Personal Profile: NCPSO/CWA President Chris McGill

April 20, 2005

Chris McGill has been NCPSO/CWA President for the past year, during which time the CWA public safety division has grown significantly. "We have just seen the recent affiliation of the Seattle Police Officers Guild and the Salt Lake County deputies' union," McGill said in a recent interview, "and this growth shows that NCPSO/CWA is a viable option for public safety officers throughout the country." Chris has been a long-time police union member and leader – since joining the El Paso (TX) Police Department in 1983, he became active with the El Paso Municipal Police Officers Association in 1987; and since that time has served as a Board Director, Secretary, and his current position of President. Prior to his service with the Police Department, he served for 5 years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

McGill's union credentials extend far beyond the local association level. He has been active in CLEAT (formerly NCPSO/CWA Local 6911), serving first as a Regional Director on the CLEAT Executive Board and then in his current position of Vice-President. He is also a regional Vice-President in NAPO.
He is a graduate of both the Harvard Trade Union program and Police Union Executive Leadership Program at Michigan State University. He has also attended the University of Maryland and University of Texas at El Paso. McGill is married to Christa , who is a private attorney in El Paso.

"It is exciting to have the opportunity to build a strong public safety organization in CWA," McGill said. "The good thing about the public safety-CWA linkage is that in every community, there is always a strong presence of CWA members – telecommunications, airlines, newspapers, television camera operators, other public workers, so our law enforcement officers have allies that they can work with on labor-management issues."