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Professional Development

Bavarians Experience in London Simeon Coughlan , Sussex Branch

In March 2023, I was lucky enough to attend my first IPA trip to Denmark, where among many other International Officers I met Sam, a Police Officer from Bavaria. We kept in touch, so when Sam said that he was coming to visit London, with his girlfriend Johanna, in December, I jumped at the opportunity to meet up again. S ince I am based outside of London , it was time to call on friends and colleagues to make sure that Sam and Johanna got a chance to, not only enjoy their

Police Station in the City of London. It’s very fortunate that Jordan, a long time friend of mine works for the City of London. He pulled out all the stops to ensure Sam and Johanna got a picture of how the City of London works. It started with a visit to the Control Room, then a meeting with the Dog Unit, before heading out to go and watch a live deployment of their Operation Servator team. This gave Sam and Johanna a great opportunity to learn about the Counter Terrorism tactics used by the City of London, as well as potentially recruiting a few new members. We then returned to the Police Station and met with their Traffic Unit, where Jordan is based.

Having finished with Policing related activities, we met with my partner and went for an evening meal, before enjoying the Christmas lights on Regent Street. With plans made to meet up during the summer in Germany, we parted ways. This visit demonstrates the true ability and commitment of the IPA and Policing family, ensuring we afforded the best hospitality possible to Sam and Johanna.

time in London, but get to find out more about UK Policing. It wasn’t their first trip to London, so they had already covered most of the tourist sights. We agreed to meet up on two days of their stay. Starting on Tuesday afternoon, we met at the Civil Service Club, to enjoy a drink and exchange patches, which we collect on behalf of one another, before heading out to have a tour of Westminster. I’m not a big believer in fate, but by a stroke of luck, as we left the Civil Service Club, we bumped into a former colleague of mine who works at the Mounted Branch in Great Scotland Yard Stables. With a cheeky request from me, Kevin was happy to head back in after his shift, show them around the stables, introduce them to their horses, and talk about the work they do. Having finished our somewhat unexpected tour, we walked around Whitehall, going through the history of the area (special thanks to the IPA Whitehall Walk guide on the website), before heading to watch the Ceremony of the Keys. They both enjoyed the event and commented on how amazing the experience was. On Thursday we met again at the Civil Service Club, where a very reasonably priced breakfast was enjoyed. Then we met Alex, an IPA friend and the London Reception Officer. He was kind enough to give Sam and Johanna a tour of Charing Cross Police Station, as well as the vehicles we use in the UK. They also had a lengthy chat, sharing experiences with Officers from Charing Cross Response Team. Patches and gifts were exchanged, with hopefully some more members recruited to the IPA. Once we’d finished at Charing Cross Police Station, it was a quick trip over to Bishopsgate

POLICE WORLD Vol 69 No.2, 2024

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