Coast Guard Investigative Association (CGIA) Update #1
CGIA Members,
As a new initiative to keep all our members updated on what is going on with the association, the executive board decided that we will implement a CGIA Update to keep all members informed on what is happening with CGIA.
1. As you may already know from the website, which we are in the process of updating, we have a new President, Marty Phillips, and a new Vice President, Matt Harris. We would like to thank former President Steve Little and former VP Jack Pressler for all their hard work and dedication to the association. Looking forward to your continued support and guidance as the CGIA moves forward. Below are some of the projects that CGIA are currently working on.
a. CGIA has re-engaged our relationship with CGIS HQ. The first step was to re-engage the awarding of the Special Agent of the Year Award for 2019.
b. Creation of a CGIA Facebook page. This way the association can relate information to all members a bit quicker.
c. Offering a free 1 year membership to all the new CGIS agents graduating from the Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP), CGIS Special Agent Training (CGIS-SABT) and the CGIS Indoctrination Program (ITP).
d. Creating a new CGIA flyer and membership form.
e. Created a section on the website for all CGIA merchandise.
2. Bud Hall has been working very hard on getting everything set up for the 2019 Annual CGIA Conference. The conference will be held in Brunswick, GA, from October 10th - 13th. Matt Harris is working on possibly scheduling a tour of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) for all attendees and a tour/boat ride with the local Coast Guard small boat station. Once we get closer, we will send out an update with more information and post on the website.
3. Former President Steve Little had been actively engaged with Joe Orrigo, NCISA-VP, on getting CGIA involved on the Joint
Collaborative Effort -NAFLEO -Benefit Package for our members, and as a recruiting tool for new members. The National Association of Federal Law Enforcement Officers (NAFLEO) and its cumulative membership of close to 20,000 were instrumental in us receiving great benefits from a Vendor Group and legal benefits from Legal Shield. NAFLEO is nothing more than a shell organization that contains the 11 organizations, and approximately 20,000 members, solely established to obtain benefits for each respective agency. Hopefully, having access to these increased benefits will enhance each organization's goal concerning the issue of membership.
Joe did some research and found what is called a Group Participating Organization (GPO) vendor group. He conducted numerous calls and found one named UNA. UNA is a turnkey member benefits program that had a diverse network of organizations that includes associations, national franchises, financial institutions, executive networks and marketing firms. After many discussions with UNA's Business Developer, great benefits and discount rates were obtained. Additionally, there are no costs to the members. The nationwide benefits are free. He had checked with other GPOs but they wanted monthly fees, so these groups were ruled out. UNA provided two (2) sites to NAFLEO that members can utilize to access the hotel and entertainment benefits packages. Below are detailed information on the benefits.
VENDOR SITES:
Hotel Link: https://www.hotelengine.com/join/fletc
Entertainment Link: https://memberdeals.com/memberdiscounts/?login=1
The hotel discount program provides NAFLEO with "best-in-class corporate rates for over 150,000 worldwide hotels and a whole lot more."
- Exclusive corporate hotel rates nowhere else available -Averaging 26% below publicly available pricing
- Thousands of hotels & resorts available across the globe from every major brand
- Simple, intuitive search and filter tools for fast and efficient booking
- Free expense management tools - save time, reduce risk, and streamline process
- Team building & user management - track your travelers & stays all in one place
- Free mobile app downloads for all users - book on the go, wherever life takes you
- Free cancellation at tens of thousands of hotels and 24/7 U.S. customer support
Entertainment Discounts Program:
Entertainment Benefits provides exclusive discounts, special offers and access to preferred seating and tickets to top attractions, theme parks, shows, sporting events, movie tickets and much more not available to the public.
Program Includes:
- Top Theme Parks Nationwide
- Movie Tickets Nationwide
- Top Las Vegas & New York Broadway Show Tickets
- Great Savings on Disney & Universal Studios Tickets
- Also Save up to 25% on major Rental Cars LEGAL SERVICES
Regarding legal services, some of the agency members had asked if there was any way to explore obtaining legal services. I had contacted a number of national legal service groups. All but one (Legal Shield) wanted monthly fees up front from each member and agency. The other legal groups wanted payment throughout the year, whether the services were used or not.
I contacted Legal Shield's corporate office, explained the prestige, membership, and uniqueness of the NAFLEO, and a deal was reached.
Legal Shield, which is a nationwide legal service company, agreed to provide large discounted legal assistance rates to members who elect to avail themselves of the services. There are no monthly fees until used. There are no costs to the agency or other members. The discounted fees apply only to the member that utilizes the service. This makes sense.
The legal site for NAFLEO is listed below:
http://www.legalshield.com/info/nationalassociation
The rates members will receive are:
Family legal only 15.95 monthly
Family id shield only 12.95 monthly
Combo plan family. 28.90 monthly
(Never been married)
Individual legal only 14.95 monthly
Individual ids. Only. 8.45. Monthly
Individual combo 23.40 monthly
The rates that nonmembers would pay:
Legal family one price. 24.95 monthly
Ids family 24.95 monthly
Ids individual 9.95 monthly
As you can see there is a considerable difference. Also the $10 Enrollment fee is waived by getting through the association. These rates are also guaranteed we've never raise the rate on existing customer in the history of our company.
Rob Vest is our exclusive contact for Legal & ID Shield. He can be reached at 703-945-3988 or [email protected] . Mr. Vest provided the following verbiage regarding the services which I have listed below:
"Legal Shield can provide you with protection of your legal rights, security for your families, and peace of mind, knowing that you have access to an experienced law firm. In addition, you are protected from Identity Theft, which is the fastest growing crime in America.
For a low monthly fee, you and your family can have access to legal services to cover your most common legal needs. Also your family will be protected again Identity Theft possibly saving you thousands of dollars & hundreds of hours of worry.
We all face legal issues on almost a daily basis and the barriers of cost, confusion, and trust limit the access to the legal help we need.
Legal Shield removes the barriers & employers its members by giving them uncomplicated & affordable access to the legal assistance they need to protect themselves & their families.
Identity theft has been one off the top consumer complaints filed w the FTC for 16 years straight. Victims are spending an exorbitant amount of time & money dealing with it.
ID Shield protects the identities of more than one million families. Protection is our business, so you can trust us to keep you & your family safe. Please see the website link below for more information on all plans. You can sign up right on the site for the rates built exclusively for our members if interested."
There are some other indicatives that we are working on, but will update on those as they develop. The purpose of these updates to make sure that all information, decisions, and notifications are related to all members of CGIA. This transparency will allow ever member to see the direction that CGIA is heading and allow for an equal vote on issues that affect the association.
