Page 9 - Police World Edition 4, 2013

The four officers from Section
Poland: Janusz Trzesimiech,
Komisare Jakub Skrzypek,
Marek Dzierzega and Adam
Stepczynski spent six days in England
to gain a better understanding of how
policing in Britain is done.
For the officers this visit to the Fenland
area, which has a population of
migrant workers from Eastern Europe,
gave them the opportunity to see how
migrants view the police in the UK. It
also allowed the Polish officers to see
how British officers deal with a range
of policing activities from traffic
collisions to crime investigation.
The officers met Simon Parr, the Chief
Constable of Cambridgeshire, some
collision investigators and an area
Detective Inspector. They also learned
about the training and deployment of
the taser and had the opportunity to
discharge them on the range.
The four in return demonstrated their
self-defence skills to a group of
student officers at the force’s Officer
Safety Training Unit.
After visiting the force control room
they also spent time with
representatives from a drugs
intervention scheme, which works
closely with the police in Peterborough.
It was then time to meet up with the
Fenland Police Commander, Chief
Inspector Mike Winters, who said, “We
do have a significant migrant
community here. It has been
interesting to get a better
understanding of the policing culture
in Poland. It is so very different to how
we approach it. It has been
fascinating.”
The Polish guests were then
introduced to the Mayor of March, Jan
French, and presented her with a
bottle of Bison Grass vodka. In return
the officers were presented with a
traditional police helmet and
truncheon.
It wasn’t all work however and in the
short time available members from
Cambridgeshire branch allowed time
for their guests to visit London - which
included a private tour of the Houses
of Parliament, lunch in China Town and
an evening with the Yeoman Warders
of HM Tower of London. A traditional
full English breakfast and an evening
in a haunted riverside pub near St Ives
rounded off the social side of the visit.
The exchange of experiences and
information threw up some interesting
differences between policing styles in
Poland and the UK. While British police
rely heavily on technology, for example
automatic number plate recognition
(ANPR) and laser recording of serious
road traffic collision scenes, the
Polish police have the benefit of
higher police numbers.
On an everyday domestic level the
Polish police officers were taken aback
by some of the more mundane items
of technology – namely separate hot
and cold taps and pull cord light
switches!
The Polish officers reported that the
perception of police in Poland is
generally positive, with 70 per cent of
people supporting the police, even
though they have a more direct
approach in their policing methods.
I am keen to encourage other
branches to consider arranging similar
professional exchange visits. I can
recommend that each visit is a great
opportunity to promote the IPA among
serving officers and staff and raise the
profile of the IPA with senior officers -
although they do take a lot of planning
and work, it is worth it.
A return visit to Silesia by serving
officers and staff from Cambridgeshire
is taking place in September. Another
visit by Polish officers is also
scheduled for the New Year.
Steve Bretherton,
Cambridgeshire branch
Editor’s note:
‘Witamy w’ translates as ‘welcome to’.
Article
Police World Vol 58 No.4 2013 9
In March 2013 four police officers from Silesia, Poland took
part in a professional exchange in Cambridgeshire.
Witamy w
Cambridgeshire
At Downing Street during the trip to London
In the control room
Sampling some local refreshments