PW_4_2018

Vol 63 No.4 2018

The magazine of the International Police Association, Section UK www.ipa-uk.org

Lottery Winners See Page 27

International Youth Gathering See Page 10

InternationalPoliceAssociation SectionUK

EntryForm OverLeaf

Belton Woods Hotel (near Grantham) Wednesday, 5th and Thursday, 6th June, 2019

1 Night DB&B, Roll, 2 Rounds of Golf, Soup & Sandwiches. £106 2 Nights DB&B, Roll, 2 Rounds of Golf, Soup & Sandwiches £192 2 Nights DB&B, Roll, 3 Rounds of Golf, Soup & Sandwiches £200 Single Room supplement of £30pp/pn. This year we have two very distinct championship courses. Play the Lakes Course where water hazards are a very tricky obstacle, or the shorter Woodside course, which proves equally challenging as it runs alongside the forested estate. Remember, a Team of 4 can represent their Region for the Team prizes. Only one named Team per Region. Where a Region has insufficient players to make up a Team, they can join up with players from other Regions. Individuals can enter for the Individual Competition. All team players are automatically included in the Individual Competition. Please email me at the earliest opportunity so I can ensure sufficient rooms and tee times have been reserved. If there any questions, feel free to contact me. Email : yvonnemmcgregor@gmail.com Yvonne McGregor, VP, Sports and Social Portfolio IPA Section UK Clothing Range Available to Order Section UK have created their own clothing store currently selling polo shirts, hoodies and jackets. All products are sold with the IPA Section UK logo and can also be personalised. The current product range can be viewed below.

Polo Shirt £16 + P&P

Hoodie £26 + P&P

Jacket £35 + P&P

Ladies Polo Shirt £16 + P&P

Sweater (ladies or men’s) £25 + P&P

Colour Variations Available

For detailed product descriptions visit the website or contact IPA HQ - Section UK by phone 0115 9813638 For overseas orders contact Richard Mattinson direct at ‘Stitch & Print’ on 00 44 16973 43546 or office@stitchandprint.co.uk

Mail Order: To order a polo shirt, hoodie, jacket or jumper visit: http://ipauk.stitchandprintstore.co.uk/ For all other items visit: www.ipa-uk.org/Shop . Items can be ordered by email, telephone or in writing to the International Police Association, IPA HQ - Section UK, 1 Fox Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 6AJ with a cheque made payable to ‘IPA’. Payment can also be made via a PAYPAL account.

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POLICE WORLD Vol 63 No. 4, 2018

Contents Police World The magazine of the International Police Association, Section UK

Vol 63 No.4 2018

Keeping You Informed 4 Keeping You Informed Clive Wood, President of Section UK 5 World Congress 2018 Pete Connolly, Secretary General Section UK Professional Development

Editorial Neil Hallam e-mail: mail@neilhallam.com Deadline for article submission for Vol. 64 Edition 1, 2019 is 16 November, 2018 . Dispatched January 2019.

Spotlight on the Defensive Tactics Group (DTG) 6 Police Street Survival Training course – IBZ Gimborn Chris Duncombe 7 Defending America – The Defensive Tactics Group Crosses the Atlantic Ken Pennington 8 Street Gangs to Organised Crime Neil Hallam Editor Cultural Corner 11 Gimborn’s first Writer’s Seminar – I know nothing about writing Neil Hallam – Editor I’m a writer too Mike Baker, South Wales Branch Members’ Day 12 All aboard the Skylark Denis Hunt, South Wales Branch Feature Articles 9 Twinning with Section Ireland Denis Hunt, Secretary, Wales Region 9 IPA nights at the Tower of London Clive Wood; President of Section UK 10 International Youth Gathering Sean Hannigan 12 Have you seen my Classic Car? Denis Hunt, Secretary - South Wales Branch 13 An Inspector Calls Mike Vince, Thames Valley Branch 14 Visit to Holyhead by Ghiora Szabo of Section Israel Bill Rogerson MBE, North Wales Branch 50th anniversary IPA Voralberg, Austria Richard Lock Sussex Branch 15 Golfing at Blairgowrie / Derbyshire Long Service Yvonne McGregor; Section UK VP 16 - 17 Nottinghamshire UK Branch 60th Anniversary Celebration Gurmit Kaur, Nottinghamshire Branch 17 The IPA circle of friendship continues to grow Tony Berrington, Nottinghamshire branch. 25 Volunteers in Policing / Volunteer police cadets; celebration day at House of Lords Fred Rankin, Leicestershire Branch Police volunteers award evening Tony Collins, Chairman of Leicestershire 26 Gibraltar Section welcome Avon & Somerset Colin Girdlestone and Sue Read 28 What a difference a day makes – The IPA Executive supports the UK C.O.P.S Survivors Weekend and Lawride Clive Wood; President Section UK 28 Paul gets an Iron Butt Paul Owen, Motorcycle Special Interest Group 29 Much more than “24 hours from Tulsa” Jim Bayliss, Central Scotland 18-24 News 27 Competitions WIN one of these books published by David Tetlow & Richard Allen 30 Classifieds 31 Diary

