police world Edition 3 2013

Vol 58 No.3 2013

The magazine of the International Police Association, Section UK www.ipa-uk.org

News from the National Council Meeting Turn to pages 4-8

World Seminar for Young Police Officers Turn to pages 16-17

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Mail Order: To order a polo shirt, hoodie or jacket visit: http://ipauk.stitchandprintstore.co.uk/home For all other items visit: www.ipa-uk.org/Shop - and click the ebay link. Items can be ordered by writing to IPA, BSAC, Arthur Troop House, 1 Fox Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 6AJ with a cheque made payable to ‘IPA’. Payment can also be made via a PAYPAL account.

IPA Section UK Clothing Range is Now Available to Order Section UK have created their own clothing store currently selling polo shirts, hoodies and jackets.

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All products are sold with the IPA Section UK logo and can also be personalised. The current product range can be viewed below and will increase in the near future.

Polo Shirt £14 + P&P

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Colour variations available

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Police World The magazine of the International Police Association, Section UK

Contents Vol 58 No.3 2013

Editor Lee Hemmings e-mail: lee.hemmings@ipa-uk.org Deadline for article submission for edition 4 is 19 August, 2013. Dispatched early October, 2013. Advertising Michele Rai tel: (+44) 0115 981 3638 e-mail: mail@ipa-uk.org General enquiries IPA, BSAC, Arthur Troop House, 1 Fox Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham. NG2 6AJ tel: (+44) 0115 981 3638 fax: (+44) 0115 981 3349 e-mail: mail@ipa-uk.org

Features 4-5 Working on Your Behalf News from the National Executive 6-8 NCM Diary

Secretary General Dave Taylor summarises the main events that took place at the National Council Meeting.

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8 IPA - WPFG Bronze Partner Mark Kernohan gives an update on how plans for the Games are progressing 9 Twinning is a Winning Combination Phillip Powell explains how twinning has proved to be a successful initiative 10 The Great Train Adventure

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Printed by Bishops Printers, Walton Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 1TR Membership In Section UK, the membership comprises serving and retired Police Officers, Special Constables and members of Police Staff employed by a Chief Constable or other appropriately designated Chief Officer of the Police Service. The Section has a unique mixture of police personnel who are still serving, retired, or in some instances, who have voluntarily resigned from the police service.* *For details of who can join Section UK, go to www.ipa-uk.org/Join-Us Joining the IPA costs just £35 and annual renewal is £28. Visit the website to learn about our promotional offers. To apply either visit www.ipa-uk.org or request an application form from the general enquiries team. A guide to Region numbers 1 - Scotland 2 - Northern Ireland 3 - Northern England 4 - Wales 5 - Midlands 6 - Central London 7 - South West England 8 - East Anglia 9 - North West London, Beds & Herts 10 - North East London & Essex 11 - South London & South East England

Staffordshire branch members recall memories from an historic robbery

11 Faroese First for Police Scotland

Members from the Faroe Islands visit Edinburgh for a long weekend 12 Faversham One of Kent’s Best Mick Abbott reports on a tour of one of Britain’s oldest breweries 13 Firsts at Gimborn Two members review their first Gimborn seminar experiences 14 IPA Ski Week Austria 2013 15 South East Essex Visit the Somme Twelve members travelled to France for a memorable battlefields tour 16 World Seminar for Young Police Officers Goes Down Under Alex Jones tells of his experiences as he represented Section UK in Australia News 18 – 26 National News A round up of the news from Section UK 28 International News International diary dates and more Skiing enthusiast Cornelius O’Donovan shares his experience of this annual event

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31 Diary dates

Branch and regional events and dates How do you rate this edition of Police World? What would you improve? What did we get right? What would you have done differently? Send your review to: lee.hemmings@ipa-uk.org Police World is a members' publication. Every effort is made to ensure accuracy. Furthermore, the views expressed in articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Communications Team. If you have any comments,

please contact the Editor: lee.hemmings@ipa-uk.org

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An Update from the NEC

Working on your behalf National President, Tom Crozier, updates members on news from the National Council Meeting.

T he Section UK National Council You will have already received notification of some of the outcomes of the Section’s principal business meeting through items previously published on the website and the monthly updates circulated by our staff at Nottingham. The most significant outcome of the NCM was the decisive vote in favour of extending membership of IPA to include Police Staff. This and the other proposals are described in more detail in the separate update included on pages 6 and 7. Suffice to say that this issue has been on our agenda for the best part of 20 years without achieving a resolution. I am delighted that Council has now given its overwhelming support, and that now brings the matter to a conclusion. In this article I want to summarise the progress made since I last reported on the main threads of our strategy. In brief what our agreed headline strategy aims to achieve is financial viability and growth in membership. Everything that we do on the National Executive should be guided by these clear objectives. Finance I have to start with an apology. At the NCM 2012 in Cardiff, Fred Boyd the National Treasurer reported that we had operated at a significant deficit of over £9,000 in 2011. The NEC gave an undertaking that we would achieve a balanced budget for 2012. That was not realised, and the end of year accounts again show a deficit, albeit much reduced, of £1,200. I would like to add some context to the budget outcome this year and indeed recent years. You only need to go back 5 or 6 years to when our reserve was attracting 10% interest, adding about £30,000 annually to the coffers. Currently we are attracting only £4,000 per annum interest. Furthermore, for the first time we agreed to pay a guaranteed fixed levy of 12.5% to Regions from 2012. In March 2012 over £30,000 was given back to Regions. Compare that to recent years where Regions have received very much less and on occasion nothing at all! The simple arithmetic suggests that to achieve a balanced budget we have to Meeting (NCM) was held a few short weeks ago at the Palace Hotel, Torquay.

