16
POLICEWORLD
Vol 59No. 3, 2014
Article
POLICING
USA
STYLE
After the successof aprevious visit inSeptember 2012, USARegion56 inWisconsin invited sevenofficers from
UKRegion9 togo statesideandexperienceall thingsAmerican. BTPbranchSecretaryGaryWarren, oneof those
lucky seven, takesup the story.
A
nemail hitmy inbox in January about
thepossibility of goingacross to
GreenBay,Wisconsin for aweek. I
had read, inprevious editions of PoliceWorld,
about Hertfordshiremembers going in2012,
and the return visit by JohnFlannery last year, so
immediately I knew I had to go.
Emails immediately startedbeing sent backand
forthabout the tripandwhen JohnFlannery sent
theplanned itinerary I just couldnot wait to get out
there– thiswould indeedbe the tripof a lifetime.
JoiningmewouldbeGerryMcDonald, Andy Piper
andPhil Rosier fromHertfordshire, Chris Leah from
Bedfordshire, Ross Landers from theMetropolitan
PoliceServiceandMarkBishop fromBTP.
The time finally arrivedand inearlyMaywemade
our way across thepond.
Wemet our UShosts in the shadowof Lambeau
Field, a football stadiumwhich ishomeof the
GreenBay Packers, andenjoyedUShospitality. Joe
Johnson, Region56President, and JohnFlannery
certainly knowhow tomakea good first impression.
Our first day startedniceandearlywitha tour of
AshwaubenonPublicSafetyDepartment. They are
unique in that they provide the functions of policing,
medical responseand fire fighting fromone location.
All thePublicSafetyOfficers are trained inall three
disciplines. The concept washard to imaginebut
made somuch senseandall theofficerswe spoke
towere soproud tobepart of theDepartment.We
took theopportunity to take somephotos in the
police vehicles andona fire truckbeforepresenting
theChief witha tokenof our appreciation for
openinghisDepartment up tous.
Lunchwith theChief of DePerePoliceDepartment
thenbeckoned.We then toured the facility and
spokewitha fewofficers. Before leaving, to go to the
NortheastWisconsin Technical College (NWTC), we
thankedChief Biederwieden for hishospitality.
TheNWTC college iswhere students enrol on the
LawEnforcement programme. Anyonewishing to
becomeapoliceofficer needs topass this course
with sufficient creditsbefore they canapply toa
policedepartment.
Weall got very excitedaswewere shown the ‘MILO
Range’ training system, locatedat the college, –
and given theopportunity to takepart in some
scenarios. They evenhadone that tookplaceona
train forMarkBishopandme, sowe felt at home.
Then the liveaction versionbeganaswewere taken
onto the range to shoot somepistols and rifles.
Havingnever shot before I was apprehensive, but
foundmyself tobequitea good shot.Wewereall
taken throughbasic firearmdrillsbeforewe shot
fromkneelingand standingpositions.Wewerealso
taught how to ‘double-tap’ accurately - which is a
shooting techniquewhere twowell-aimed shots
are firedat the same target with very little time in
between shots.
After suchanactionpacked first day, Gerry
McDonaldand I went toNWTCearly thenext
morning to takepart inaQ&A sessionwith some
of Joe’s students. Thequestionswerewell thought
out and the students seemed genuine in their
enthusiasm to get anunderstandingof how things
aredone in theUK.
We thenheadedout toOneidapolicedepartment,
wherewemet upwith theother UKofficers, to tour
the facility. TheOneida
tribe is oneof theoldest
nativeAmerican tribes in
Wisconsinandonly native
Americans can serve in
theDepartment. It was
fascinating to learnabout
theway the tribeoperates.
After lunch, anda tour of
LambeauField, we then
paida visit to the ‘Uniform
Shoppe’ to lookat some
USpoliceuniforms and
equipment. Policeofficers
in theUSare givenan
allowance topurchasekit
and theUniformShoppe is
theplace to go. It was anamazingplacewith lots of
cool gadgets.
That eveningwewere invited todinner at Donna
Gilson’shouse. Donnahas anamazing collection
of policememorabilia. Shemade themost amazing
foodand therewas plenty of it. I thoughtMark
Bishopwas going toexplodewhen theChocolate
Éclair cake cameout.
Wewerebackat NWTC collegeon theWednesday
morning tohavea goon their driving simulators.
Theywereextremely interactiveand gaveus the
opportunity topracticedrivingon the right side
of the road. Then it was off to the local airport to
run through some vehicledrills includinghigh risk
contacts, slalomdrills and vehiclepursuits. Andy
andChris certainly enjoyedputting theDodge
Charger through its paces - andRoss showed some
rather silky driving skills.Wewere then taken to the
On the range