Advertising Michele Rai tel: (+44) 115 981 3638 e-mail: michele.rai@ipa-uk.org

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General enquiries IPA HQ - Section UK, 1 Fox Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham. NG2 6AJ tel: (+44) 0115 981 3638 e-mail: mail@ipa-uk.org Printed by Bishops Printers, Walton Road, Portsmouth,

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Hampshire PO6 1TR Graphic Design by BDS 21 Ltd Membership

A guide to Region numbers 1 - Scotland Region 2 - Northern Ireland Region 3 - North of England including Isle of Man Region 4 - Wales Region 5 - Midlands Region 6 - Central and West London Region 7 - South & Southwest including the Channel Islands Region 8 - East Anglia Region 9 - Northern Home Counties and North and Northwest London Region 10 - Essex and East London Region 11 - Southern Home Counties and South London Region In Section UK, the membership comprises serving and retired Police Officers, Special Constables and members of Police Staff employed by a Chief Constable or other appropriately designated Chief Officer of the Police Service. The Section has a unique mixture of police personnel who are still serving, retired, or in some instances, who have voluntarily resigned from the police service. For details of who can join Section UK, go to www.ipa-uk.org/Join-Us Joining the IPA is FREE* and annual renewal is £28. Visit the website to learn about our promotional offers. To apply either visit www.ipa-uk.org or request an application form from the general enquiries team *terms and conditions apply.

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Cover Photo International Youth Gathering Next deadline 16 November 2018 for publication January 2019

POLICE WORLD Vol 63 No. 4, 2018

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ISSN No: 0032-261X

Keeping you informed

Keeping you informed It seems like only yesterday I was writing this article to inform you of my delight in being appointed new President for the Section. It struck me that it’s about 100 days since I was appointed.

In America they set great store on the likely success of a President’s term of office by reviewing his first 100 days. I said that I wanted to meet as many of you as possible and I’ve been very lucky to attend a number of events where I have been able to do just that.

W e have now held our first full NEC meeting. The sheer volume of work meant that we had little time left for my planned development session but we did identify some issues to face including recruitment and retention, member benefits, and our home at Fox Road in Nottingham. No quick fixes here but work is progressing well. You may know that we now have a Young Members Forum chaired by Martin Turner (BTP). Together with a small group of colleagues he is now actively developing opportunities to support wider recruitment of younger members. Section UK hosted the International Youth Gathering with young people from around the globe joining us. The event was led by Vice President Sean Hannigan and I was delighted to present him with a Presidential Award at the farewell event in Nottingham. I know I have been heavily advertising the professional development opportunity Street Gangs to Organised Crime which was hosted recently at Leicestershire Police HQ. I’m pleased to say it was a tremendous success. Full to capacity, and I was really pleased that we were joined by colleagues from so many other sections. I was delighted to meet so many of you, with over 100 members attending the Region 5 motor racing event at Mallory Park, where I presented the Peter Goodwin Memorial Cup to the winner of the IPA sponsored race. An excellent day and another fantastic member benefit. The following Sunday I tried Clay pigeon shooting at the annual event hosted by Region 10 in Essex. Not as easy as it looks, but it was good fun. There really is something for everyone in this association.

as soon as we have made a decision. My thanks to Region 1, Region 2, and Region 7 all of whom have strongly developed friendship weeks planned for 2020. I’m sure it will be an excellent year but there is much work to do before that. Next week I’m off over to Gimborn to co-host a seminar on Organised and Gang Related Crime with our Polish colleagues. There are some excellent opportunities for professional development or personal interest, and remember that Section UK supports attendance at Gimborn with a £200 bursary every other year and many regions provide a travel grant on top of that. Full details of the seminars for 2019 are available on the website. So the first few months have been extremely busy. It always seems the only thing I’m short of, but can’t buy, is time! Thanks as always for your support. Clive

