Women Police of Alaska

President’s Corner

November 2009

Welcome to our Women Police of Alaska webpage! I am writing you from my balcony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico near Telchac Puerto, Yucatan in Mexico. Not to rub it in, but winter is here, and I for one try to enjoy an October/November respite every year to warm up my bones one last time in anticipation of the coming months. It is my hope as 2009 comes to a close that each of you had a healthy and productive year.

In a few weeks I will be mailing out reminders for membership dues renewals for 2010. Along with your renewal, I will be asking you to share any stories, promotions or recognition from 2009 for yourself or other women you work with in law enforcement in Alaska so that I may recognize them on this website and in the Region 9 news for the International Association of Women Police magazine.

I occasionally talk to past WPA members or prospective members who say they do not maintain current membership or join WPA because they do not have the time to participate or make scheduled meetings. Believe me, I know what it means to have too much on your proverbial plate! However, I cannot stress enough that we understand both the time obligations and the geographical difficulties that are unique to our state and will not hold lack of time or meeting attendance against you! The primary purpose of this website is just for that reason - to help keep you abreast of what goes on within our organization and at our scheduled meetings, even if you are unable to attend for whatever reason (see “Meeting Minutes”). And those annual dues? Well, they go a long way toward helping us fund our programs, particularly our scholarship program.

For the past two years, Women Police of Alaska has awarded two (2) $1,000 college scholarships to applicants who have expressed an interest in pursuing a course of study in a field of law enforcement. The WPA scholarship program is a shared effort with ProComm of Alaska which generously contributes half of the total scholarship money we award. You can read more about our 2009-2010 scholarship recipients, Kelsey Waldorf of Anchor Point and Annette Dyankanoff of Ketchikan, and about our scholarship program in general under the “Scholarships” link.

Speaking of college…on October 22, 2009, the Women Police of Alaska sponsored a Law Enforcement Career Fair at the University of Alaska Anchorage in partnership with the Alaska State Troopers, the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police and the UAA Justice Center. All prospective candidates were welcome, but the emphasis was on recruiting women into law enforcement careers. Agencies who participated in the event by sending personnel to staff booths included the US Marshals Service, the FBI, DEA, Alaska State Troopers, Anchorage Airport Police and Fire, Fairbanks PD, North Slope DPS, Sand Point PD, Seward PD and the Department of Corrections. According to Barbara Armstrong of the UAA Justice Center, the career fair was such a success, they would like to make it an annual event. You can check out photos and a story from the career fair at the UAA Justice Center blog for October 24, 2009 at the following website: http://uaajusticecenter.blogspot.com/2009_10_25_archive.html.

Our next WPA meeting is Wednesday, December 2, 2009 in Anchorage during the APSC Executive Development Conference. It will be held at 11:30 am at the China Lights Restaurant on the Old Seward Hwy, just a stone’s throw from the Dimond Center Hotel where the conference is being held.

If you have any newsworthy items for our members, announcements, achievements, etc., please e-mail that information to Angella Long at angella.long@womenpoliceofalaska.org. Any questions or concerns about Women Police of Alaska may be directed to me, Michele Logan, at mlogan@womenpoliceofalaska.org. Until next time, stay safe!

Adios, Vaya Con Dios y Feliz Navidad!

Your President,

Michele Logan