scale back on our spending to the tune of £45 - £55,000 compared to six years ago. As you would expect we have had to review how we spend your money in our efforts to reconcile expenditure against our projected income. A great deal of effort has been expended in identifying and achieving many small savings and also others that are relatively significant. Examples are: £6,000 reduction in Police World costs through reduced paper weight that also reduces postage and through some hard negotiation with various printers a considerable reduction in publication costs. These savings will have no impact on quality, page numbers per edition or editions per annum! The most significant saving has been a reduction of circa £14,000 on staff wages. This has been achieved by moving to a four day week and not having the office staffed on Fridays. All of our staff are to be commended for their positive involvement and cooperation during this review of staff requirements. We have now been operating a four day week for These savings have not been achieved without a great deal of effort and cooperation. Fred Boyd and Michele deserve our thanks as do the other members of the Staffing Group, Mick Luke and Dave Taylor, and of course our staff at Fox Road. While still on the theme of finance I can report that we are not only focussing on cost savings. Vice President Ronnie Dukes has been asked to look for potential sources of income generation. To that end Ronnie is more than three months without any expressions of concern from members.

fortunate to have her as a guest at the NCM at Torquay where Ronnie had the opportunity to learn from her success. Ronnie is also developing other ideas for income generation and I am sure that we will soon all be benefitting from the products of his efforts. Dave Taylor has just completed his first year as Secretary General. Soon after Dave came to the NEC it was agreed that there was a need to streamline the management and oversight of our staff. Dave now has sole responsibility for the day to day management of staff. Given his wider responsibilities to our staff he quickly identified the deficit that exists in our collective expertise around HR and employment legislation. A low cost remedy has been to engage a firm of employment specialists on a retainer basis. This is a real value for money initiative that provides an initial ‘health check’ around existing contracts and working conditions. More than that, it also provides us with legal protection and legal advice that effectively ensures that neither the Association nor our elected members will ever suffer financial liability. So you will recognise that this measure is also aligned to our objective of achieving and sustaining financial viability in the longer term.

currently reviewing all aspects of our webshop. He identified that Section Netherlands with a membership

of 7,000 has an average annual turnover of about 20,000 Euros compared to our average turnover of less that £2,500. It is the

recently appointed President of Section Netherlands, Johanna

Schotanus who developed the Dutch webshop over the last five years, and we were

Johanna Schotanus, President Section Netherlands and Tom Crozier, President Section UK

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Police World Vol 58 No.3 2013

Article

Secretary General Dave Taylor has sole responsibility for management of staff

Vice President Mick Luke - his draft strategy was circulated to Regions

Vice President Mark Kernohan Lead on the WPFG

Growing our Membership I now turn my attention to growing our

We also sponsored Alex Jones from 4 Region who recently attended the second International Young Officers Seminar in Australia. You will have no doubt seen the recent articles on the Web News detailing the professional exchange opportunity for two uniformed members to travel to Krakow in July. This is as a result of the annual professional exchange programme that we have recently confirmed with IPA Poland. I am sure this will prove both popular and a success. Once we are assured that the programme is a success we are determined to expand the programme to include other member Sections. In summary what I consider the positive advances of last year or so are: ■ Aligning NEC Business to Principal Objectives ■ Significant Cost Savings ■ Income Generation Opportunities ■ Growth in Special Interest Groups ■ Measure of Deregulation ■ Established a Formal Professional Exchange Programme ■ Opening up Membership to the Wider Police Family None of the above takes account of another success – re-establishing Section UK at the heart of IPA internationally. Within two years of UK setting up the Northern European Forum (NEF) which is an alliance of Northern European Sections, four of the five Northern European Forum candidates for International Office were elected at the World Congress last September. The result being that there is a whole new dynamic in the Permanent Executive Bureau, whose ambitions are now much more closely aligned to our own.

to the view that if we can find even one thing that can act as a hook we will be much better placed to recruit and retain many members. SIGs can provide a greater variety of organised activities and opportunities to participate. It is extremely pleasing to report that we currently have five SIGs and at least one more in the supporting SIGs in foundation. Mark provides both practical and financial support in the early stages, ensuring that appropriate structures and processes are in place and that the Group gets off to the best possible start. If you need more information on how to go about establishing a Special Interest Group simply contact Mark at: vpkernohan@ipa-uk.org I have previously mentioned that I believe that as a friendship organisation we tend to be over regulated. To my mind, some rules have had a negative impact on member activity and have at times been a cause of upset to otherwise loyal and hardworking grassroots members. I had specifically mentioned what I consider to be the unnecessarily restrictive publicity policy. Mark recently took over responsibility for the Communications Team and after reviewing policies Mark too concluded that elements of both the Charity and Publicity Directives placed unnecessary restrictions on members. Delegates to the most recent NCM unanimously agreed with Mark and voted to dispense with the Charity Directive and the restrictive elements of the Publicity Directive. Mark is also our lead on what is probably the most significant IPA International event for many years. IPA is a major sponsor of the World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) to be held at Belfast this August. It is expected that this event will attract around 9,000 police and fire officers and brand IPA will be very much to the fore. Mark chairs the working party overseeing IPA involvement at the event reporting direct to the Permanent Executive Bureau. You can read more about the WPFG on page 8. I am keen to ensure that opportunities to represent UK will also be given to our Region members. Last year we had three members travel to Poland for different events. In September Steve Bretherton represented UK at the Polish National Council Meeting, Cas Smith another member from 8 Region spoke at a fraud conference and Fife member Bruce Bennet undertook a professional exchange in November. offing. Two years ago we only had two. Mark Kernohan is the VP responsible for

