Dear I.A.P.E. Member,

The primary goal of I.A.P.E. is to provide professional property management training to the law enforcement community throughout the United States, and in other countries with a need and interest. To illustrate the dedication shown in this effort, let me tell you about a recent I.A.P.E. class, the first property and evidence management training class ever held in Wisilla, Alaska.

This class was another first, too. It was the first time that your Executive Director had taught a class with the outside temperature hovering at about 28 degrees below zero! Talk about dedication, but it did keep people from stretching out those break periods. I thought it was really cold for those few days, but the Wisillans reported that the week before we arrived the temperatures had actually dropped to 50 below zero. They claimed that their weather was normally much better in February, sometimes getting up as high as freezing. Thanks again to the generous and warm (if you can say that at 28 below) hospitality of Angie Gast and the Alaska State Troopers of Palmer, Alaska. They hosted a great event, but they can't claim credit for one high point of the training session. The memory of a 1,200-pound moose strolling around the parking lot will definitely stay with me for a long time.

It should be noted that there were several nay-sayers last year, who didn't think the training was needed in a place like Wisilla - but that was quickly disproved as we enrolled participants to the maximum class size of fifty, with eleven more remaining on a waiting list. We will be back, Alaska, but it definitely will be during a warmer month.

Shortly after the Alaska class, we journeyed to Huntsville, Texas, where I.A.P.E. presented two back-to-back training classes at Sam Houston State University. Our special thanks to sponsor Gene Blair and the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas.

While attending that class I learned of one of the most unusual property room locations in the United States. How's your trivia knowledge? In what municipal police department would you be working if your property office and property room were in different states from each other, your detective bureau was in a different state from most of the other police offices, and your booking office and jail were in different states from each other? Welcome to Texarkana, a place where not only the city straddles the Texas and Arkansas state boundary, so does the police building! Thanks to Gary Adams, Police Chief of Texarkana, Texas, for enlightening us.

After leaving Huntsville, we traveled to Monterey, California, to participate in the California Association for Property and Evidence, Inc. (CAPE) 10th Annual Training Conference. It was truly a success, with almost 300-property room professionals, including supervisors, managers and chiefs, spending four-days learning the latest in property and evidence management. Congratulation to Nancy Ely, Menlo Park (CA) Police Department, upon her re-election as C.A.P.E. President. Be watching for details.

Also at the conference, I.A.P.E.'s newest Board Member, Lori Tate, was honored as the C.A.P.E. Property Officer of the Year. The late Robin Trench, I.A.P.E. founder, was remembered at the conference as having founded C.A.P.E. a number of years earlier. It is truly great to see the outstanding relationship now existing between our state and international professional organizations.

Last but not least, another child has been born. Not a baby, but a new life which also needs to be nurtured and nourished to grow into maturity. Janina Wresh, Hennepin County Sheriff's Department, Maple Grove (MN), has announced the formation of the nation's newest property officer association: the Minnesota Association for Property/Evidence Technicians (M.A.P.E.T.). As property professionals, we welcome this further step toward professional property and evidence management across this great country!

Sincerely,