Our members are protected 24 hours a day by a staff of 10 full-time, in-house attorneys and staff members who have the best proven track record of winning. We represent law enforcement professionals exclusively and full-time. When someone wants an expert, they call in the FOP Labor Council.

Standing up for our members effectively and responsibly is a daily occurrence. No unit is too big or too small. We provide training seminars and conduct annual meetings where our members determine the direction of their Labor Council.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police Week. Currently, tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world converge on Washington, DC to participate in a number of planned events which honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed Proclamation 5187 creating "National Correctional Officers' Week." to recognize the contributions made by the men and women who work in jails, prisons, and community corrections across the country. The first full week in May (May 6 - 12 of 2012) has since been recognized as National Correctional Officers' Week to honor the work of correctional officers and correctional personnel nationwide.

On May 3rd, the annual ceremony to honor fallen police officers took place at the Illinois Police Officer's Memorial. The Illinois Police Officers Memorial Committee was established in 1985. Their monument in Springfield, Illinois bears the names of the officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving their communities. Every year on the first Thursday of May, they hold a ceremony to pay tribute to fallen officers and their families.

On May 5th, 2011 a citizen called the METCAD the 9-1-1 center and advised he had been the victim of "road rage" on Interstate 74 in Champaign, Illinois. The caller advised 9-1-1 he had followed the vehicle to the parking lot of Market Place Mall. Two occupants exited the vehicle and walked toward the mall. The caller could see a hand gun in one of the suspect’s pockets. Officers responded to the parking lot of the mall. It was determined that the vehicle had been stolen out of Wisconsin.

When officers arrived they found the vehicle and it was unoccupied. As Officers John McAllister, Shane Standifer and Tom Petrilli were standing near the vehicle, they heard shots fired coming from the area of the entrance to the mall. Lt. David Shaffer, who was off duty with his wife, had just driven past the entrance to the mall when he heard the shots fired. Lt. Shaffer exited his personal vehicle and instructed his wife to drive away from the area. All of the officers started running toward the sound of the gun fire.

As officers got closer they saw a subject lying on the ground and later determined that he had been shot. A second subject, the suspect, was pistol whipping and shooting at the victim. Officers McAllister and Standifer engaged the suspect with their weapons, striking the suspect and ending his assault. Officer Petrilli and Lt. Shaffer flanked the suspect as part of their approach. The victim and suspect both survived.

The owner grabbed the suspect’s gun attempting to wrestle the weapon away. The armed suspect and owner went to their knees in a struggle for control of the gun. Deputy Pobjecky reacting to the intense dire situation bolted from his chair and reached the owner, who was still struggling with the armed suspect. Deputy Pobjecky recalled that the owner usually carried a loaded gun in his back waistband and he removed the concealed handgun. In grave fear for his life and the lives of others in the business, Deputy Pobjecky used the firearm to stop the threat of life created by the four suspects. As a result, all four suspects were struck twice by Deputy Pobjecky’s gunfire. One suspect was fatally wounded and died inside the restaurant. Two suspects were incapacitated by their life threatening injuries and collapsed outside of the business door, and the fourth suspect collapsed a couple blocks away and was located by Rockford Police Officers with the help of a citizen who witnessed the suspect’s escape route.

He and his officers responded to the flooded problem area including Rolling Acres Trailer Court and the north east section of town. Both of these locations had enormous flooding issues which put lives in jeopardy. Sergeant Mefford personally risked his own health and safety by entering fast moving flood waters and rescuing people who were trapped.

He rescued a screaming woman who was trapped in her residence because the flood water had risen up to her front door. Sergeant Mefford went into almost neck deep water and made it to her door. The woman had a two year old child in the residence and Sergeant Mefford carried the child, with the woman on his back to safety. Sergeant Mefford also saved by carrying on his back, an elderly man who was also trapped in his residence because of water.

Then, while Sergeant Mefford was standing on the porch of a residence helping a family evacuate their home, the porch collapsed and was swept away by the fast moving water. This caused Sergeant Mefford to be thrown into the water. Despite the fast moving water, he was able to swim back to the residence and help rescue the family.

On Sunday morning, February 20, 2011 at approximately 4:00 a.m., Officer Schmidt was on routine patrol in the area of Sheridan Road and East Scranton Avenue when he observed what appeared to be smoke coming from the area of East Woodland Road. He quickly responded to that area and observed a house in the 10 block of East Woodland fully engulfed in fire.

After requesting assistance and the fire department, he exited his squad vehicle with his fire extinguisher, went to the front door and attempted to put out the flames and make entry to determine whether the home was occupied. At this point, Officers Reynolds and Vinson arrived on the scene and the three officers checked the outside of the building looking for a place to make entry. All of them used squad vehicle fire extinguishers and attempted to extinguish the fire.

Officer Schmidt used the battering ram to force open a door on the southeast side of the building and noted a sound coming from inside the room. Without hesitation, he crawled inside the burning structure and located the feet of the homeowner. He called for assistance and Officer Reynolds responded. The two officers removed the resident from the burning structure.

Officer Schmidt, with the assistance of Officer Reynolds and Vinson, was able to move the victim away from the burning structure and initiate CPR. Shortly thereafter, the Fire Department arrived and the Fire Medics from Lake Forest assisted and ultimately transported the victim to Lake Forest Hospital where it was determined that his CO level was 36% which is compatible with death. Immediate medical attention was able to bring that level down and the man survived.