membership. It is not sufficient to have the singular ambition of growth, we have to have a product that is sufficiently attractive to retain existing members as well as recruit new members. I suspect that the recent change to our membership rules will not produce immediate dividends in terms of recruitment. We will now have to actively market the IPA to Police Staff. However from my point of view recruitment was not the overriding imperative in pursuing the widening of our membership. For me it was more about equality and showing respect for our brothers and sisters in arms. Police Staff will be one consideration amongst many for VP Mick Luke. I tasked Mick with building a framework strategy that will cross cut the issues of recruitment and retention. Mick led on a Recruitment and Retention workshop at the Chairs’ meeting at Torquay. He also gave a presentation to the full conference as part of his consultation. He has distributed his draft strategy and a variety of proposed work streams. It is absolutely essential that our members and particularly the elected members who were at Torquay engage with this process if we are to achieve anything meaningful. It was pleasing to note that delegates from 9 Region responded to the challenge within days of the NCM and are providing Mick with promotional materials that will be further developed with the appointed publicity officers. We need every interested member to put time out to read and consider Mick’s draft strategy and provide feedback on the critical issues of recruitment and retention. It is not the case that we will be sitting on our hands awaiting the outcome of Mick’s consultation and future recommendations. In the meantime life for IPA goes on. I have already mentioned Publicity Officers. This is an initiative that came from the

Communications Team. There is already evidence of improved recruitment in the branches and regions that have active publicity officers. However while we have in excess of 50 branches there are currently only 19 Publicity Officers. Could your Branch benefit from the appointment of a Publicity Officer? Another initiative that has proved effective in recruiting is the Special Interest Groups (SIGs). I am inclined

Ian Tyers giving a presentation on the Triathlon Group (SIG)

Police World Vol 58 No.3 2013

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A Word from the President

NCM Diary The National Council Meeting 2013 w s held at the Palace Hotel, Torquay - hosted by 7 Region - over the weekend of 10 - 11 May. Secretary General Dave Taylor summarises the main events that took place.

times during the course of Andy’s mother’s final illness when Andy still put the interests of other members before his own very personal circumstances. Finally Tom referred to two separate incidents over a three year period that might have been damaging to the reputation of IPA that Andy was instrumental in managing and resolving on our behalf. One incident might literally have been a life and death situation but for Andy’s intervention and involved the son of a foreign member who had suffered a breakdown while studying in the UK. Yvonne is an Arthur Troop Scholarship winner. detection in the United States. Thanks to the IPA scholarship she is now one of the most highly qualified officers in this field in the UK. For that reason Yvonne has been the subject of more than 40 newspaper, radio and TV interviews as well as giving numerous professional police presentations at home and abroad. Yvonne never fails to acknowledge the part that IPA played in her gaining her qualification and a stipulation of every interview is that the IPA receives prominent coverage. Tenure of Office for NEC Pete Connolly proposed removing the rule of tenure for all NEC posts with the exception of President. Tom Crozier spoke in favour of the motion saying that he believed it was good for the well being of the Association. Bill Lloyd from 3 Region offered an amendment that tenure should be removed from all NEC posts. Past President David Read spoke in favour, urging Council to support the amendment. The crux of Mr Read’s argument was that Council should be the arbiters of who is elected and when, and if Council believed someone was in office too long or not fulfilling their obligations to members the remedy was in the hands of Council members. The amendment was carried by a large Her scholarship involved undertaking an intensive 3 week course in drug driving

Evening: There was an informal dining night attended by the invited guests Past President David Read and his wife Sue, President of Section Ireland Denis Dunne and his wife Noirin and President of Section Netherlands, Johanna Schotanus. Also present as guest of the organising committee was recently promoted Chief Superintendent Jim Nye. So recent was his promotion that he was taking up his new posting the next day. Jim spoke very warmly of his connections to IPA and in particular to friends in the IPA Triathlon Group. He invited 7 Region Chair Ian Tomlinson to meet with him to discuss promoting IPA within his force area. Tom Crozier presented both David and Jim with copies of the limited edition Jedd IPA prints. He then made Presidential Awards to Andy Gregory, Chair of 5 Region and Yvonne Taylor from 3 Region. Presidential Awards are in the personal gift of the President for what he considers meritorious actions that exemplify our motto of Service through Friendship. Tom described how Andy had selflessly promoted IPA and IPA members over a number of years. He recalled instances in very recent occasion there was only one speaker against the motion and the proposal was carried by 36 votes to three. As a footnote to this debate, just as the meeting was about to close Sav Kyriakou, Chair of 9 Region announced that his Region had signed up the first new member who now qualified under the changed rule! Charity Directive On behalf of the NEC Mark Kernohan proposed dispensing with the Charity Directive that is now regarded as being too restrictive and potentially discourages members from organising events or at times places organisers of otherwise appropriate charitable events in conflict with the current rules. Mark’s rationale was accepted by all present and the vote in favour was unanimous.

