News

November 2013
Welcome to the Women Police of Alaska webpage! I regret the delay in updating our website, but the fabulous Alaska summer of 2013 got in the way! Nonetheless, your Women Police of Alaska organization has been busy since my last update in February 2013.

To begin the year, we had our biennial elections in April.  The officers elected to a two-year term from 2013 to 2015 are as follows:  President:  Michele Logan, Vice-President: Kris Sell, Secretary:  Julie-Dee Sharkey, Treasurer:  Rae Arno, and Board Members:  Kelly Alzaharna, Maxine Andrews, Sherrie Daigle, and Andrea Jacobson.

In May, we had our first of two annual General Membership meetings at Froso’s in Soldotna during the APOA Crime Conference week.  We had a great showing and an all-around fabulous time.  See photos of the meeting and the swearing-in of the new officers in our PHOTO GALLERY.

In June, we had our annual WPA Summer Picnic at Rae Arno’s Wildwood Farm in Wasilla.  We had several members make it in from Fairbanks and points beyond.  And as was keeping with our summer in general this year, we had fantasic weather, great food, fun and fellowship. See the photos in our PHOTO GALLERY.

We inducted our fourth all-time Life Member into the Women Police of Alaska at our June picnic.  Angella Long, a long time Board Member of the WPA since just about our inception as an organization, and a committee member of the 1998 IAWP Anchorage conference undertaking, was recognized for her contributions to WPA with a Life Membership.  Angella recently retired (we’ll see how long that holds up) from the Alaska Department of Public Safety Professional Standards, and before that as Chief of Police of Wasilla PD.  A wonderful and storied law enforcement career here in Alaska by all accounts.  Congratulations Angella!

We rounded out the fourth quarter of 2013 with the 5th Annual Women in Law Enforcement Recruitment Fair at the University of Alaska Anchorage on October 4, 2013, partnering with the Alaska State Troopers, the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police and the UAA Justice Center.  The 2013 fair was a our biggest fair yet, despite the absence of several federal law enforcement agencies due to the federal shut down in early October 2013. A photo blog of the 2013 fair can be found at the following link, courtesy of Barbara Armstrong of the UAA Justice Center:
http://uaajusticecenter.blogspot.com/2013/10/5th-annual-women-in-law-enforcement.html.

To wrap up 2103, we have our second biannual general membership meeting of the year on December 4, 2103 during the APSC Executive Development Conference in Anchorage.  Dave and Betsy Smith of the Winning Mind seminars, and friends and favorites of law enforcement here in Alaska will be the featured trainers at this year’s conference.

See our MEETINGS and EVENTS tab to get the most up-to-date meeting place and time for our general membership meeting.  I hope to see you on December 4th!

Stay Safe!

Your President,
Michele Logan

Welcome to the Women Police of Alaska webpage! I hope 2013 is going well for each of you. I tried to get this update sent out in January, but the next thing I knew, it was February! I’m sure many of you can relate!

We rounded out the fourth quarter of 2012 with the 4th Annual Women in Law Enforcement Recruitment Fair at the University of Alaska Anchorage, October 24, 2012, partnering with the Alaska State Troopers, the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police and the UAA Justice Center.  The 2012 was a success and a blog, courtesy of Barbara Armstrong of the UAA Justice Center, can be found at:  http://uaajusticecenter.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-look-back-at-2012-women-in-law.html.

In conjunction with the Women in Law Enforcement Career week, WPA member Kelly Alzaharna, who also happens to be the Director of the Alaska Police Standards Council –APSC-(Alaska’s “POST”), was able to facilitate bringing the training class “Career and Tactical Survival for Women” to Anchorage with renowned trainer Betsy Brantner-Smith on October 25, 2012.  Over 60 women AND men attended the training and WPA provided refreshments for the class.

Closing out the year, we had our second biannual general membership meeting of the year in December during the APSC Executive Development Conference.

In other news, in September 2012, one of our members, Gwen Grimes, an officer with the North Slope Borough Police Department, was featured in an Officer.com article about challenges with clothing and gear used by patrol officers in climates ranging “From Balmy to Bitter Cold”.  You guessed it – Gwen’s part was about the bitter cold!  You can read the informative article at: http://www.officer.com/article/10773520/from-balmy-to-bitter-cold.

And lastly, 2013 is a biennial election year for WPA.  All positions on the Board of Directors will be up for election or re-election. The offices of President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and four Board members at large will be on the ballot.  Angella Long and Pat Liss have graciously volunteered to be the nominating committee and seek nominations for the ballots to be sent out in April in advance of our next biannual general membership meeting at the 2013 APOA Crime Conference which will be held in Kenai May 20-24 this year.

