Greetings and welcome to our Women Police of Alaska webpage! As I write this column at the beginning of August, I can hardly believe that the summer of 2009 is already drawing to a close!
We had our annual picnic and membership meeting on Saturday, August 1 at Rae Arno’s Wildwood Farm in Wasilla. The weather this year could not have been better for an outdoor gathering. Thank you to Rae and Susan for sharing your home with us once again.
If you were unable to make to the General Membership meeting or the summer picnic, photos have been posted under the “Photos” link and the minutes from those meetings under the “Minutes” link. Because of the geographical distances between our members, if you cannot be present at meetings, it is my hope this website becomes a regular way for all of us to keep up with the activities of our association.
The results of the biennial elections held this past spring were: President – Michele Logan (that would be me), a Detective in the Financial Crimes Unit of the Anchorage Police Department; Vice President – Kris Sell, a Lieutenant with the Juneau Police Department currently supervising the dispatch section; Secretary – Sherrie Daigle, the Chief Investigator for the State of Alaska Workers’ Compensation Fraud investigation Section; and Treasurer – Rae Arno, retired from the Alaska State Troopers and the Treasurer for WPA since inception in 1997.
The four board members at large are Lana Grist, Probation Officer with Anchorage Probations; Andrea Jacobson, Investigator in the Computer and Financial Crimes Unit of the Alaska Bureau of Investigation (AST); Angella Long, Investigator with the Office of Professional Standards (DPS); and Tara Tippett, Lieutenant currently supervising Patrol at the Fairbanks Police Department.
Between our General Membership meeting in Soldotna on June 1 during the Alaska Peace Officers Association Kenai Crime Conference and our annual summer picnic meeting, all the officers and board members were sworn in and are ready to serve the membership and law enforcement in Alaska.
Our Scholarship committee (Rae Arno, Lana Grist, Gary Peters and Wanda Phillips) recently selected two $1,000 scholarship recipients from the pool of applicants. Half of the scholarship amounts awarded will be paid from the WPA general fund, and half from a generous donation from ProComm of Alaska. Congratulations to Kelsey Waldorf of Anchor Point and Annette Dyakanoff of Ketchikan. You can read more about the scholarships and find an application for the 2010-2011 scholarship under the “Scholarships” link.
Our next regularly scheduled meeting will be during the 2009 Executive Development Conference in Anchorage during the first week of December. Please check the link “Meetings and Events” for the exact time and location as December draws closer. If you have any ideas for projects, fundraising or mentoring for the association, please contact me or one of the board members. Links to board members’ e-mail are can be found under the “Officers” link.
Enjoy the rest of the summer and stay safe!
Your President
Michele Logan