Friday - Late Morning: Arrive at conference venue, the Palace Hotel at Torquay for two days. Afternoon: While the formal business meeting takes place on the Saturday, the first day could also be considered a full working day for delegates with the traditional separate meetings of Chairs, Treasurers and Secretaries taking up most of the afternoon. There were a number of other fruitful meetings which took place on Friday including a meeting of all the London Regions which was also attended by the President, Tom Crozier, and myself. The sole purpose of the meeting was to address the role of the London Reception Officer that had been vacant since Steve Connor stood down after five years in the role. Bob McCormack, Secretary of 6 Region spoke with some authority having been involved with the role previously. After an informed discussion the group were advised that there were two intimations of interest in taking on the role. Given Bob’s knowledge of the role he was the favoured choice. As you may have seen on the Web News Bob has already visited staff at BSAC to confirm arrangements for handling overseas enquiries. Saturday - NCM Meeting: Tom opened the meeting by introducing the invited guests and also welcomed Immediate Past President Steve Connor and Assistant International Secretary General Stephen Crockard who, by the privilege of their positions, are members of Council in their own right. He also gave a special mention to another Past President John Owen Evans who was attending the meeting as an observer. Proposals - Membership Readers will know that the debate on extending the membership has been a hot topic for many years. After many years of seemingly implacable opposition Council agreed the principle at NCM in 2010. membership to all Police Staff employed by a Chief Officer of Police. The motion was structured so as to accommodate future changes to the governance of police forces and is flexible enough to accommodate differences in current force arrangements, e.g. Police Staff in London are currently employed by the office of the Mayor of London. Tom, who led the debate in 2010, again spoke on the proposal on behalf of the NEC. On this However the extensions approved at that time were limited to three specific roles undertaken by Police Staff. The motion this year was to open up

majority, with the effect that NEC members are no longer limited to a maximum of two terms in office.

Presentations The day was interspersed with a number of presentations that provided some relief from the business. Ian Tyres from the Triathlon Group gave an enthusiastic talk on the rigours of his particular sport, while Johanna Schotanus’s presentation on the success of Netherlands Web Shop was a revelation when compared to our own turnover and variety of

Elections Council gave its unanimous backing to both Mark Kernohan and Ronnie Dukes who were both re-elected to the NEC unopposed.

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Police World Vol 55 No.2 2010

6

A Word from the President

stock. VP Ronnie Dukes is currently reviewing our operation and will have benefitted from the insights provided by Johanna. While not a presentation as such, Mark Faunt proudly showed off Stan the Panda. Stan is a Morris Minor of some vintage that has been decked out in Heartbeat era police livery. Mark had driven Stan down from 3 Region for its first official outing. He, Bill Lloyd and I will be taking Stan amongst other places to the World Police and Fire Games at Belfast in August and the National Police Memorial Day in September at Cardiff. Ultimately the three of us with a back up crew will take Stan to the USA in May 2015. We will then drive through America from coast to coast raising funds for the National Police Memorial Day charity that also happens to be Section UK’s nominated charity.

Late Night: With the weekend coming to a close it would be remiss not to mention a few people. To David Read thank you for sharing your wisdom with us during the business meeting and thanks to you and Sue for sharing your time with all of us over the weekend. It was a delight to have you back amongst us. We should also reflect upon all of the hard work undertaken by the event organisers. While most of us simply turn up and hopefully enjoy all aspects of the weekend, there is very little respite for those who make it all happen. Of course their commitment starts at least a year in advance and does not end until the last guest leaves. And for Andy Mundy the Region Treasurer, it will go on for some weeks after until all accounts are settled

and the books balanced. So to the organising committee and helpers - Tessa Adams, Ian Tomlinson, Andy Mundy, Val Mearns, Graham Bulford, Mike Vince, Robert Peattie, Colin and Maria Gameson and others whom I may have neglected to mention, you all have our sincere thanks for what appeared a seamless and very enjoyable weekend at a stunning location.

National Awards

Stan the Panda, Dave Taylor, Mark Faunt and Bill Lloyd

As is tradition the awards of Honorary Life Membership are presented at the final gala dinner. The winners are selected by the NEC from the list of Region nominations. This year there was something of a departure when Tom Crozier announced that one of the 2012 – 2013 awards had already been presented. That particular award had been made to Jimmy Green a member from Northumbria branch. In late November 2012 Tom received a nomination from branch Chair Allan Young extolling Jimmy’s contribution to his branch over many years. Very shortly after this Allan again contacted Tom to advise that Jimmy had been admitted to hospital (see article in Edition 1, 2013). A decision was made to award Jimmy a Honorary Life Membership immediately, and this was presented to Jimmy by Allan on behalf of the President. Sadly Jimmy died a few days later. Befitting the recipient of the highest accolade that this Association can bestow, members and guests at the gala dinner stood in tribute to Jimmy according him a standing ovation. Treasurer and Andy Wright, Chair of 1 Region. Bill Lloyd joined IPA in 1992 as one of the so called Rochdale Volunteers when the new Rochdale branch was formed. He was active from the outset and became branch Secretary in 1995. In 2005 he moved to Bolton and took over as Chair of the branch, as well as inheriting responsibility for overseeing the Gary Waine Tour Award at Region level. More recently he has acted as support driver on the Motorcycle Group tour of Morocco and is one of the mainstays behind the ‘Stan the Panda’ initiative that will take him on the charity drive across the USA in 2015. Bill has only been a regular at National Council for the last five or six years, but has made a The other recipients of Honorary Life Memberships were Bill Lloyd, 3 Region

