Category: Letters from the President

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

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

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

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

April 2009 President’s Corner

Greetings and welcome to our Women Police of Alaska webpage. It is hard to believe that not only is 2008 behind us, we are already four months into 2009!

First, I want to take this opportunity to recognize the achievements of some of our WPA members in 2008 that have been made known to me:

Long time WPA member Kelly Alzaharna was promoted to Chief of Police of the North Slope Borough PD headquartered in Barrow, Alaska;

WPA Secretary Sherrie Daigle accepted a position as Chief Investigator for the State of Alaska Workers’ Compensation Fraud Investigation Section. She is in charge of the workers’ compensation fraud investigators in their offices in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks;

Kim Krausher found her way back to the Mainland from St. Thomas, USVI in 2008 after being promoted to Group Supervisor of the DEA Seattle Division Intelligence Group (which includes Alaska). She oversees eight analysts whose work on all aspects of drug cases including pharmaceuticals and precursor chemicals;

Michelle Bucher, Anchorage Police Department, was promoted from sergeant/supervisor of the Financial Crimes Unit to Lieutenant of the Detective Team 2. She is the commander of the Special Victims Unit, Crimes Against Children Unit, Vice Units, and Cyber Crimes Unit;

Anchorage Police Department Detective Jackie Conn was selected as the APD 2008 Detective of the Year by the APD Employee Recognition Board for her work in the Theft Unit, the organization of a successful and highly popular monthly Southcentral Retailer’s meeting, and her work as the investigator of animal abuse cases for the Municipality of Anchorage;

Retired Alaska State Trooper and WPA Treasurer Rae Arno published her book entitled “ Anchorage Place Names”;

WPA Board Member Maxine Andrews was selected as the 2008 Member of the Year for the Anchorage Chapter of the Alaska Peace Officers Association for her work in the association as chapter treasurer;

Life Member Shirley Gifford was appointed out of retirement (we knew it wouldn’t last forever) in December 2008 to be Director of the State of Alaska Alcohol, Beverage Control Board by Governor Sarah Palin.

Congratulations to all!

It is election time again (every two years) and all the officers and Board of Directors are up for election: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and four (4) board members. Ballots will be sent out during the first week of May – a little later than usual this year as our annual membership meeting is being held later in the year at the 2009 APOA Crime Conference in Kenai, Alaska on June 1, 2009. See the link to “Meetings and Events” for continuing updates on this and other meetings and events of interest to our members.

The International Association of Women Police international training conference will be held in our own District 9 this September in Seattle, Washington. The dates are September 20 – 24, 2009 and the Westin Seattle Hotel is the training venue and hotel. Beth Lavin of the King County Sheriff’s department and her conference committee have been working hard for over two years to put together an excellent conference – not to mention it is being held in one of the favorite cities Lower 48 that we Alaskans like to respite to! Please visit the conference link at http://www.iawp.us/ and seriously consider making plans to attend. I hope to see a strong contingent from WPA and Alaska attend the conference in support of our District 9 sisters in Seattle.

Don’t forget that WPA has a scholarship program and applications are currently being accepted for the 2009 – 2010 school year. You may print off an application at the “Scholarship” link. Last year we awarded two $1,000 scholarships in partnership with ProComm of Alaska, the authorized Motorola dealer for Alaska.

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. Any questions or concerns about Women Police of Alaska may be directed to 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

October 2008 President’s Corner

Greetings and welcome to our Women Police of Alaska webpage! I hope to make this a quarterly, or at least a semi-yearly, update of what our organization is doing, and to recognize the achievements of our members and women in law enforcement in Alaska. Of course, you can always keep abreast of what goes on at our scheduled meetings if you are unable to attend due to work obligations or the geographic constraints we have to contend with here in our great State of Alaska by clicking on the link to “Meeting Minutes.”

In 2008, Women Police of Alaska raised over $1,200 towards our programs, primarily our scholarship program, thanks to the efforts of our Juneau members who conducted a WPA-sponsored silent auction at the APOA Crime Conference in Juneau in May of 2008. Our scholarship committee voted to award two (2) $1,000 scholarships for the 2008-2009 school year. The WPA scholarship program is a shared effort with ProComm of Alaska which generously contributes half of the scholarship money we award. You can read more about our 2008-2009 scholarship recipients and about our scholarship program under the “Scholarship” link.

Our next WPA meeting is December 3, 2008 in Anchorage during the 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. I should mention here that we attempted to have a WPA meeting on Thursday, October 23, 2008 in Juneau, but had to cancel it due to weather – yes, nasty Juneau weather – which also canceled my scheduled landing into our state capital. After overflying Juneau, Alaska Airlines proceeded to kick me off the flight in Petersburg (charming town, by the way) and told me I could wait until the next day to “tentatively” try to fly back to Juneau. I opted instead for the reliable 8-hour Alaska Marine Hwy ferry ride which left Petersburg at 2:15 am and got me into Juneau at 10:30 am Friday so I could complete my business there. My quick hour and a half flight to Juneau turned into a 24-hour adventure. It was truly a “southeast Alaska” experience!

For me, the Juneau trip also underscored the geographical challenges we have as an Alaska organization in keeping our members in touch, and more importantly, keeping our organization relevant for our members. That is why I believe this website is an important key to keeping us connected. If you have any newsworthy items for our members, announcements, achievements, etc., please e-mail that information to Angella Long at Any questions or concerns about Women Police of Alaska may be directed to me, Michele Logan, at

And last but not least, we were all saddened at the recent passing of one of our long time WPA members and ardent supporter of all law enforcement, Herb Shaindlin. Our sincere condolences go out to his wife, Jean, also a WPA member, and his entire family.

Until next time, stay safe!

Your President,

Michele Logan