Lessons and Hurdles

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by Adam Gaby, PCI #1362T-B/EMSCI #299T-B
Five Rivers MetroParks (OH) Ranger Division
IPMBA Board Member (Curriculum Development)

Back in 2006, I played only a small part in the IPMBA Conference that was held in Dayton, Ohio, but I saw how much fun – and how much work – it was. About twelve years later, Dayton Police Department decided they would like to host another conference – the 30th, which would take place in 2020. Sgt. Gordon Cairns of Dayton Police contacted me and asked if me and my agency would co-host the conference, along with the University of Dayton Police Department. After gaining the support of my agency, I got down to business with Sgt. Cairns, Jeff Brown (Dayton Police), and Eric Roth (UD Police).

We started to plan the conference in 2018 and attended the 2019 conference in Fort Worth, Texas, to observe the behind-the-scenes workings. I was the lead instructor for the PESC II Course, so my ability to shadow the host agency was limited.

In August 2019, the City of Dayton experienced a horrible tragedy when a gunman opened fire, killing nine people and wounding several others. This occurred in the Oregon District, which is the entertainment district and was therefore crowded on that late Saturday/early Sunday.

Thankfully, Dayton officers were in the area and were able to take down the shooter very quickly. After that event, the police in the entire area were heroes, as many agencies from the area responded to the shooting and rendered aid to those who had been shot. By this time, we had begun soliciting support from local businesses, and it came flooding in.

Fast forward seven months to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the great lockdown. Many people started to work from home, and many businesses lost their employees. People stopped going out, businesses started to feel the pinch of less money coming in, and many closed their doors forever.

In May of 2020, the view of police across the country changed. When George Floyd was killed, we were no longer seen as heroes. We became the oppressors and the enemy. COVID continued, protests broke out across the country, and along with just about everything else, the 2020 IPMBA Conference was cancelled. The co-hosts and IPMBA agreed to keep everything in place and hold the 30th IPMBA Conference in 2021 instead.

Twelve months later, COVID was still going strong and still a problem to the point that once again, the conference had to be cancelled. The co-hosts and IPMBA again agreed to keep everything in place and hope for a miracle in 2022. Thankfully, COVID became more manageable, and preparations for the 2022 Conference went into full production.

In February 2022, the IPMBA Board traveled to Dayton for their winter board meeting and conference planning visit. I was approached by several board members about a vacant board position that they needed to fill. This was a big decision and I wanted to think on it. Two nights later, we were out to dinner with the board and my wife had come along. Little did I know that the board members conspired with my wife to guide me into accepting the appointment to the open board position. Hence, I found myself not only a member of the host agency committee, but also a member of the governing board.

For the next four months, we worked frantically to pull the conference together. We began contacting the local businesses that had pledged to support the conference, but many either did not respond or no longer wished to support the police. Luckily, we had some tenacious Dayton officers who were up to the challenge of finding other businesses to support the conference.

With one huge hurdle overcome, we now faced another: the lack of human-power, both from the co-hosting agencies and the surrounding agencies that had originally pledged their assistance. We had no choice but to ask more of the few we had, including myself. I now found myself serving as host agency co-chair, host liaison/co-instructor for the PESC II, and newly appointed board member. And I had already agreed to present, along with Trent Roach (also of Five Rivers MetroParks Ranger Division), our workshop, Mastering Stairs and Steep Descents.

This was on top of my daily duties as the Community Resource Officer and working the road when coverage was short. I have never felt pulled in so many different directions. During the week prior to and the week of the conference, I submitted 158 hours to my agency. This was not the true amount of time that I put into working those two weeks.

During the conference, I attended board meetings, served as liaison for and helped teach the PESC II course, taught my conference workshop, assisted with all kinds of issues, helped Jeff Brown (Dayton Police) design and construct the competition course, drove photographer Deanna Flaugher (Five Rivers MetroParks) around to get shots of the classes, parade, and other activities, and “other duties as assigned”.

I have been told by my wife that I have a hard time saying “no” to people who ask for my help, and this experience really proved that. I am glad that I got to co-host a conference, and I am glad that I have gotten the privilege of joining the IPMBA Board, but if I had to do it all again, I would have not done it all at once!

Adam is the Community Resource Officer for Five Rivers MetroParks Ranger Division in Dayton. He has been a bike officer for more than 15 years. He is an IPMBA Instructor, Instructor-Trainer, maintenance officer, instructor for PESCII, and an avid mountain biker. With hundreds of miles of hiking trails, paved trails and mountain biking trails, Adam spends a lot of time patrolling on bike. He was appointed to the IPMBA Board in 2022 and is currently overseeing curriculum development projects. He can be reached at Adam.Gaby@metroparks.org.

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