Page 11 - police world Edition 3 2013

11 Police World Vol 58 No.3 2013
Article
As the Faroese are an island race, our branch
wondered if members from the Faroe Islands
would sail to Edinburgh. We then learned that
not only were they flying in, but that they had chartered
their own aircraft and sold off the extra seats to tourists.
Very clever - we decided they deserve to be honorary
Scots!
As about 40% of their police were in Edinburgh that
night, we joked that it would have been a good time for a
Faroese person to commence a life of crime.
I, as branch Chair, welcomed the guests with a short
speech - which included three sentences in Danish. In
the words of the late Eric Morecome – they were all the
right words – but not necessarily said in the right order.
At that point each person was given their own ‘See You
Jimmy’ hat, as an ice breaker. I was delighted our
Regional Chair, Andy Wright and his wife Shirley
attended along with fifteen of our own branch members
to greet the guests.
Our branch Vice Chair, Tom McInally, had prepared a
mounted and signed copy of his winning photograph of
the Forth Rail Bridge that appears in the IPA calendar
(see page 26) and that was presented to our visitors.
Other gifts included an IPA pennant, a water carafe and
two engraved whisky glasses from the branch.
A Scottish themed meal had been arranged at the
Mercat Bar, Edinburgh, owned by the son of a long
standing IPA member, Stuart Blaikie. The meeting,
greeting and eating of the haggis was a first for most of
our visitors. Our branch piper, John MacKintosh,
attended in full regalia and played our visitors into the
premises. He later dramatically addressed the haggis,
then plunged his dirk through it and it was then served
to those awaiting eagerly.
The next day, a group of eight interested Faroese
visitors were taken on a tour of St Leonards Police
Station, Edinburgh. Thanks must go to Chief
Superintendant Mark Williams, who authorised
this visit on pretty short notice, and to Neil Wilson,
who showed us round. This was the first visit of any
foreign police to the newly formed Police Scotland.
The visitors were impressed with the volume of
custodies dealt with and the duty of care extended to
prisoners. If they could, they would have taken home the
Edinburgh Live Scan system, which identifies a person
instantly after digitally reading their fingerprints. They
were also interested in the electronic personal digital
assistants (PDA’s) carried by our officers, which have
replaced paper notebooks - something the Faroese still
use. Their tour ended with their trying out the personal
safety equipment Scottish police are issued with and
carry in their vehicles.
The rest of their visit was taken up with sightseeing in
Edinburgh, which included a walk to the top of Arthur’s
Seat - an extinct volcano in the centre of the city with
breathtaking views.
Without doubt, Arthur Troop’s original intention, to
extend the bonds of friendship amongst police officers
throughout the world had been met by this visit. None of
this would have been possible without the hard work of
our Secretary, John Quinn, who works away tirelessly in
the background, so thank you to him.
If any branch anywhere, wants to visit Edinburgh, a
warm welcome awaits - just get in touch.
Rod McNeill, Lothian and Borders branch.
Faroese Facts
◙ Police in the Faroe Islands are
part of the Danish Police and
constitute an independent police
district headed by a Chief
Superintendent.
◙ The police district there has
approximately 170 employees, of
which 110 are Police officers.
◙ They have a population of 47,000
of which about half live in the
capital of Torshavn.
◙ You must be at least 21 years of
age to join the police there and
complete 37 years service before
becoming eligible for pension.
◙ The Police are all armed and any
citizen over 18 years can
purchase a shotgun, which they
do, and there is never any gun
crime.
Faroese First for
Police Scotland
Lothian and Borders branch hosted a group of 41 IPA members from the Faroe
Islands for a long weekend visit to Edinburgh.
Any branch interested
in visiting Edinburgh
should contact: lothian-
and-borders@ipa-uk.org
Left to right: Rod McNeill, Kristian Dahl, Karl Leonsson, Jan Poulsen,
Bjarni Nattestad, Runi Vesturklett, Ian Wilson and Herbert í Lon