By Yvonne Alexander
Assistant Superintendet of Police
Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force
IAWP 2008 Recognition and Scholarship Award Winner
All the preparation for my trip to Darwin, Australia where I was to receive this prestigious Award really did not prepare me for the reality of the moment.
As part of my preparations, I had the good fortune to email Mrs. Ann Duncan, our Regional Coordinator to obtain some basic information about what to expect since this was going to be my first IAWP Conference. Scholarship Chair and Co-Chair Linda and Cindy also kept in constant touch to ensure preparations were going according to plan. With the help of Ann, Linda and Cindy I felt I had a fair idea of what to expect.
The reality was beyond my wildest expectations, from the Official Opening Ceremony and Parade of Nations to the Gala Dinner and all the other educational and social activities that were part of the event. I left Australia truly enriched. As I indicated to my Commissioner of Police on returning home, this was the single largest conference I had attended in my over 30 years career and the experience was as overwhelming as it was rewarding. Undoubtedly an experience of a lifetime.
Mere words really do not adequately express the tremendous sense of pleasure that I feel to have been afforded the opportunity to be part of this truly wonderful experience. Meeting and interacting with so many like minded individuals and hearing women in leadership positions from police agencies across the world will for me be one of the greatest sources of inspiration and motivation I have encountered in my career.
I found the event to be a tremendous source of learning I was particularly excited about the four main areas of focus for the training workshops all of which I found to be extremely relevant. I was often torn between some of the sessions that were conducted concurrently. I however attended as many of the ones that I considered beneficial to my personal needs as well as that of my organization and intend to share the learning gleaned with my colleagues locally and regionally.
To say that I have been inspired is an understatement. I am still very excited about the experience and I am pregnant with ideas for increasing the understanding and awareness of the roles of women in law enforcement and criminal justice both locally – in my country and regionally – with the Caribbean Association of Women Police. I have already established the initial contact to allow for this to happen and will be happy to share our plans with the IAWP as they unfold.
As I indicated in my acceptance remarks, this achievement reinforces my conviction that no matter whom we are as individuals in terms of our region of birth, physical features economic standing and other similar extraneous and often superfluous characterizations that we sometimes use to categorize each other, ultimately with the right combination of faith and belief in the Creator, confidence in self, determination, hard work, perseverance, and other similar traits, we CAN succeed.
I met some truly wonderful women with whom I intend to keep in touch. Let me encourage all of us to continue the networking so that we can be sources of motivation and inspiration to each other.
I feel extremely blessed and empowered to continue to strive for excellence and indeed to assist in whatever way possible to improve the lot of the most unfortunate in our midst of which women and children make up a very large percentage.
My heartfelt thanks to the International Association of Women Police for providing me with this opportunity of a lifetime and to the Scholarship Committee for your vote of confidence in me.
Thanks Commissioner Paul White, Conference Coordinators and other personnel of the Northern Territory Police Force for being such gracious hosts.
Thanks Motorola – the event could not have been a success without your sponsorship.
Thanks to everyone who attended – we have all contributed to the success of Darwin 2008. God-speed and see you all in Seattle.