Ian Tomlinson and Tessa Adams

Andy and Shirley Wright

Bill Lloyd and Tom Crozier

Yvonne Taylor, Tom Crozier and Andy Gregory

significant impact. It was Bill who put forward the very sensible proposal that did away with the need for members’ money to be tied up for three years when a branch closed. He was also a strong advocate for a fixed levy to Regions that became a reality in 2011. As a Treasurer these were issues close to Bill’s heart, but more than that they are measures that benefit all of our members. Again at this year’s NCM he was active in the debates and it was his amendment to the motion on tenure that carried the day. Andy Wright was recently elected Chair of 1 Region having served as Secretary for the past seven years. His contribution to his branch and Region over very many years is considerable. He has actively participated in the organisation of five friendship breaks and has been the principal organiser in four of those five events. He is currently organising another friendship break based at Stirling in the summer of 2014.

In total Andy and his fellow organisers have catered for close on 1,000 IPA members, mostly from abroad. Those attending Andy’s friendship breaks invariably depart these shores not just with fond memories of the United Kingdom, but with a great respect for IPA UK. So well organised are these events that many foreign colleagues are regular repeat visitors. Andy has been and continues to be a great salesman for Section UK. Aside from all his commitments with friendship breaks, Andy is also part of a small team who organise the various golf events that are very popular in Scotland, including the annual competition against 2 Region Northern Ireland. If that was not enough he is now embarking upon another venture and is looking to establish a UK wide network to promote walking and hillwalking that he hopes will lead to the formation of a Special Interest Group.

Police World Vol 55 No.2 2010

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Article

NCM Photo Gallery Below is a small sample of images taken at the National Council meeting. They were taken by Vice President Ronnie Dukes and Secretary General Dave Taylor. To view more visit: www.ipa-uk.org/NCM-2013

Regions working on behalf of the members

Dressed for dinner

Enjoying the party

David Read

Denis Dunne and Stephen Crockard

IPAozfhzxcvum

entrants and guests. It has been immensely pleasing to hear from IPA members who want to get involved – either as volunteers, hosts, competitors, and even tourists and supporters. As well as those members reported on in previous editions of Police World and web news, we shall be pleased to welcome ‘Stan the Panda’. Stan, the refurbished Morris Minor (see page 23) will be making an appearance at the Games to generate further interest in the National Police Memorial Day and the US Route 50 Road Trip taking place in 2015. Mark Kernohan UK Vice President Chair, IPA-WPFG Bronze Partner Committee

a party for IPA members who visit Belfast for the event. In addition, Region 2 (Northern Ireland) has put in place arrangements to provide hospitality to visitors. A lot of effort has been spent organising pre-event publicity – making members and the policing community aware of important milestones, such as closing dates for competition entries, information about sporting events etc. I did mention in my update in Police World Edition 2 that entries from competitors were being received at a slower rate than for some Games, owing to the security worries surrounding travel to Belfast. Unfortunately, that concern, combined with the economic downturn since the previous Games, has resulted in fewer

With weeks to go before the World Police & Fire Games (WPFG), IPA members are gearing up to welcome competitors and guests from across the IPA World . At the time of writing this article, the final touches are being put in place by the IPA-WPFG Bronze Partner Committee which has worked diligently on the IPA’s sponsorship package of the Games. Since the Bronze partnership package was confirmed by the Permanent Executive Bureau (PEB) last September, the committee has ‘trained’ in tandem with competitors to the Games – organising a promotional event to be held on the Games’s accreditation day, commissioning IPA- WPFG memorabilia and merchandise, and planning

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Police World Vol 58 No.3 2013

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Phillip Powell, 11 Region Chair, explains how the twinning between 11 Region and 3 Region Gothenburg has proved to be a successful initiative and has cemented firm friendships. Twinning is a Winning Combination

At Guildford Cathedral Phillip, Vivienne and May-Britt Rinaldo, June 2010

E arly in 2011 a survey of Section UK Secretaries established that 25 Regions/Branches and Interest Groups had either a twinning or a special arrangement with overseas members. 11 Region has been twinned with 3 Region Gothenburg in Sweden since 2009. The idea for 11 Region to twin was first suggested in 2008 by the late Roger Lincoln, former NEC member, who was living in Gothenburg at the time. It was progressed by the then President of 3 Region Gothenburg, May-Britt Rinaldo, and the then 11 Region Secretary, Edwin Sutton. The 2011 survey also revealed that certain benefits resulted from twinning initiatives. These benefits were quoted as: “Friendship and closer working practices; Friendships that continue on an individual basis; Friendships that can be deeper than family; Return visits year on year, building strong long lasting relationships; International travel; Insight into overseas policing issues; Ensures the Branch is truly international in its activities; an opportunity to learn about, and to tell others about, your own local cultures; Networking opportunities; Raises the profile of the IPA across the world and Another positive benefit to add to the list of ‘why join IPA’.” My wife, Vivienne Catherall-Powell and I, Edwin Sutton and his wife made the first visit to Gothenburg in March 2009 on behalf of 11 Region. We also attended Gothenburg’s Annual General Meeting where we met many of their members and were very well looked after. Clear evidence that Twinning provides opportunities for travel for the member. In return for our visit, in 2009, 11 Region organised for 10 members of 3 Region Gothenburg to stay at the Police Federation Headquarters in Leatherhead, Surrey and to attend the 11 Region meeting. At the meeting our visitors gave a presentation about Gothenburg which was a great opportunity to share each other’s local culture. Again these reciprocal meetings and exchanges were a direct result of the Twinning initiative and as the relationship developed between 11 Region

and Gothenburg further events were organised. The following year, 11 Region hosted the UK IPA National Council Meeting (NCM) in June at the Felbridge Hotel in West Sussex, which coincided with

