Police_World_02_2018

Article

French IPA Recruiting Martin Turner BTP London – Region 9 Whilst at Gimborn for the ‘young members’ conference back in October I made several friends with colleagues from across Europe. IPA France informed everyone that they were planning a visit to their Police Academy near Lille at the end of November to recruit new officers into the IPA and were keen to have other countries represented. S o I travelled to Lille and was collected by Rose , the IPA France Section President, and driven to the Police Nationale Academy in Roubaix, near Lille. Here I met with Sven and Sergej, colleagues from Belgium and the Netherlands respectively. Once colleagues had arrived from France, Germany and Austria we had an interesting tour of the academy, speaking to a senior officer and visiting their training facilities. We then headed into Lille itself to see the Christmas Market and town centre. We mostly got drenched by the incessant rain but had a pleasant visit nonetheless! After this we headed to Rose’s home for dinner and exchanging of gifts and patches etc. We were treated to delicious food and drink by Rose and her family and it was great catching up with people I had met at Gimborn. With full stomachs and nodding heads we returned to the Police Academy for the night. On the second day we delivered various PowerPoint inputs to around 40 student officers nearing the end of their long training programme. Letting them know about policing in our respective countries and telling them all about the IPA and the opportunities it can provide. There were some questions and of course patch swapping! We had the privilege of watching the process for posting officers across France and then headed off towards Lille, for a visit to the Police Headquarters. We had a very interesting tour of the Police HQ; looking at their vehicles, control room, fitness suite and firearms range. We got to handle the latest weaponry they equip their officers with as a direct response to the terror threat. After a delicious lunch in the canteen we then parted ways and returned home to our respective countries. A short trip but one which was very interesting and hopefully encouraged the new officers to join the IPA – something everyone in policing should do. My thanks to IPA France and particularly Rose and Sylvie for arranging such a comprehensive visit.

POLICE WORLD Vol 63 No. 2, 2018

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