Best wishes to you all for a SAFE and prosperous 2013!

Your President
Michele Logan

October is in full swing and so are the activities of Women Police of Alaska.

First, our scholarship committee consisting of Maxine Andrews, Sarah Hieb, Andrea Jacobson and Julie-Dee Sharkey, has awarded a $1,000 scholarship for the 2012-2013 school year to Regan Fitzgerald of Anchorage.  Congratulations to Regan!  And thank you again to our members in Juneau who worked on the WPA Silent Auction in Juneau in May during the 2012 Alaska Peace Officers Association Training Conference to raise money for the scholarship fund.

The 4th Annual Women in Law Enforcement Recruitment Fair has been scheduled and will be held at the University of Alaska – Anchorage on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 from 11:00 AM until 6:00 PM.  We help plan, sponsor and attend this annual career fair with the UAA Justice Center, the Alaska State Troopers, and the Alaska Associations of Chiefs of Police.  See the advertisement flyer under Police Recruiting Event.

Our next meeting will be our biannual membership meeting in Anchorage on Wednesday, December 5, 2012 during the APSC Executive Development Conference.  We will have a lunch meeting at our usual location of China Lights 9220 Old Seward Hwy which is conveniently located near the Dimond Center Hotel, the location of the conference.

If you have any newsworthy items for our members, announcements, achievements, etc., or any questions or concerns about Women Police of Alaska, please e-mail that information to me, Michele Logan.

Be sure to check back to this website from time to time for updates and new happenings.  In the meantime, stay safe!

Your President
Michele Logan

The annual Alaska Peace Officers Association 2012 Crime Conference, sponsored by the Capital City Chapter, was held in Juneau, Alaska May 21-25, 2012.  Kudos go out to the Capital City Chapter members, several who are Women Police of Alaska members, including Kris Sell, Kelly Magee, Sarah Hieb, Sherrie Daigle, Kim Horn, Kelly Alzaharna, and others, for a successful, fun and fantastic week of excellent training and networking activities.  We even managed to get one of Juneau’s 38 days a year of bright, clear sunshine during the five day conference!

We had our annual WPA General membership meeting during the APOA conference on Monday, May 21.  We had a terrific turnout for the meeting with 18 members and would-be-members attending.  The minutes from that meeting will be posted under the link for Meeting Minutes.  We also had a successful silent auction at the conference benefiting our WPA scholarship fund.  The final numbers are not yet in, but it appears we made approximately $1,500 which will be put towards our scholarships in the future.  We are currently accepting scholarship applications for the 2012-2013 academic year through June 15.

Congratulations are in order for WPA member Kelly Alzaharna who was appointed in June 2012 to be the Executive Director of the Alaska Police Standards Council (APSC), the State of Alaska’s version of what most states call their law enforcement “POST”.  Kelly was appointed as the APSC Training Coordinator in May of 2011, then acting Executive Director.  Kelly’s background includes 25 years of law enforcement experience, and when she retired in 2011, she was the Police Chief of the North Slope Borough Police Department in Barrow, Alaska.  Of particular note, Kelly is the first woman to be appointed Executive Director of APSC in the history of Alaska.  Congratulations, Kelly!

I also want to send out a special thank you and recognition to WPA member, Cheryl Gilmour, a CSO with the Alaska Bureau of Judicial Services in Barrow, Alaska.  Cheryl has been coordinating with a female officer from Scotland who will be traveling to Alaska in June on a trip of a lifetime. Cheryl has been helping Elizabeth Porch, a Police Sergeant with Grampian Police in Aberdeen , Scotland , UK with her activities in Barrow which will include polar bear viewing and a meet and greet with North Slope Borough PD.  I hope to meet with Elizabeth when she passes through Anchorage.

And finally, save the date!  The 4th Annual Women in Law Enforcement Recruitment Fair has been scheduled and will be held at the University of Alaska – Anchorage on Wednesday, October 24, 2012.  More details will be forthcoming as we plan this event with the UAA Justice Center and the Alaska State Troopers.

Our next definitely planned meeting will be our biannual membership meeting in Anchorage during the APSC Executive Development Conference in December 2012. Be sure to check back to this website from time to time for updates and new happenings. In the meantime, have a great summer and stay safe!

Your President
Michele Logan

Well, spring is here – which may be hard to believe if you look outside!

But certainly by our next General Membership meeting on May 21, 2012 in Juneau at the Alaska Peace Officers Association Crime Conference, spring will be in the air!  We will provide a catered lunch for our meeting that day; the exact location will be announced.  For details and to sign up for the 2012 APOA Crime Conference sponsored by the Capital City Chapter, go to the APOA website at www.apoaonline.org.

