Membership
Membership & Benefits
By
Brad Landes
Idaho State Lodge National Trustee
I am continually getting the same type of questions from around the state. Who can join the FOP? And who can reap the benefits the FOP offers to its membership? The answer is simple, almost anyone, but I will explain it here in this article so you will understand.
First you have to look at the definition of what a member is. The Grand Lodge defines what a member is in Article 4 of the Constitution. Any regularly appointed or elected and full-time employed law enforcement officer of the United States, any state or political subdivision thereof, or any agency may be eligible for membership.
Article 4 also states that there shall be three (3) classes of membership: Active, Retired and Honorary. Article 20 of the Constitution also speaks and defines what an Associate member is.
A. Active Membership
1. Shall include regularly appointed or elected full-time law enforcement officers.
2. May include retired regularly appointed or elected law enforcement officers.
3. May include, subject to approval by the state and subordinate lodge, regularly appointed or elected law enforcement officers who have resigned from their law enforcement duties and who have remained in good standing with their subordinate lodge.
4. Only active members, as herein defined, shall have voice and vote.
B. Retired Membership shall be comprised of retired regularly appointed or elected law enforcement officers who withdrew from active membership upon or after retirement from their law enforcement agency.
Honorary Membership shall be comprised of individuals recognized by the Grand Lodge, State Lodge, or Subordinate Lodges, for exceptional service or contribution to the nation, the state, political subdivision, law enforcement community, or the Fraternal Order of Police.
The Grand Lodge’s Constitution defines elected & full-time officers in Article 3 and defines Regularly Appointed Law Enforcement Officer as, any law enforcement officer who meets the minimum standards, has received the training and education required by the United States, the state, the political subdivision or agency by which they are appointed, and granted arrest powers.
The Idaho State Lodge Constitution in Article 4 section 2, defines a law enforcement officer as, but is not limited to, any Federal, State, County, and Local Law Enforcement, with Correctional Officers, Probation and Parole Officers, Detention Officers, Campus Police, Federal housing Police, Court Security Officers, and any other unusual law enforcement occupation with arrest powers, employed by a government entity within the State of Idaho on a full-time basis.
So given this you have the definition of, Active, Retired and Honorary membership.
Article 20 of the Grand Lodge Constitution recognizes, acknowledges and validates what an Associate Member is. Section two states that Associate membership is a privilege and may be permitted, denied or revoked at the pleasure of the governing body of the lodge with which they are affiliated.
Article 10 of the Idaho State Constitution allows for Associate membership to exist in Idaho. So if a local lodge wishes to have or accept Associate membership, they have to define what one is.
My local lodge, Idaho Falls Lodge # 6 has such a definition.
Associate Membership – shall be compromised of individuals employed by a law-enforcement agency and do not qualify for active membership. Associate members shall have the same rights & privileges as active members, except for that of voting and holding of office.
My lodge chose to allow our dispatchers, record clerks, secretaries, parking monitors etc; to join our lodge as Associate members so they also could reap the same benefits as Active members. My Lodge did not have to limit who is allowed to be an Associate member; we just chose this definition as stated.
Associate members are not counted in the numbers as active members are. You do not need to pay state or National dues for these members, so they are not reported in the total membership. It is up to each individual lodge on how they maintain these members and what dues are collected.
The FOP offers several benefits to its membership. I am only going to mention two here that I feel are by far the most important we offer. The Legal Defense Plan and The VantageCare Retirement Health Savings Plan.
First, The Legal Defense Plan.
Page 4 Section 5 of the Plan Description & Brochure states, Eligibility; All active FOP members in good standing who are in Employment with federal, state or local government law enforcement agencies are eligible to participate in the Plan and receive benefits. Associate FOP members who are not eligible to be active members and who are in Employment with federal, state or local government law enforcement agencies may be deemed eligible to participate as part of a group, in the Board’s discretion. See www.fophylant.com or call 1-800-341-6038 for details about this plan.
Second, The VantageCare Retirement Health Savings Plan.
This benefit is less restrictive and is offered to both Active & Associate membership. I did several hours of research on this and found out that the local lodge’s definition of an Associate member determines who is eligible in receiving this benefit. You do not have to restrict the Associate member here to being solely employed by law enforcement. See http://www2.rhsnfop.org/xp/plans/fop/ or call 1-866-RHS-NFOP 1-866-747-6367 then press 2 for details about this plan.
There are many advantages and benefits in being a member of the FOP. The best way to review these is by going to the Grand Lodge web page and reviewing them yourselves at www.grandlodgefop.org .
I enjoy being an FOP member and hope to be able to serve you as your National Trustee for many years to come.
Fraternally
Brad Landes
National Trustee
Idaho State Lodge