PW_1_2019

IPA News

Riding with the Mounties Garth Minton , BTP Branch For my third visit to Vancouver, in beautiful British Columbia, Canada, I wanted to do something IPA related. I had always fancied doing a ride-along, so through the IPA I reached out to Mike Liu, a RCMP sergeant in Surrey, just outside Vancouver. Mike has a long career with the RCMP and was able to facilitate my visit to his RCMP police station. On a typically wet Vancouver day I met Mike, who had not been sure whether ride-along would be possible. I was very happy when he pulled some strings and my ride-along was authorised. Mike told me this was a rare occurrence with the Mounties. At the Surrey RCMP base I was introduced to the shift Sergeant and Inspector and paired up with Constable Chris Weber. He took me on a whistle-stop tour of their huge facilities, with a control room, exhibits store and custody suite. Then, we crewed up in a patrol Ford Crown Victoria and set off to see the not so salubrious areas of Surrey.

The RCMP are Canada’s national Police Force, a bit like the French Gendarmerie. But I learned that they also perform more routine duties in areas that have no police department, effectively becoming the local police force. Chris and I discussed the many similarities in policing our two countries, each with increasingly diverse and growing communities. The time flew by and eventually I was returned to Mike, who was kind enough to take me for lunch via a small detour to the RCMP British Columbia HQ to exchange some patches. We parted with hopes for future IPA exchanges and I was once again reminded of the unique opportunities that membership of the IPA can offer.

European Police Football Championship: Prague Graham Reynolds , West Mercia The European Police Football Championships are held every four years, with a preliminary knockout fixture drawn home or away, before gaining a place in the actual competition. The British team was successful in defeating France 2-0 in our preliminary game, which led us to the finals in the Czech Republic. The actual competition was packed into four days, with the British team taking on Germany, Holland and Finland. Before the first game we had a free day, which we used for a thoroughly enjoyable visit to the centre of Prague. This is a beautiful city, with historic buildings of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque design. Its open squares intermingled with quaint alleyways, churches and government buildings, full of beautiful paintings and carvings. Moving on to the football: the British team got off to a fine start winning 5-0 against Holland, but then went down 2-3 to Finland and finally we were defeated by Germany. The other group contained Bulgaria, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Southern Ireland and we were able to watch several games of entertaining football. Although the British team won their quarter final 1-0 against Slovakia, we failed to qualify for the finals on goal difference. Having said that, the team acquitted themselves exceptionally well and we were proud and privileged to support them. Whilst at the competition, I was able to promote the Association and I was pleased to find that many officers at the competition were already members or were interested in joining. My wife and I were joined in Prague by the IPA West Mercia Branch Treasurer and Vice Chair, Aidan Goundry. All of us involved in bringing the team to Prague are grateful for the grant awarded by West Mercia Branch.

In Memory of Stanley Barber Denis Hunt , Secretary, South Wales Branch On 11th October, 2018, the IPA lost one of our longest serving members. Stanley (Stan) was born in London on 6th November, 1926 and as WWII dawned he was drafted into the coal mines as a Bevan Boy. In 1954 he joined what is now the British Transport Police. On his first day as a qualified officer, a form was pushed in front of him by the Inspector with an instruction to ‘sign this’. And so began Stan’s membership of the IPA as member No 407. He had fond memories of meeting Arthur Troop in his early days of membership. In 2015 Stanley was awarded a Certificate for 60 years in the IPA. He was also made an Honorary Life Member. Stan took a short break from BTP, performing his National Service in the Royal Military Police. Then, in 1963, having returned to the BTP, Stan met his wife Sue, who was also working in the Force. As a Chief Inspector he oversaw the withdrawal of BTP from the ferry port at Fishguard after Sealink dispensed with police services. Then, in 1985, Stan withdrew the police from most of South Wales’ ports, when Associated British Ports were privatised. He retired from the BTP on 6th July 1985 when he was able to enjoy his many hobbies including hockey, plus their second home in Spain. Stan’s latter years were sadly plagued with severe ill health and he was confined to a special adapted bed at his home with round the clock help from his wife Suzanne and a wonderful team of professional carers. The IPA and South Wales Branch have each now lost a true friend and supporter. We are pleased to say that Suzanne has accepted our invitation to take on an Extraordinary Membership and so continue joining in with local and Region activities.

POLICE WORLD Vol 64 No. 1, 2019

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