4.2. SR 02-17-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Because Bowe was buried in Anoka I was given the task of coordinating the wake, which was at St. Stephen's, and the burial, at an Anoka cemetery. This involved preparation for over 3,000 people who were at the wake, and the expected 7,200 people who would attend the funeral the next day. Logistically I located parking, worked with local businesses to provide parking during the burial as there were over 700 squad cars in the procession, and lined up bus service to accommodate the misplaced business people. We also attended to comfort issues such as portable bathrooms, water, aid stations as well as needs for horse units, l(-9's and news representatives. This experience, although so very tragic in nature, was the greatest lesson in emergency planning I have ever had. The factors involved included communications, aviation, traffic concerns and well as the large number of people involved. The funeral went without a hitch and the end result gave all involved a feeling that we had done our best for a fellow officer who had paid the ultimate sacrifice. This year I have been given the assignment of coordinating the services held at the State Capitol on May 15th at the Police Officer's Memorial Site. We have a parade of honor guards which comes from downtown St. Paul to the memorial. This is followed by music, guest speakers and tributes to all the fallen officers. Last year was the first time we hosted a reception afterwards at the St. Paul Armory in conjunction with MPPOA. I am working with MPPOA to host a reception again this year. Details will be coming out to all officers in the Police Journal. I am also participating in the presentation of a standardized Line of Duty Death Procedure for the Minnesota Chief's of Police Association. This procedure was presented to the Sheriff's Association at their Winter Conference and was very well received. Other volunteer experiences involve being an active member of the Sandburg Middle School Parent Advisory Board and being appointed by the School Board to the Anoka Hennepin Site Based Decision Making Management Advisory Board. The later involved review of cases brought to the board in which individual sites had questions or concerns over site decisions. My role, as one of two parents on the board, was to help evaluate the decisions to make certain they were made in the best interest of the site, and not in violation of anyone's personal rights or a student's best interests. In all, the combination of my volunteer experience has been diverse and has involved some very tenacious and large projects. I strongly feel that it is an important element of my experience and believe it has given me a good understanding of not only community relations, but management of personnel and resources as well.