Police World Edition 3 2014

IPANews

Meetings inMalta StephanWest discovered that IPAmembership canaidan introductionwhenoverseas. He explains in thisarticlewhy apolicepatchmay alsoproveuseful. A cruise? I was somewhat alarmedwhenmywife informedme that wewere goingonholiday for 3 weeks ona ship. Theunearthly hour, 2am, that we were to set off was alsounfamiliar. Prior to leaving I contacted various IPASections as I wished toorganisea fewmeetswith fellow IPA members. I was pleased to get responses from memberswhowouldbeavailableat someof the portswewouldbe stoppingat. I was alsokeen to try, if theopportunity arose, to introducemyself as an IPAmember to fellowofficers. My first such contact wasmademorewith luck than judgment as therewas apoliceoutpost at the airport. I introducedmyself and found the reception tobe verywelcoming. Unfortunatelywewereonly in Venice for a fewhours soour chat had tobebrief. Next stopMalta. Having read thearticleby Pat Bailey inPoliceWorld, Vol. 58No.42013, about thePoliceMuseum inMalta, I was verymuch looking forward to the visit. Onarrival we took a tour aroundValetta.What a city! Thewhole experiencewas enhancedby our carriagedriver who tookusmuch further thana tour guide usuallywould go. Hedroppedus off at the south sideof Vallettaandwe then tooka stroll through the citywith itsnarrow roadandoldbuildings. Definitelywortha visit - peoplewere so friendly and welcoming. On thewalk, I cameacrossquitea few officers and they kindly pointedus in thedirection of themuseum, unfortunately JoeBorda, the curator, wasnot available. Not toworry, I said tomywife, we’ll just have to comebackandwas expectinga loud laugh, instead she replied, “Yeswewill.” A littleadvice to fellow travellers - youdoneed to lovewalking - asnot all areas areaccessibleon ThankYou Judith 2Region, Northern Ireland, recentlymade apresentation to IPAmember andDeputy Chief Constable JudithGillespie tomark theoccasionof her retirement from the

Thepolice station inStMaarten

StephanWestmeets anofficer inMalta

wheels, unless youhaveaSegway. Next stopMalaga, Spain.Wemanaged to catchup with IPA colleagueshere too. Oh, and just to rub it ina little, temperaturesnever droppedbelow21 degreesCelsiusduring thewhole3weeks, quite enjoyable. On toFunchal in theMadeira Islands, what a friendly place. As I speak very littlePortuguese it is amazinghowmuch you can communicate just withhand gestures. It turnedout tobeabusy day, meeting lots of officers. Thingsdid get interesting when I tookapictureof adiplomatic car and theofficer standingnext to it, who straight away questionedmy doing so. Thenext 5days tookus across theAtlantic. Onarrival at St.Maarten, in theCaribbean, I introducedmyself at the local police station andmet Inspector BenjaminGout whowas very welcoming. Even thoughhehadhishands full he took the time to chat. Definitely aperson to contact should you visit. Later, Imet upwithmywifeandmother in the KangarooCourt bar - another place to see. You must takeapolicepatch from your forceas the owner collects them.Most of thepatcheswere American, just one solitaryUKexample from Hampshire so there is certainly room formore. StephanWest , Hampshirebranch

Momentous Meeting InApril, VicePresidentMarkKernohan metMichelleHarris, thePresident of SectionAustralia, inBrisbane. The AustralianNational ExecutiveCommittee washaving itsNational Half YearlyMeeting andMark joined themas a guest. During lunchMarkpresentedMichelle witha2RegionNorthern Irelandpatchas amemento.

Judithwas presentedwithaCertificateof Appreciationandoneof thenew IPAmetal badgesmountedonawalnut plinth, by2 RegionChair Carol SpenceandPublicity Officer, BrianKennedy. Commentingon thepresentationCarole said, “All of us in2Regionwish Judith the very best inher retirement andwe look forward to seeingher at IPAevents in the future” To view the video visit: www.ipa-uk.org/Video-Library

PoliceServiceof Northern Ireland. Judith completed32 years of service in theRoyal Ulster Constabulary and PSNI andwashighly supportive to the2 Region committee. She regularly lent her assistance inpublicity initiatives, including appearing in the recent “Benefits of IPA Membership” videoandduring theWorld PoliceandFireGames inBelfast in2013.

POLICEWORLD Vol 59No. 3, 2014

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