We are going to have a silent auction fundraiser for our scholarship fund at the Crime Conference on Thursday, May 24.  I am looking for donations of items to be auctioned.  The last time we had an auction at the Juneau conference, thanks to the hard work of our members in Juneau, we raised over $1,200 for our WPA scholarships.  If you will not be able to attend the conference in Juneau, but have items to donate, please contact me at michele.logan@womenpoliceofalaska.org and I will arrange to pick up your item(s) and get them to Juneau.  Also, please contact me if you have suggestions for donations that I can follow up on.

May is also Police Memorial Month and once again, Women Police of Alaska, along with Anchorage Police Department Employees Association, APOA – Anchorage Chapter, FOAST and the Alaska Public Safety Employees Association, has donated money to the Police Memorial Picnic on the west lawn of APD in advance of the Anchorage ceremony on May 11, 2012.

We are still working to obtain a charitable gaming permit, and from the last indication, we are planning to partner with the UAA Justice Center, the Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police to have our 4th consecutive Women in Law Enforcement Career Fair at the University of Alaska Anchorage this fall.  Details will be provided when they are available.

In the meantime, stay safe, keep looking for spring, and I hope to see you at our General Membership meeting in beautiful Juneau, Alaska!

Your President
Michele Logan

We are headed full steam ahead into Winter 2011-2012 here in Alaska.  In advance of the winter season, we sponsored a very successful Women in Law Enforcement Career Fair at the University of Alaska Anchorage Student Union on October 5, 2011. This was our 3rd consecutive year sponsoring the career fair in partnership with the Alaska State Troopers, the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police and the UAA Justice Center.  This year we had fourteen booths representing local, state and federal law enforcement agencies across the state of Alaska.  The crowds were steady all day with men, as well as women, students and the general public.  See our photo collage on our webpage link for Police Recruiting Event.  Photos from the 2011 career fair are courtesy of Barbara Armstrong of the UAA Justice Center who was very instrumental in making this year’s Women in Law Enforcement Career Fair a success.

As we near the end of 2011, I would like to hear from those of you who have news about promotions, job transfers, retirements, etc. so I can update the membership either through this newsletter, or in some cases, an e-mail blast.  You will be receiving membership dues renewals in December where you can also update your address and e-mail information. You can send me news and information anytime to michele.logan@womenpoliceofalaska.org.

Our next membership meeting will be a luncheon at China Lights Buffet Restaurant at 9220 Old Seward on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 in Anchorage.  This meeting is during the week of the APSC Executive Conference at the Dimond Center Hotel in Anchorage.  Mark your calendars December 7; I hope to see as many of you there who can make it!

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of 2011 and stay safe!

Your President
Michele Logan

Welcome to our Women Police of Alaska webpage!  As we enter the second half of summer, I hope yours has been a good one! Speaking of summer, our annual WPA summer picnic is Saturday, July 23, 2011 at Rae Arno’s Wildwood Farm in Wasilla. See the “Meetings and Events” link for details.  Thank you to Rae and Susan for sharing your home with us once again.

We had a great turnout at our Annual General Membership meeting at the Glacier Brewhouse during the 2011 Alaska Peace Officers Association Crime Conference in Anchorage on May 16. If you were unable to make to the General Membership meeting, the minutes from the meeting are posted 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 announced at the annual meeting and are as follows: President – Michele Logan (that would be me), Detective in the Financial Crimes Unit of the Anchorage Police Department; Vice President – Kris Sell, Lieutenant with the Juneau Police Department; 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 elected at large are Maxine Andrews, background investigator for the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police; Andrea Jacobson, Investigator in the Financial Crimes Unit of the Alaska Bureau of Investigation (AST); Angella Long, Investigator with the Office of Professional Standards (DPS); and Tara Tippett, recently retired Lieutenant from the Fairbanks Police Department.

Speaking of retirements, in other member news, our Past-President, Laurie Burkmire, also recently retired from chief of the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Police and Fire Department. As well, Kelly Alzaharna, has taken a position with the Alaska Peace Standards Council after retiring as chief of the North Slope Borough Police Department.  She is currently the acting Executive Director filling the spot vacated by WPA member Terry Vrabec, who was recently appointed to Deputy Commissioner of the State of Alaska Department of Public Safety.  Congratulations to all. If I have missed any news, be sure to send it to me at michele.logan@womenpoliceofalaska.org.

