PW_2_2024

Professional Development

At No.10

Emmy in Downing Street The Yard

At the stables

London Calling: Visitors from Wisconsin Sarah Charman, London North Branch As a fairly new IPA member, I became involved in hosting international visitors to London. In January we had some students from Wisconsin, who we took to a few interesting places in central London.

I have enjoyed hosting over the past few months .Having to explain how the Met and UK policing works to an international visitor, builds confidence, and shows how much I’ve learnt since I joined the job a year and a half ago. I encourage others to get involved. Here’s what Emmy had to say: “ I am a student at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, enrolled in the LEAD Law Enforcement Program. While on a study trip to London and Paris, I received a great opportunity to have a private tour of law enforcement organizations. I give a big thanks to Joseph Johnson, Alex Williams, and Sarah Charman for organizing this for us. With their support, we were able to visit the Prime Minister’s door and meet his cat, Larry.

We also had a conversation with a seasoned officer, about the differences between American and UK policing. After that we visited the Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police stables, to meet the work horses. We fed them mints, and learned how they are used within the police force. After meeting the horses, we toured a police station to learn about their different Task Forces. A police officer even took time to tell us his experience as a police officer, and what he carries to keep himself and the community safe. Lastly, we were taken for coffee, to debrief what we learned and what we found the most interesting. It was the best part of my study abroad trip, and I will be eternally grateful for this experience.”

Miami Vice in London Samuel Kendall, Essex Branch Nostalgic for the well-known TV series, I had the opportunity of finding out more about Miami and its inhabitants in December 2023.

P olice Captain Gladys Amato , from Miami-Dade Police Department, visited London with her two daughters and I had the pleasure of meeting them all. Gladys submitted an IPA travel form, and sought assistance from the London Reception Officers Alex Williams and Darren Hartigan. Several volunteers also stepped forward to assist and I was keen to get in on the action too, as my first volunteering experience with the IPA. I knew that IPA member Dan Thomas, had assisted them a few days before my involvement, so I decided to treat them to a walking tour of Central London. I met Gladys outside Westminster tube station, which gave great delight to them, exiting the tube station and seeing Parliament and Big Ben, right in front of us. From that moment we made a two and a half hour whistle-stop tour around the busy capital, taking in the sights from New Scotland Yard, all the way to Bond Street and all the attractions in between. The bussle of London’s streets provided a spectacle to Gladys and her daughters. They quickly acclimatised, and found themselves preferring London to Miami in many ways. The clash of culture and architecture was awe inspiring for them, as they continually lamented

about how aw-struck they were by it all. I gave them some facts about London, which I knew and had researched. I was able to answer lots of questions they had about living and working in the UK. Stopping for food, Gladys and her daughters discussed the culture of America, and we compared those differences with Miami, which I found very interesting. They even managed to learn a few British slang words too, which led to much laughter. Sadly, even after a break for refreshments, Gladys and co where exhausted, so my tour came to an end. Even just seeing a quarter of Central London for Gladys and her daughters was a true delight. They were extremely grateful! Although our encounter was brief, it was a genuine pleasure for me to end 2023 on such a high. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them, and was delighted to have had the opportunity to show them some of my home city - that’s what makes London so special. Importantly I now have friends in Miami, Florida, and am guaranteed a great American welcome when I visit there one day. I highly recommend trying out volunteering for the IPA and showing visitors around your local areas, after all the IPA is ’ Service through Friendship’

POLICE WORLD Vol 69 No.2, 2024

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