The Wake We Leave

by Allan Howard, PCI #001

Founding Member, Former President

As I sit here at my desk this May morning, there is a new IPMBA Executive Director and her name is Catherine Roper.  She came to us via a rigorous search and selection process by the IPMBA Board of Directors and an outside search agency.  Based on what I know at this point, I believe they made the best choice for the future of our organization. 

No position in IPMBA has ever been more important than Executive Director. 

We’ve been lucky to have had some stalwart board and committee members who have literally been a part of our evolution and success.  But, none of them, including myself, were ever 100% responsible for making the great ideas into a reality, every work day of the week, every week of the year.  That responsibility has always fallen to the Executive Director.  Most specifically, to Maureen Becker, who has been running our beloved organization for nearly 25 years.  Because she would never do it, I’ll list just some of what she accomplished with and for our members. 

None of these were solo efforts, but she was instrumental in bringing them all to fruition.

• Completed the transition from the Police Cyclist Instructor Development (PCID) Course to the Instructor Course in 2000.
• In 2003, debuted the Intermediate Police Cyclist Course, which was renamed the IPMBA Public Safety Cyclist II Course in 2005 when it was expanded to include EMS and security personnel, and later changed to PESC II Course.
• In 2003, applied for and was awarded a grant to have students from the Towson University Department of Electronic Media & Film create a promotional video.  Recruited participants, wrote the script, and participated in the film sessions.  The end product is “IPMBA: An Invitation to Join”, highlighting the benefits of membership.
• Expanded the organization to welcome security personnel with the launch of the Security Cyclist Course in 2004.
• Authored model bicycle patrol policies for the National Law Enforcement Policy Center of the International Association of Chiefs of Police in 2004 and updated them in 2014.
• Supported the development of public safety cycling in the UK by arranging to offer both the Police Cyclist Course and the Instructor Course in the UK and participating in five consecutive 999 Emergency Services Cycling Seminars (2003-2007).
• Transformed the Complete Guide to Police Cycling, First Edition, into the Complete Guide to Public Safety Cycling, Second Edition, in 2007, and published the Complete Guide, Third Edition, in 2022.
• Overhauled and modernized the Police, EMS, and Security Cyclist Course curricula, moving them from paper binders and overhead projector slides to PDFs and PowerPoints contained within an Instructor ToolKit (ITK), in 2008. Updated all of the material to reflect the changes to the Complete Guide in 2023.
• In 2009, partnered with the Niagara Regional Police Service Video Unit and the Ontario Video Training Alliance to produce the 23-minute Fundamental Skills for Public Safety Cycling video, which earned the Law Enforcement Video Alliance Award of Distinction and Gold Shield Award (First Place – Technical/Safety) and secured Mocean Uniforms as major sponsor.  The video was released in 2010.
• In 2013, applied for and was awarded a grant to have students from the Towson University Department of Electronic Media & Film create a promotional video.  Recruited participants, wrote the script, and participated in the film sessions.  The end product is “IPMBA Promotes Public Safety Cycling”, a video highlighting the benefits of bike operations and IPMBA training.
• Created a resource-rich new website in 2014, to include an online instructor search database, a training calendar, and a wealth of information to support the efforts of all public safety cyclists, and updates it regularly.
• Developed the Bicycle Response Team Training curriculum (lecture outlines, PowerPoints, skill stations, tests, etc.) in 2009 and the BRT Instructor Development Component in 2015.
• Updated and revamped the Instructor Course curriculum (lecture outlines, PowerPoints, skill stations, tests, etc.) in 2012 and again in 2023, after updating the Complete Guide and the ITK.
• Created the Allan Howard Award for Excellence in 2019.
• Developed and launched the E-Bike Training Module in 2020.
• Survived the human and economic devastation wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Offered the first Instructor Course in Canada, in 2023.
• Organized 21 successful conferences.
• ·Guided, supported, and laid the foundation for the transition to the third Executive Director of the independent IPMBA.

What I’d like for everyone to remember most out of all that is two things. 

1.  Maureen guided us to becoming our own entity after we separated from the League of American Wheelmen (as they were called then, now the League of American Bicyclists).

2.  Maureen is, at this very moment, involved in the transition process with our new Executive Director, Catherine Roper.

The reasons I feel these two things are the most significant in a long career are two-fold. 

The transition to IPMBA being a stand-alone organization without the financial support of the LAW/LAB was a gutsy and game-winning move (mind you, we will always be indebted to them).  It worked because Maureen took up the mantle from Jennifer (who was bold and courageous enough to launch us into the unknown) and made it work. 

Others might have thrown in the towel and quit or at the very least, gone back to the LAW, hoping to be reabsorbed.  But, she didn’t do either of those things.  Because of that, we are a successful and viable organization that provides life-saving training to those of us who work in this very unique career field.

Maureen’s work right now during this transition is just another example of how she feels about IPMBA.  Like a parent sending their child to college, she’s vested in the future because of her nearly 25 of service to this organization.  Instead of saying “Thanks for the memories”, her passion and attention to detail won’t allow her to do anything but give her all until the very last moment.  No one, and I mean no one, has been as significant to IPMBA than Maureen Becker.  For that, we all owe her a debt of thanks.

If our new Executive Director, Catherine Roper, is as successful as Maureen, the sky is the absolute limit.  I wish both of them continued health and success and look forward to this new chapter in IPMBA’s history.

(c) 2024 IPMBA.  This article appeared in the 2024 Product Guide issue of IPMBA News. 

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