May 2010 Letter from the President

May 2010

Greetings and welcome to our Women Police of Alaska webpage!  It is hard to believe that we are already into May of 2010 with our annual membership meeting this month at the Alaska Peace Officers Association annual crime conference in Fairbanks, AK.

So far this year in 2010, we have had an enjoyable social dinner get-together at the Brewhouse in Anchorage in January, we set up a booth at the Hanshew Middle School career fair in April, we donated money towards  the expenses of the Law Enforcement Memorial Picnic held at the Anchorage Police Department prior to the Police Memorial Week Ceremony at the DPS buildings in Anchorage, and our Vice-President, Kris Sell, is working on a mentorship program for women recruits from all agencies attending the DPS academy in Sitka, AK.

Most of our funding for our activities comes from dues paid by our members.  I recently sent out a dues reminder for those of you who, like me, have been too busy to think about one more thing they have to do!  Your membership and support of the Women Police of Alaska will help our organization continue to provide increasing networking opportunities for our members, to provide educational scholarships to residents of the State of Alaska enrolled in higher education in a relevant law enforcement course of study, as well as law enforcement mentoring and other WPA activities.
Speaking of scholarships, don’t forget that WPA has a scholarship program and applications are currently being accepted for the 2010 – 2011 school year.  The deadline for applications is June 15, 2010, and you may print off an application at the “Scholarship” link.  Last year we awarded two $1,000 scholarships thanks to a generous matching contribution from ProComm of Alaska, the authorized Motorola dealer for Alaska.

In other news, a big thank you goes out to Officer Alex Wells of the Fairbanks Police Department.  For several years, we have been trying to get an authentic Fairbanks Police Department badge to place on Peggy Sullivan’s uniform shirt displayed at the FOAST Trooper Museum in the Women in Alaska Policing exhibit.  Alex recently made a trip to Anchorage in April and brought down a badge for the uniform –but not any badge – it was Peggy’s actual badge with her badge number #321.  The badge is now proudly on display in the exhibit.  Another mentionable about Alex – she designed the Women Police of Alaska our Alaskana mountains, northern lights, Big Dipper, forget-me-not logo at the top of this page!

And another former WPA member made history – retired Anchorage Police Department Lieutenant Marilyn Bailey, retired, again –  this time from her job as a backgrounds investigator for the APD.  She was honored by a spread in the Anchorage Daily news about her stellar and storied career as one of the trailblazers of women in law enforcement in Alaska.  If you missed it, her story can still be viewed at http://community.adn.com/adn/node/146817#ixzz0nHhIN1ES.
And last, but not least, welcome to our newest member, Tracy O’Malley of the Dillingham Police Department!

If you have any newsworthy items of interest for our members, announcements, achievements, etc., please e-mail that information to Angella Long at angella.long@womenpoliceofalaska.org or me, Michele Logan, at michele.logan@womenpoliceofalaska.org.  As always, you can stay abreast of what goes on at our scheduled meetings if you are unable to attend by clicking on the link to “Meeting Minutes.”

Until next time, stay safe!

Your President,
Michele Logan