Swedish members visiting Mounted Police Branch, Imber Court, October 2009

the IPA’s 60th Anniversary. We were pleased to meet up again with friends from Gothenburg. They enjoyed the dedication ceremony held at Guildford Cathedral and attended the NCM. December 2011 saw a number of 11 Region members and partners visiting Gothenburg, as a full programme had been arranged - which included a trip on a police boat, a visit to the Volvo factory, to see the assembly line for police cars built there, and being hosted at a wonderful Christmas meal at the Liseberg Park Christmas Market. While I was there, I celebrated my birthday and was given presents by my 3 Region friends of moose and reindeer ornaments which I collect. More evidence of the kind of relationships that develop on many levels through Twinning. Twinning also really does have long term networking benefits as May-Britt Rinaldo, who has since become President of IPA Sweden, and her colleague Britt Hermansson made a visit to London in October 2012. Both attended the 11 Region Meeting held in Bromley and they invited 11 Region members to come to their next regional meeting in March 2013. Quite a coup for 11 region! Twinning also presents opportunities to study. Donna Powell, the 11 Region Publicity Officer and now Regional Vice Chair, Vivienne and I took up the invitation to attend a Gothenburg Regional Meeting. We enjoyed tours around the city and coastline of Gothenburg and attended the Regional Meeting at which May-Britt mentioned she would be giving a presentation at the seminar on ‘Women Strength in the Police’. Donna attended the seminar (see page 13 for her report) and accompanied May-Britt back to the UK where she stayed with 11 Region members. During her short stay, the Chair of Sussex branch, David Stamp, and his

wife Caryl, arranged a day out for May-Britt in Brighton as well as exploring the beautiful South East Coast. We look forward to many more visits between our two Regions and working towards a long lasting relationship that is beneficial to our members. Phillip Powell, Chair 11 Region IPA Advice on setting up a twinning arrangement Taken from the 2011 survey □ Establish a good relationship with intended twinning Branch first □ Set out clearly the defined advantages of the twinning □ Ensure there is sufficient interest by members in the agreement □ Ensure the twinning is viable in terms of visits – financially and logistically □ Make a visit to the twin location □ Find out what the twin hopes for □ Build on personal contacts to identify potential twins □ Identify twins that have some attraction/ reason for visit □ Look for a Region/Branch/interest group with common interests □ Get an IPA member on the committee of the local twinning group □ Attempt to home host as many members of the twinned branch as possible □ Plan and arrange hosts as early as possible □ Lose your inhibitions and have fun □ Be flexible and prepared to do the unexpected □ Don’t worry about language barriers □ Be considerate of diversity and cultural differences □ Give a gift

Police World Vol 58 No.3 2013

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Article

the great train adventure Staffordshire branch ‘track’ down one of the mail coaches that was involved in the Great Train Robbery. Alan Everall tells the story.

Full steam ahead

I n May, 32 members of Staffordshire branch enjoyed a day out on the Severn Valley Steam Railway. The journey we embarked on took us from Kidderminster to Bridgenorth and included a stop at Highley for lunch. The engine house at Highley contains a very interesting collection of steam locomotives but of particular interest to our group was the actual coach involved in the Great Train Robbery that took place in 1963. Bryan Tunney, our Social Secretary, and I were in the CID at Stafford at that time. The tour around Highley brought back many memories for Alan Hancox, another one of our members, who was later involved in the escort of one of the robbers from Stafford prison to the Old Bailey in London for his

appeal hearing. He recalls that the arrangements were quite tight as information had been received that an attempt was to be made involving a bogus police car to spring him free en-route. Fortunately, the trip was almost incident free despite an event in Northamptonshire when a local police car overtook the convoy in respose to an unrelated 999 call. A stone was thrown up by this vehicle as it passed and shattered the windscreen. The driver, PC Tony Bowers, had his truncheon handy which he used to knock out the glass so that he could see. Alan laments that we thought this was it until the patrol car carried on unaware of the anxiety he had caused. Happy days! Alan Everall , Chair Staffordshire

At Highley Station

In the mail sorting room coach

2012 Photography Competition Results

UNDER 16: 1st: Jamie Brown ‘Protecting light’. Runner-up: Jamie Brown ‘Storm bound’. After selecting the winners the judging panel then selected 12 images for publication in the Section UK 2014 calendar. Details of the Calendar and the published images can be seen below. For more details on next year’s competition contact: vpdukes@ipa-uk.org

POLICE: 1st: Harvey Whittam ‘Policing gets younger at 10 Downing street’. Runner-up: Daniel Barker ‘Bobbies in New York’. PORTRAITS: 1st: Ronnie Dukes ‘Sisters in Paris’. Runner-up: Michael Murfin ‘Fruit seller’. LANDSCAPES: 1st: Tom McInally ‘Forth rail bridge’. Runner-up: Alex Wheatley ‘Colorado river’. OPEN: 1st: Michael Chambers ‘Young kestrel due to fledge’. Runner-up: Michael Chambers ‘Padstow lifeboat launching’.

