Page 13 - police world Edition 1 2013

F or me this was an opportunity that
could not be missed. I had never visited
the USA before even though I've wanted
to go ever since I was a child. I couldn’t think of
a better place for my first IPA trip. When it was
confirmed I couldn’t believe it - I was finally
going across the pond to America!
I was selected along with three other
Hertfordshire members; Simon Hawkins, Mike
Saunders and Dean Watson.
So a few months later, the (painfully early)
morning had arrived. On Monday 17 September,
a little after 2am, we all left Hertfordshire police
headquarters - destination Wisconsin. We were
greeted off the plane by our two IPA hosts; John
Flannery, a local gang expert and Joe Johnson,
a police dog handler. We were also joined by Bill
Bongle, the local Green Bay police captain.
Once we had settled in the hotel we were taken
for dinner by Joe, where we met a retired Green
Bay police officer who had travelled from over
an hour away just to meet us. This is when I
began to realise just how friendly the people of
Wisconsin were.
The next day, we were taken to Northeast
Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) where a
Q&A session had been set up for the students
of the Law Enforcement Programme. All the
students and staff were really friendly and our
tunics and helmets went down well.
Unlike Britain, students have to pass the Law
Enforcement Programme before applying to be
a police officer in the US. The college has lots of
facilities and equipment, including the The
MILO Range PRO training system, which we
were lucky enough to have a go on. The MILO
range is an interactive dry fire simulation
shooting range. I think the best way to describe
it is as an extremely advanced version of the
arcade game ‘Time Crisis’.
Afterwards, for a chance to unwind, we got a
tour of the ‘Packers’ football stadium and
passes to the ‘Hall of Fame’ - which was
impressive to say the least.
It was a real experience, when we all went on
‘ride alongs’ with separate officers from the
Community Policing Unit of Green Bay. We were
told that this was based on the British model of
community policing, and you could definitely
see the similarities. From talking to the
officers you could tell that the problems
they faced were similar to ours in terms
of nuisance behaviour and with a small
proportion of the community doing a
large proportion of the offending. We
also got to see their new squad cars which are
all fitted with computers in the front, plastic
cages in the back and a plastic shell, instead of
a rear seat, for easy cleaning!
That evening, an IPA meet and greet night had
been set up. It was a really good turnout with
numerous officers of varied rank and even
federal agents popping in to say hello to the
‘British Bobbies’.
The following morning, we were taken to the
shooting range. Here we were allowed to try
pistols, rifles and a shotgun. Mike and Simon
impressed with their accurate shooting and
Dean fell in love with the Benelli shotgun. I on
the other hand, had a slightly different
relationship with this weapon. Having never
fired one before the first shot’s kick back
caused me to stumble and nearly fall over. It
also left me with a souvenir in the form of a
nice purple bruised shoulder!
This was in preparation for an ‘active shooter’
training session in an abandoned school. This
turned out to be my favourite part of the whole
trip. Once we arrived we were taught a few
simple tactics and then given face/eye shields
and airsoft guns - which felt very realistic. We
were then sent into the school to find the active
shooter whilst students from NWTC assisted in
screaming and playing the victims. We had to
clear rooms and progress up hallways in
order to ‘take out’ the shooter - it was a
lot of fun!
As a finale, we were taken for tours of
Sturgeon Bay police department and the
US coast guard station. We were shown
their facilities including the boats they
use to help protect the waters of
Sturgeon and Green Bay.
Once we arrived back from this we were
kindly invited to the family BBQ of a local
judge. Pumpkin Pie which was delicious
and topped off by some Irish dancing
from John’s daughter - which was great!
The last day of
this fantastic
trip had arrived.
All four of us
were gutted to
be going home.
We then said our
goodbyes and
left, all
disappointed we
couldn’t be
staying longer
but happy that
we got to take
part in such an
incredible IPA trip that left us with so many
good memories and newly acquired insight to
policing in the US. The kindness and generosity
of everyone we met, especially from John and
Joe, will be hard to match but we’ll be giving it
our best shot when our new friends come to
visit us in the UK in 2013!
Special thanks to Kevin and Liz from NWTC,
Katie and all the other students, and to all the
officers and police chiefs we met and who
expressed their condolences at the recent
tragedy in Manchester.
Chris Cowell, Hertfordshire branch
Training in the old school
Simon Hawkins - Inside one of the new patrol cars
Herts Go
Stateside
Chris Cowell received an email from IPA Hertfordshire branch
Chair, Mark Bullen, trumpeting an opportunity for four officers
from 9 Region to visit Region 56 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA to
experience policing and training over there! Chris explains what
happened next.
The four Hertfordshire members with their hosts
Police World Vol 58 No.1 2013 13
Article