Wendi Jobe Shackelford, B.A. Justice, '94, played on the UAA women's basketball team and received the 1993 award for most improved. She also received the Dresser Cup for having the highest GPA of any student athlete, male or female. Her undergraduate years at UAA, though, were just a warm up for the years of achievement that have followed.
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Most improved and highest
GPA among student athletes |
After graduating, Shackelford joined the Anchorage Police Department, becoming the fifth generation in her family to enter law enforcement. Her father, maternal grandfather, maternal great grandfather and maternal great, great grandfather have all been police officers. She was one of the first dozen School Resource Officers to go into the Anchorage School District schools, stationed at Chugiak High School from May 2003 to June 2013. She was also among the first patrol officers to be trained in crisis response and supported the development of APD's Crisis Intervention Team (CIT).
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| Nearing retirement at APD |
CIT is a collaborative approach, employing partnerships between law enforcement, the community, mental health providers, individuals with mental illness, their family, and advocates to address the needs of persons with mental illness in a way that emphasizes treatment for nuisance crimes, rather than jail.
From 2001 to 2013, Shackelford served as coordinator of APD's Crisis Intervention Team in addition to her duties as a patrol officer. In 2013, after showing her superiors that CIT coordination was a full-time job, the position of full-time coordinator was created and she held it until her retirement in 2015.
In 2005, Shackelford received the APD officer of the quarter. She also became a YWCA Woman of Distinction that year, the first police officer to be recognized. In 2008, the APD CIT, under Shackelford's coordination, received the Governor's Award recognizing a civic organization that has done the most to improve the potential of people with disabilities.
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| Shackelford with current APD CIT Coordinator Ruth Adolf |
Shackelford is now back at UAA, where she's become a member of the Center for Human Development (CHD) Alaska Training Cooperative. She continues to use her knowledge and experience to train law enforcement, emergency, and medical first responders in crisis intervention as well as mental health first aid. She is helping to provide the training for a new CIT Coalition in Mat-Su Borough.(See
Fall 2017 Alaska Justice Forum) as well as serving as coordinator of Youth Mental Health First Aid training.
And, since July 2016, Shackelford has held a public seat on the executive board of the Alaska Police Standards Council. She is confirmed by the Alaska Legislature to serve through 2021.
