Conferences are the Glue that Binds

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by Allan Howard, PCI #001T
Dayton (OH) Police Department (ret.)

Photo: The "Old Guard": Stu Bracken, Gary Gallinot, Kirby Beck, Allan Howard, Gary McLaughlin, Joe Martin, Andy MacLellan, Tom Woods

As I sit here reminiscing about our organization’s history, I realize that the conferences are the glue that binds it all together. Memories of the last few are fresh in my mind, but the further back we go, the more help I need from those who were also there. Memory is a funny thing; some things get jumbled up or forgotten altogether, yet some things remain clear as a bell, frozen in time, if you will. I certainly remember the fun, the pranks, and the camaraderie, but mostly I remember the excitement of being around so many others who also served their communities on bikes.

It is absolutely true that public safety personnel who ride bicycles are more deeply engrained in their communities and more connected to the people who live there. The one-on-one, face-to-face connections are more personal and meaningful than exchanges through the rolled-down window of a car. Having served in a variety of assignments during my career, I attended a lot of training. None of those training classes or organizations has ever come close to the level of detail and quality that IPMBA offers; the primary reason for that is the people.

People in our line of work are good judges of character. In the beginning, the instant I met my contemporaries, I could tell they were more interested in the greater good than they were of their own station. It is no coincidence that I get that same feeling when I’m around current IPMBA members, Board members, and the Executive Director.

In difficult social times, it is important to surround ourselves with those who are equally willing to think of others first. No one can watch themselves as effectively as their brother or sister can, because as onlookers, they can see 360 degrees, whereas an individual can only see danger approaching from the front or sides. IPMBA binds us together by virtue of the special way we do our jobs.

Our co-workers who work from motor vehicles can never fully understand the depth of our vulnerability when we’ve threaded ourselves into places they can’t go, sometimes where it is more dangerous because of isolation. For that reason, we have to stick together to share our combined knowledge and resources. As the events that provide the setting for this sharing, the conferences are the glue that bind us together.

For me, the year 2020 will be remembered as the year without an IPMBA Conference, but 2021 will be upon us before you know it. So instead of regaling you with “stories” of past conferences, I submit to you, that for me, the “people” are what I remember most fondly.

Don’t let the opportunity to be part of something you’ll remember to the very end pass you by; together we are bigger and stronger than any of us as individuals could ever be. Be careful and mind your brothers’ and sisters’ sixes; no one else will.

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