President's Message;

Brothers & Sisters-

I am sadden that my first message to our membership has to start on one of great loss. On Sunday morning, March 14, 2009, Brother Chad Mechels, 32 years old, a Deputy with the Turner County Sheriffs Office, a veteran law enforcement officer of five years, died "in the line of duty" just outside Marion, South Dakota. Brother Mechels was sent to a residence to "check the well-being" on a 19 year old male. Unbeknowst to Brother Mechels, this subject was laying in wait to do him harm before Brother Mechels was even dispatched. Brother Mechels entered the residence & was immediately shot with a high powered rifle by the suspect. Brother Mechels retreated from the residence & was struck again upon entering his vehicle. The suspect called 911 & admitted to shooting Brother Mechels & he then fled the area only to later in the day turn himself in at the Law Enforcement Center in Sioux Falls. Brother Mechels was airlifted to Avera-McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls where he succumbed to his injuries. Brother Mechels is survived by his wife, Jamie, a 7 year old daughter and 3 year old son. On March 18th Brother Mechels was laid to rest in Madison, S.D. with full honors. The Law Enforcment Community from around the surrounding states, a total of 220 "marked" vehicles were in Brother Mechels procession. As it was said at the funeral, Brother Mechels  watch has ended with us, but he has now been called to be on Gods Department now & he is watching over all of us. Our entire Law Enforcement family & community immediately rallied around the "entire" Mechels family with not only emotional support but also providing "immediate" financial support. The last thing we wanted Jamie to have to worry about was money. An account has been set-up at "any" Wells Fargo Bank in South Dakota for Jamie & the children with all 100% going directly to them. Just indicate your donation is for the Chad Mechels Family. Please keep Jamie & her family in your thoughts and prayers for the difficult time ahead. Brother Mechels will be surely missed. But his name will live on as we are making the arrangements to have Brother Mechels name added to the Memorial in Pierre yet this year & on the Law Enforcement Memorial wall in D.C. for next year. The Police Survivor Officer Benefit is already in motion & we will make Jamie aware of the F.O.P Steve Young Memeorial Scholarship for the children to attend any state funded university at no cost. 

Your Board & others will be getting together to go over what worked & what didn't after this tragic event & put together a "what to do checklist" & put this out to all our Lodges & our entire law enforcement community. This will hopefully never have to be used in the near future but will help in a shocked state of mind.

We must now on & keep doing our duties...

On January 10th, 2009 the South Dakota State President's Meeting was held in Sioux Falls at the Law Enforcement Center. I was honored to be elected to the position as your State President. I will try to uphold the duties of the office as well as Brother Dave Fair has. Brother Fair will now serve as Past President. I know with the help of the other Board Members that were elected to their positions we'll represent our state well. Brother Jim Hansen was elected as Vice President, Brother Marty Goetsch was re-elected as our Secretary, Brother Wayne Keefe was elected as Treasurer, taking over for Brother Tony Harrison who was elected as National Trustee. Brother Harrison will move into this position at the Biennial Conference in Long Beach in August 2009. Brother Tom Schmitt is stepping down from this position and has served us well during his terms. Brother Richard Dickey was re-elected to the position of Sgt. at Arms.

Please keep us in your thoughts & prayers as we fulfill the duties of these positions that you have entrusted us with.

Please sign onto the Grand Lodge website; www.grandlodgefop.org and the following is the statement about what we are all about;

The Fraternal Order of Police is the world's largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers, with more than 325,000 members in more than 2,100 lodges. We are the voice of those who dedicate their lives to protecting and serving our communities. We are committed to improving the working conditions of law enforcement officers and the safety of those we serve through education, legislation, information, community involvement, and employee representation. No one knows the dangers and the difficulties faced by today's police officers better than another officer, and no one knows police officers better than the FOP.

325,000 members, 2,100 lodges, this doesn't even count our Associate or Auxillary Members!!! 

As Harry Truman stated "it is amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit". 

Take the time to use this site to learn about "your" organization & the mission statement.

Imagine what we can do if we're all on the same page....

Take care, be safe & God Bless!!!