The results of the 2012 Photography Competition were announced by Vice President Ronnie Dukes at the National Council Meeting in Torquay - and are as follows: OVERALL FIRST: 1st: Michael Chambers ‘Young kestrel due to fledge’. Runner-up: Tom McInally 'Forth rail bridge. Category winners: IPA: 1st: Tom McInally ‘The team fez throwing’. Runner-up: Chris Eccles ‘Police Christmas party in Swaziland’.

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Faroese First for Police Scotland Lothian and Borders branch hosted a group of 41 IPA members from the Faroe Islands for a long weekend visit to Edinburgh.

A s the Faroese are an island race, our branch wondered if members from the Faroe Islands would sail to Edinburgh. We then learned that not only were they flying in, but that they had chartered their own aircraft and sold off the extra seats to tourists. Very clever - we decided they deserve to be honorary Scots! As about 40% of their police were in Edinburgh that night, we joked that it would have been a good time for a Faroese person to commence a life of crime. I, as branch Chair, welcomed the guests with a short speech - which included three sentences in Danish. In the words of the late Eric Morecome – they were all the right words – but not necessarily said in the right order. At that point each person was given their own ‘See You Jimmy’ hat, as an ice breaker. I was delighted our Regional Chair, Andy Wright and his wife Shirley attended along with fifteen of our own branch members to greet the guests. Our branch Vice Chair, Tom McInally, had prepared a mounted and signed copy of his winning photograph of the Forth Rail Bridge that appears in the IPA calendar (see page 26) and that was presented to our visitors. Other gifts included an IPA pennant, a water carafe and two engraved whisky glasses from the branch. A Scottish themed meal had been arranged at the Mercat Bar, Edinburgh, owned by the son of a long standing IPA member, Stuart Blaikie. The meeting, greeting and eating of the haggis was a first for most of our visitors. Our branch piper, John MacKintosh, attended in full regalia and played our visitors into the premises. He later dramatically addressed the haggis, then plunged his dirk through it and it was then served

to those awaiting eagerly. The next day, a group of eight interested Faroese visitors were taken on a tour of St Leonards Police Station, Edinburgh. Thanks must go to Chief Superintendant Mark Williams, who authorised this visit on pretty short notice, and to Neil Wilson, who showed us round. This was the first visit of any foreign police to the newly formed Police Scotland. The visitors were impressed with the volume of custodies dealt with and the duty of care extended to prisoners. If they could, they would have taken home the Edinburgh Live Scan system, which identifies a person instantly after digitally reading their fingerprints. They were also interested in the electronic personal digital assistants (PDA’s) carried by our officers, which have replaced paper notebooks - something the Faroese still use. Their tour ended with their trying out the personal safety equipment Scottish police are issued with and carry in their vehicles. The rest of their visit was taken up with sightseeing in Edinburgh, which included a walk to the top of Arthur’s Seat - an extinct volcano in the centre of the city with breathtaking views. Without doubt, Arthur Troop’s original intention, to extend the bonds of friendship amongst police officers throughout the world had been met by this visit. None of this would have been possible without the hard work of our Secretary, John Quinn, who works away tirelessly in the background, so thank you to him. If any branch anywhere, wants to visit Edinburgh, a

Faroese Facts ◙ Police in the Faroe Islands are part of the Danish Police and constitute an independent police district headed by a Chief Superintendent. ◙ The police district there has approximately 170 employees, of which 110 are Police officers. ◙ They have a population of 47,000 of which about half live in the capital of Torshavn. ◙ You must be at least 21 years of age to join the police there and complete 37 years service before becoming eligible for pension. ◙ The Police are all armed and any citizen over 18 years can purchase a shotgun, which they do, and there is never any gun crime.

warm welcome awaits - just get in touch. Rod McNeill , Lothian and Borders branch.

Any branch interested in visiting Edinburgh should contact: lothian- and-borders@ipa-uk.org

Left to right: Rod McNeill, Kristian Dahl, Karl Leonsson, Jan Poulsen, Bjarni Nattestad, Runi Vesturklett, Ian Wilson and Herbert í Lon

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Faversham one of

Earlier this year, Kent Branch arranged a walking tour of Faversham followed by a tour of Shepherd Neame, Britain’s oldest brewery. O ur party of twenty-five was divided into two groups, led by two very knowledgeable and entertaining local guides, Tony and Jim. Amongst the many historical gems that they imparted to us, one that stood out concerned the impressive Guildhall. Some of our party were familiar with this building and remembered the upstairs from their days of service as it houses the Magistrates’ Court. The Court was noted for the way the clerk introduced the start of the session using olde English language. Sadly I cannot find anyone to quote it verbatim but it started with something like, “ Stand ye up all ye present... ” Among other buildings of interest were the two surviving barns at Abbey Farm both dating from the 15th century. Also surviving is the Abbey Guest House, on the east side of the outer gateway of Faversham Abbey, now known as Arden’s House. This house, now a private residence in Abbey Street, was the location of the infamous murder of Thomas Arden 1551. The guides informed the group of the grisly tale of how Alice Arden (1516–1551) conspired to have her husband, Thomas Arden, murdered so she could carry on a long-term affair with a tailor, Richard Moseby. The murder took place on 14 February 1551. She was tried, convicted, and then burnt at the stake. Our guide at Shepherd Neame Brewery was Julie, who was another excellent guide as she mixed history with a touch of humour. Shepherd Neame is Britain’s oldest brewer - and while 1698 is the Brewery's official founding date, there is clear evidence that its heritage pre- dates even this period. If you would like to learn more about the history of this brewery visit: www.shepherdneame.co.uk/ brewery/heritage-timeline Our tour there ended with a delicious two- course meal and, of course, a tasting! During July, each year, fifty historic houses in Faversham are open to the public each Saturday. Everyone in our party is going back to view them, showing how impactive our tour was and how impressive was the history of this wonderful, small market town. I recommend that other branches pay the town a visit. Mick Abbott , Kent branch

