FOP Talks About 2011 Plans

The local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police swore in it’s officers for 2011 Thursday evening.

The Muskingum County FOP hosted a sit down dinner and ceremony at Prophets Park Thursday evening to swear in existing and new members of the organization. FOP President Tom Porter was sworn in again for 2011 as President. He says one of the big issues the FOP hopes to address this year is officer safety since six officers have been killed in the line of duty nationally since the start of the New Year.

"We hope to get some officers into some training to deal with these critical situations that were faced with and hopefully we can still maintain our presence with the local governments and good working relationships with them to keep our numbers up,"says Porter.

Porter also says he plans to increase community involvement for this next year. The FOP hosts fundraisers every year and donates the money to local organizations.

"We combine their money as well with our money and support local athletic leagues, we do dinners, we support pal, we just find good civic organizations to donate that money to," adds Porter.

In addition to officers being sworn in this evening, several awards were given out as well. The 2010 Member of the Year was given to retired member Wes Elson, who worked for the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Department. The 2010 Citizens of the Year award went to Jim and Patty Hicks. Jim is the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Associates and is very active in the community.