In other news, the 2011 UAA Women in Law Enforcement recruitment fair has been set for Wednesday, October 5, 2011 in the Student Union at University of Alaska Anchorage.  This will be our third year to sponsor the recruitment fair with the Alaska State Troopers.  Also, WPA Board member Andrea Jacobson and I continue to work on the application for a gaming permit for WPA to increase our options for fund-raising and opportunities to fund more programs, including scholarships.  More details will be coming soon.

In the meantime, I hope to see you at the July picnic.  Enjoy the rest of the summer and stay safe!

Your President
Michele Logan

Thank you to those of you who have called to remind me that I needed to update the WPA webpage!  I updated this letter in December 2010, and the next thing you know it is May!  Where does the time go?  I’m sure you all know what I mean….

Part of my current whirlwind is due to another hat that I wear – that of President of the Anchorage Chapter of the Alaska Peace Officers Association and Chair of the 2011 APOA Crime Conference in Anchorage May 16-20.  As is customary, not to mention specified in our By-Laws, we will have our annual meeting during the crime conference on May 16, 2011 from 11:30 to 1:00 at the Glacier Brewhouse, 737 W. 5th Ave in Anchorage.  I hope to see many of you there – I see a complimentary crème brulee in your future!

If you cannot attend the entire crime conference, a one day class you may want to consider is the Career and Tactical Survival for Women Officers that is part of the Winning Mind Seminars® and will be taught by long time Caliber Press Street Survival® instructor, Betsy Brantner-Smith.  Registration for the class, or the entire conference, may be done on the link at www.apoaonline.org.

2011 ELECTION OF OFFICERS:
Our most pressing current business is our biennial election of officers. In order to save money, I will be sending out the ballots electronically to your e-mail.  If you have recently changed your e-mail or for some other reason do not get a ballot, please contact me at michele.logan@womenpoliceofalaska.org.

Ballots will be sent out the first part of May so that we may install the officers at our annual meeting.

Here are some of the things we are doing at WPA:

HANSHEW CRIMINOLOGY FAIR
I recently presented a program during the Hanshew Middle School Criminology Fair to the middle school students in Anchorage.  We have been fortunate in the past couple of years to be able to participate in such programs as well as law enforcement recruiting fairs, including the now annual Women in Law Enforcement recruiting fair at the University of Alaska Anchorage, which we are in the early stages of planning for the first week in October 2011.  We encourage all our members to participate in such events in their communities and then send me a note and/or some photographs so I can recognize your efforts.

CHARITABLE GAMING PERMIT:
Board member Andrea Jacobson and I are currently working on the laundry list of requirements by the State of Alaska to obtain a charitable gaming permit for the Women Police of Alaska.  Jack Powers, the owner and operator of Tudor Road Bingo in Anchorage has graciously agreed to play our permit when we obtain it. Andrea and I actually went to Tudor Bingo one evening at the end of December and played bingo and other games (a first for both of us!) and had an enjoyable time.  Jack runs a tight ship and fun and caring operation and is not among those less-than-stellar charitable gaming operators who occasionally receive bad press and shed a bad light on charitable gaming operators.  We hope to have all the requirements and paperwork submitted in the next few weeks so that we can begin to share in the proceeds and help bolster our ability to provide mentoring programs, scholarships and training for our members.

I hope to see you at our Annual Membership Meeting in Anchorage May 16!

Well, I can hardly believe that 2010 is already drawing to a close!  Here is wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and safe and prosperous New Year from your Women Police of Alaska board!

Speaking of the New Year and the WPA board, with 2011 comes the biennial elections of the offices of President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and four Board members at large. I will be soliciting nominations for the board in the next couple of months, so stay tuned!

Since my last offering in August, we tried something new for our annual summer get-together by co-promoting the Law Enforcement Appreciation picnic in Sterling, AK sponsored by APSC, FBINAA, APOA and WPA.  A few of us did manage to make it down to the Kenai Peninsula for a very wet, but enjoyable, picnic.  At least the picnic was not totally flooded out like in 2009! Several of us stayed overnight at the Apsen Hotel in Soldotna and had an enjoyable weekend get-away.

In October, Women Police of Alaska again sponsored the UAA Women in Law Enforcement Recruitment Fair at the UAA Student Union in Anchorage.  In association with the Alaska State Troopers, the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police and the UAA Justice Center, we continue to work to make this a successful annual event.  This year we even made a few radio commercial spots, and I did an interview promoting the career fair and highlighting the Women Police of Alaska.  The interview was played on several Clear Channel radio stations across the state.  I never heard it myself, but have been told by several people that it wasn’t half bad!  Mostly they said they immediately recognized my voice before they realized what the story was…now what does that mean?!  Where was my WPA Journalism and Public Communications major Vice President, Kris Sell, in my time of need?!  (answer:  in Juneau)

But seriously, thank you to all the Anchorage area members who took turns “wo-manning” our WPA booth – Maxine Andrews, Ruth Adolf, Susan Cusack, Mary Jo Herrett, Tiffani Loughman and Andrea Jacobson. They enthusiastically and tirelessly fielded questions about law enforcement opportunities in general to the UAA students and other citizens interested in the prospect of a career in law enforcement.

