The LEIU General Chairman’s Award was presented to Mr. John Gordnier at the 2009 Awards Banquet at the Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Mr. Gordnier has been a long-time friend and advisor to the LEIU Executive Board, many of its members, and to other law enforcement entities around the nation. He has advised us on issues ranging from changes in the Code of Federal Regulations to our published criminal intelligence file guidelines. Mr. Gordnier recently volunteered his time and undertook researching, drafting, and finalizing a document relating to law enforcement intelligence guidelines as it applies to 1st Amendment demonstrations and constitutional freedoms. With input from members of the Executive Board, this document will soon be disseminated to the LEIU membership. Many of you may have also attended his workshops on legal issues in criminal intelligence at our annual conferences. In October 1972 he became a Deputy Attorney General in the Criminal Law Division of the California Attorney General's Office. When the Special Prosecutions Unit was created to handle organized crime cases in 1979, Mr. Gordnier was one of the attorneys assigned to a team consisting of an attorney and two special agents. In 1983 he was named the Senior Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Special Prosecutions Unit, a position he held until the Unit was disbanded in 1991. During his tenure in the Special Prosecutions Unit, Mr. Gordnier not only prosecuted cases and supervised prosecutions by the unit he also was responsible for the creation and enactment of several laws, including those penalizing money laundering, allowing for asset forfeiture, and permitting prosecution under a state RICO provision. From 1998 until his retirement in 2007, Mr. Gordnier was assigned to act as the attorney for the California Department of Justice's intelligence systems, serve as the legal advisor to the CalGANG intelligence system and teach intelligence law for both basic level and executive level courses sponsored by the Attorney General's Advanced Training Center. Since retiring from public service, Mr. Gordnier has acted as a consultant and instructor on criminal intelligence law. Please join the LEIU Executive Board in expressing our thanks to Mr. Gordnier for his significant support, wise counsel, and professional and personal assistance. It is through friends like him that allow us to be leaders in the criminal intelligence community.