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variousdepartmentswehad first visited to takepart
ina ridealong. I was pairedwith JamieZynda from
AshwaubenonPublicSafety andwewerebusy from
the start witha trip toBrownCounty Jail todropoff
a juvenileoffender.We thenhad todashalong the
highway tobackup colleagues that weredealingwith
a female that hadallegedly takenahighnumber
of antihistamine tabletswithalcohol. After a few
vehicle stops forminor violations and responding to
an intruder alarm theexperiencewas over. It was
a great insight intowhat our colleagues across the
pondhave todeal withand it surprisedmehow
similar our jobs are.
I thank JamieZynder, Neil Brownandeveryone
fromAshwaubenon for thehospitality they showed
bothPhil Rossier andmyself that evening - and the
Lieutenant didmake theworld’sbest potato salad!
Johnhadarranged for Andy Piper andChris Leah
to giveapresentation to interestedparties inANPR
technology and itsuse in theUKon Thursday
morning. Johnhadbeen impressedby the technology
whenhe visited theUKandwas interested to see
what others thought. Anumber of peopleattended,
includinga local judge, state troopers andmilitary
personnel. Thepresentationwaswell receivedand
brought about a lot of discussion.Whilst Andy and
Chriswere talking ‘traffic’ the rest of the group
headed toBrownCounty CommunicationsCentre
wherewewere givena tour and spoke to the call
handlers anddispatchers.
TheCommunicationsCentre is positionedabove
theCounty Jail andhas theability tomanagea
crisis should it happen. It was amazing to see the
differences inworkingpractices and compare
similarities.
We thenheadedback toNWTC tomeet upwith
some studentswhowere going tohelpus put some
of our drivingand firearm training intopracticeacting
out various scenarios. Thehighlight wasdefinitely
seeingGerryMcDonald giving chase to students that
hadbailedout of a car and systematically nabbing
themoneby one.
After shooting (andbeing shot) by the studentswe
were then visitedby theGreenBayK-9 sectionwho
put onadisplay. Phil, whohas aspirations to join
theDogSection, keenly volunteered tobe livebait.
Weall watchedas thewell traineddogswereput
through their paces and tooka chunkout of ‘bad guy
Phil’s’ arm.Wewereall happywhen thebite sleeve
held firmandhe came tonoharm–honest!
That eveningweheaded toa local bowlingalley for a
meet and greet. Therewas anice turnout byNWTC
students, staff andalsoofficers from the various
departmentswehadmet. It was a great opportunity
to thankall thosewhohadalready givenus somuch
and I presented Joe Johnsonwithanengraved
plaque. Joewas alsopleasedwith theeveningashe
managed to signup sevennewRegion56members -
“
$25buys you theworld
” is the lineheuses and the
newmembers certainly agreed.
Thenextmorning sawushead toMadisonCounty
to takepart in theWisconsin LawEnforcement
Memorial Service. It was amazing to see local
people’s reaction to seven ‘BritishBobbies’ walking
along the street. The servicewasmovingand
remindedus all of the sacrificeofficershavemade
whilst doing ‘the Job.’Wewere reminded that those
who choose tobepoliceofficersdo so inorder to
protect thepublic, uphold the lawand serve the
community and that sometimes they don’tmake it
home to their lovedones. After the service,many
of the local officers took theopportunity to speak
tous, exchange contact details and take some
photographs.
After some socialisingand taking inabaseball
game, wehadawalking tour ofMilwaukee, before
our final triponSunday.
The final day startedearlywitha visit to theUS
Coast Guardbase, SturgeonBay FireandPolice
Departments and their control centre. Theareawas
beautiful, right on LakeMichiganand thepeople
were verywelcoming. The swapof the tripdefinitely
happenedherewhen theFireChief fromSturgeon
Bay swappedhisheadwear for Phil’sbeat helmet.
Theywereboth like small childrenat Christmas
proudly showingoff their newacquisition. TheUS
Coast Guardswerealsohappy to showus around
their boats andbase.Weeven took theopportunity
to claim the lighthouse for QueenandCountry by
flying theUnionFlag from the top–althougha .50
Cal gunwasnearby sowepromptly gave it back!
Our final eveningwas spent with JudgeKevin
Rathburnandhis family at hismagnificent home.We
werewelcomed like family.Wewere treated to some
Irishdancingby John’sdaughter and thenwe let our
hair down.Wepresentedour hostswith some gifts
andalsopresented flowers to thewives of Kevin, Joe
and Johnas a thank you to themandalsoas it was
MothersDay in theUS.
Theday to fly homehadarrivedall too soonandwe
wereall disappointed tobe leaving.Wehadbeen
treated likekings sincewehadarrivedandhadall
had themost amazingexperience. Thepeoplewe
met were incredibly hospitable. I’despecially like
to thanksDonnaGilson,Michael Albertsonand
JudgeKevinRathburn - aswell asNWTC staff and
students andall theother PoliceChiefs, FireChiefs
andofficers. Youall opened yourselvesup to seven
people fromEngland, whoseonly link to youwas
beingpart of thepolicing family - and the importance
of family is exactlywhat this triphas reinforced. I
thankmy family formaking sacrifices so I could take
part in this amazing trip - and I thank theFlannery
and Johnson families for allowing Johnand Joe the
time tobe the great hosts theywere.
Lastly, this trip couldnever have takenplace if it
wasn’t for the IPAandall that it stands for.
GaryWarren
, BTPbranchSecretary
AshwaubenonPublicSafetyDepartment
JohnFlannery andGaryWarren
Hoisting the flag
$25buys you theworld
“
”
POLICEWORLD
Vol 59No. 3, 2014