I have not received a lot of news and updates on promotion, retirement and movement of members in the past few months, with the exception of Cheryl Gilmour who bravely changed posts to the Top of the World as a Court Services Officer (CSO) with AST in Barrow earlier this year.  She sent us a wonderful postcard of a polar bear photograph she took which is posted in the “Photos” link.  Also, FBI Special Agent Mary Jo Herrett is transferring from Anchorage to the Minneapolis field office this month.  Best wishes, Mary Jo and thank you for helping out at our career fairs over the past couple of years.

And sadly, 2010 saw the passing of long time International Association of Women Police (IAWP) member and former Women Police of Alaska historian, Kathleen Gray Warren, on October 10, 2010.  Kathy was retired from the Anchorage Police Department, but hardly slowed down in her community involvement and volunteer activities here in Anchorage in the years following her retirement.  If you browse the “Photos” link on our website, you will catch glimpses of Kathy involved with Women Police as far back as 1985.  A more fitting memorial for Kathy and her wonderful and storied life may be found at the following link: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/adn/obituary.aspx?n=a-gray-warren&pid=145942941.        Rest in peace, Kathy.

And last, but not least, we are all sorrowed at the senseless loss of Hoonah Officers Matthew Tokuoka and Sergeant Anthony Wallace on August 29, 2010. I want to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts of our very own WPA Vice-President, Kris Sell, Lieutenant, Juneau Police Department, for her unselfish and unparalleled efforts in aiding the citizens of Hoonah in the immediate aftermath, and then with the families of Matthew and Anthony, and law enforcement agencies across the state to come together to grieve and remember.  In the words of one close observer in Juneau:

“Just want you to know what an outstanding woman Lt. Kris Sell is – she stayed up all night putting together the SWAT team from JPD and their transportation to assist the poor dispatcher in Hoonah who was trying to save her chief, reserve officer and AWT Trooper…she was the tip of the spear taking care of officer’s families, travel arrangements, funeral coordination, Vigil coordination and Supervision once the remains returned to Juneau, the procession, Media releases, our CISM team, the tactical response coordination from JPD, her job as telecommunications supervisor at JPD, memorial fund-raiser t-shirt design and sales and anything else that needed doing.   She was everywhere at once – sometimes twice.  I don’t think she slept for 2 days… we will never be able to repay what she did for the law enforcement community and her town.”

But we can say, “Thank you, Kris.”

Once again, best wishes to you all for a Merry Christmas and safe and prosperous 2011!

Your President
Michele Logan

Welcome to our Women Police of Alaska webpage!  As we enter the month of August on that downhill slide (although some would question whether summer ever arrived), I hope your summer has been a good one!

Before summer officially ends, we want to have one more get-together opportunity for our members.   We will not be having our customary annual picnic this summer at Rae Arno’s Wildwood Farm in Wasilla due to some schedule conflicts, but I would like to encourage WPA members to attend the Law Enforcement BBQ in Sterling, AK on Saturday, August 28, 2010.  This is the third year this event has been put together by WPA member Terry Vrabec at APSC, and it is co-hosted by the following law enforcement professional associations:  Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police, Alaska Peace Officer Association, FBI National Academy and the Women Police of Alaska.  Lots of food, activities, networking and overnight camping – all for free – are included. I have already RSVP’d for our group.  If you are looking for a ride down, contact me at michele.logan@womenpoliceofalaska.org.
You can find a brochure for the event at this link and you can click here for the MapQuest directions.

We had a good turnout at our General Membership meeting and luncheon on May 10, 2010 at the Westmark Hotel in Fairbanks during the annual APOA Crime Conference. If you were unable to make to the General Membership meeting, 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.

We have received applications for our scholarship and after review by our scholarship committee, we will be announcing the winner(s) in a couple of weeks.   Half of the scholarship amounts awarded will be paid from WPA funds, and half from a generous donation from ProComm of Alaska.  You can read more about the WPA scholarship program under the “Scholarships” link.

Board member Andrea Jacobson and I continue to work on the application for a gaming permit for WPA to increase our options for fund-raising and opportunities to fund more programs, including scholarships.  More to come later.

Our next regularly scheduled bi-annual meeting will be during the 2010 Executive Law Enforcement Conference in Anchorage on Wednesday, December 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