing in the field of criminal law.

Law enforcement officers have more of a stake in which laws are passed, and which are not, than virtually any other class of professionals. They are, for example, directly concerned with legislation that:

No police union can properly represent its members without maintaining close and effective working contacts with lawmakers. No police union anywhere is more influential or respected in the political arena than the Michigan Association of Police.

Karoub and Associates, a highly regarded legislative liaison organization, represents MAP in Lansing and Washington. MAP is joined with the Police Officers Labor Council, Detroit Police Officers Association, Detroit Lieutenant & Sergeants Police Troopers Association, Warren Police Officers Association, Flint Police Officers Association in the largest police legislative coalition in the state. As a result, members wield considerable influence in the State Legislature and the hall of the U.S. Congress.

A complete union communications program has two primary facets: 1. To keep the entire membership as informed as possible about important developments and events; and, 2. To convey to the public and to state and national lawmakers the positions and opinions of the organization on all issues which affect it and its members.

Internal communications enhance teamwork, help stimulate ideas and provide the vehicles by which ideas are shared and refined. Media relations give members a cumulative voice in speaking to the thousands of persons whose tax money pays public servants. They also augment the efforts of both legislative liaisons and the union leadership in bringing organizational influence to bear.

Preparing for the future is essential for today's law enforcement officers, particularly in an era when they are able to retire younger than ever before. That is why the Michigan Association of Police offers its members, without charge, pre-retirement counseling emphasizing pension maximization.

Professional financial planning is offered at no cost to all members via a professional relationship with expert Keith P. Harrington, account vice president of PaineWebber, Inc. He assists M.A.P. members in such vital areas as pre-retirement planning.

The location and the resource structure of a union's central office combine to have a direct and profound impact upon the organization's ability to serve its membership.

The headquarters should be centrally situated in order for labor relations' professionals to have rapid access to all members. It should be in the closest possible proximity to the offices of the union's other service providers, such as its legal specialists. It should have the capacity to host large and small-group meetings, to house the modern hardware that is essential to sophisticated business operation and to proved the kinds of functional accessories that create a setting of which all members can be proud.

M.A.P.'s central office is located at the heart of the network of expressways interconnecting Michigan's cities. The labor relations' staff thus is within swift driving range of points throughout the state. The office is literally across the hall from the organization's retained labor law firm and its entire staff of attorneys. It boasts excellent meeting and conference facilities and contains all of the state-of-the-art machinery, including a complete computer data system that is necessary to a modern union operation. It has a comfortable, functionally attractive design of which members are, indeed, proud. And, just as important, it is kept working at peak efficiency by a highly qualified support staff that includes a research assistant.

Efficiency is both the objective and the result of the headquarters office design - the kind of efficiency that makes certain all members' needs receive immediate and full attention.

Michigan Association of Police
27704 Franklin Rd.
Southfield, Michigan 48034-8206
Office: (248) 304-8800
Fax: (248) 304-8810