Riverside life

Faversham Facts ◙ Faversham was first settled in Roman times. ◙ It was probably the summer capital of the Saxon Kings around the year 811 ◙ It is the only town in the country to have the three English lions on its crest. ◙ Famous for the production of gunpowder. ◙ In April, 1916, a huge explosion occurred at the gunpowder plant, claiming 115 lives. ◙ The church was designed to withstand such an explosion. Its ‘stencil-like’ shape would allow the blast to go through it and not to knock it down. ◙ In 1784, a brick tax was introduced causing a number of small brick makers to close.

The Guildhall

Abbey Street

The Shepherd Neame Brewery

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Firsts at Gimborn

In 2013, Members Karel Simpson and Donna Powell attended their first seminars at the IPA study centre in Gimborn, Germany. Read about their experiences below. D uring my 30 year membership of the IPA, Gimborn has often been advertised and spoken of with Greece, Canada, America, Australia, Germany and Bavaria. During the seminar we had guest speakers, both regular officers and civilians, from

A First For Donna Since I joined the IPA in 2009, I have heard from fellow members over the following years about their experiences of Gimborn and was informed it was not just about the studying but networking with police officers from around the world - and that increased my interest. So towards the end of 2012 I was on standby waiting for the seminars that were going to be in English to be announced. Out of the eight English seminars for 2013 there was one that immediately grabbed my interest - namely ‘Women Strength in the Police’ - which was going to be held over the 11 - 15 March, 2013. So at the end of November 2012 I completed my application and was accepted onto the course a few days later. On arrival in Dusseldorf I met up with May-Britt Rinaldo, President of Section Sweden, and Panayiotis Sofokleous a member from Section Cyprus - we were then transferred to Gimborn. I was very excited to learn that I had a room in the castle for the duration of my stay. Part of the first day was spent learning about the facilities at Gimborn and about each other - getting to know everyone. During group work we discussed the challenges, possibilities, obstacles and the future for women within the police. It was interesting to hear and note that the points raised by all groups were very similar. On the second day, May-Britt Rinaldo gave her presentation and she shared with the attendees some of her early policing experiences of being a female police officer in a male dominated workforce. We later examined patterns of communication of women and men. We looked at strategies for successful communication in a masculine working environment in the form of theory as well as practical exercises. This is just a brief description of my first Gimborn experience. For me I cannot believe I have left it so long before attending. I got a lot out of this seminar both on a professional and personal level. I can now say that I plan to make an annual visit to Gimborn. For anyone who has not been to Gimborn I urge you to look at the seminars and experience this great place for yourself. To anyone who has not been back for a few years, what are you waiting for? Donna Powell , Sussex branch To read Donna’s article in full visit: www.ipa-uk.org/news

reverence by other members who have attended. As a member of the Special Constabulary I never considered that I was eligible to go. It was my perception that only regular police officers qualified to attend. Once I realised that Specials were eligible, I kept a look out in Police World for the coming year’s seminars being held at Gimborn. Last year I found a seminar in the Gimborn programme dealing with a subject close to my personal observation on the future of policing - which I believe would impact on the Special Constabulary in the future. The seminar I applied for dealt with the subject ‘Social Unrest as a challenge for the Police in Europe – ergonomic decline and imperfect multicultural integration’. This interested me as I wanted to discover whether the UK has unique crime problems or do other countries in Europe, that have been experiencing similar crimes in recent years, share the same causes. Troubles in the euro zone and the impact that has had on its population through financial hardship, where previously honest law abiding individuals, who have fallen on hard times, turn to crime as a way out - is a possible cause - so I wanted dig a little deeper into this subject. The other topic of interest to me that the seminar dealt with covered multicultural integration which due to political or religious views over hundreds of years is a problem that no one seems to be able to solve. Gimborn is ideally suited to broach such a subject as people come from all over the world to attend its seminars. In this instance attendees came from a number of different countries including: UK, Ireland, Pakistan,

countries which have experienced the issues the seminar focused on - issues such as the troubles in Northern Ireland, the riots in London, the increase of criminals moving across from the East of Europe. There was even a suggestion that climate changes will affect the movement of populations from poor climates into Europe. When we were broken up into groups it became obvious that no matter where you police in the world the same problems crop up and it was good to share knowledge and expertise. The discussion between members attending during the week was open and frank. Dialogue continued after the day’s session ended and adjourned into the bar until the early hours. Having attended this, my first seminar, at Gimborn I found it enlightening talking to people from different police cultures and learning how they deal with the issues raised during this seminar. Contacts were made and a network of friendships started which may last a lifetime. Since my return, I have been

considering the implications of the issues discussed during this seminar and I now see where the Special Constabulary is heading in the near future. Karel Simpson , Durham and Cleveland Branch.

Karel Simpson with two other Gimborn attendees

Interested in attending Gimborn? Visit: www.ipa uk.org/Study

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