I have also just returned from my first World Congress which was held in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Our Secretary General Pete Connolly reports later on this event. Sadly, whilst we were in Rotterdam we learnt of the death of our London Reception Officer Bob McCormack. Many of you will have known Bob and the excellent work he gave to the Association. He was awarded Honorary Life Membership at this year’s NCM in Scotland. We were delighted to hear that Arthur Troop Scholarships were awarded to three members from Section UK. Well done to Simon Hensley, Jonathan Clark and Mark O’Donoghue. All will receive over €2000 to attend their chosen seminar. We look forward to hearing all about their adventures. I should perhaps mention that those applicants who did not secure an AT Scholarship will, if they wish, be entered for the Lincoln Award which was launched last year and sent Martyn Linton to America to develop his understanding around gang culture. We were also pleased to receive a Certificate of Merit on behalf of our former President Mick Luke presented by the International President Pierre- Martin Moulin in recognition of Mick’s work for the IPA. Well done Mick! Our Section UK website also won an award. To keep you updated with some of the plans for 2020, we remain in close contact with a cruise company to deliver an ‘IPA around the UK’ cruise. Thank you to those who have registered interest in the event. We have received one offer from the company that did not completely meet our needs and I asked what other itineraries they may be able to offer. I will, of course, keep you informed

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POLICE WORLD Vol 63 No. 4, 2018

Keeping you informed

© Hans Engbers/Shutterstock

World Congress 2018 Report Pete Connolly , Secretary General – Section UK This year’s World Congress was hosted by Section Netherlands on the SS Rotterdam , which is now a floating hotel moored in Rotterdam Port. It provided a grand location and sense of occasion to celebrate the friendship between our many sections. A fter an opening address by Pierre- Martin we were given a brief history of Rotterdam and were entertained by a IYG 2018

On the first evening Sections UK and Ireland co-hosted a Reception by the IPA Whiskey Forum. Each of the delegates and observers of the two sections donated a bottle to host our international friends. A fine social gathering, made more interesting by being on the deck of the ship. On Day two the Arthur Troop Scholarships were awarded. Section UK did exceptionally well, with prizes going to three of our members. Congratulations to Mark O’Donoghue, Jonathan Clark and Simon Hensley. A Gimborn report by René Kauffmann explained that their facilities suffered severe flood damage early this year. Happily, the seminar room and building have been refurbished to a high standard. Insurance covered the repair costs of over 200,000 Euros. IBZ is now 50 years old and they are holding a Celebration between Friday 30 August and Sunday 1 September 2019. Pete Connolly delivered a presentation produced by VP Sean Hannigan about our recent International Youth Gathering. Fred Boyd continued the Section UK theme with a presentation produced by VP Yvonne McGregor on next year’s Young Police Officer’s Seminar, which will be hosted at Tulliallan Castle.

Shanty Choir, made up of retired sailors. Thanks were given by the International President to Section UK’s Stephen Crockard for shouldering the extra responsibility of the Secretary General’s role on top of his Head of Administration role. This became necessary following the sad loss of George Katsaropoulos. Stephen said a brief word about George, his friend over many years, saying, “It was an honour to have known him, I will dearly miss him”. This was not the last of Stephen’s sad duties, as he later learned that Bob McCormack, our London Reception Officer had passed away earlier that day. Stephen advised on overall membership numbers worldwide, which have risen from 356,457 in 2017 to 360,910 in January of this year. While speaking about the International Admin Centre (IAC), Stephen advised Congress of their new website, which became necessary after many

World Congress Day Three began with money matters as Romain Miny delivered the Treasurer’s reports. Auditor Demitri Demitrous from Section Greece, advised the accounts to be professionally presented and correct in all details. Our Next World Congress The 2019 World Congress , is to be held between the 8th and 13th October 2019, in the Hotel Croatia, Cavtat, Croatia. Price: £910 single, £735 pp sharing double occupancy, full board. Transport to and from airport. 1 visitor trip. Section Spain will host the 2020 Congress in Barcelona on 6th to 11th October 2020. Full details will be available at WC2019.

cyber-attacks against the old website. Thanks was given to Andrea Quatinni, for his service as webmaster. He was awarded the IPA Silver Medal. Website awards continued to land in Nottingham, with Section UK winning a Gold Award.

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Professional Development

Spotlight on the Defensive Tactics Group (DTG) An introduction from Robert Stenhouse: A year ago, Joe Johnson (IPA US President) and I began the process of exporting the IPA Defensive Tactics Group (DTG) to America. I travelled to the US to help with a course in Green Bay, Wisconsin, during July. My thanks go out to the NEC and the Defensive Tactics Group, with whose help I was able to afford the flights.

T he day before our course, Joe showed me around the beautiful Green Bay area, which is roasting hot at this time of year but has frozen winters. I met with officers from Joe’s station at De Pere and from the local Sheriff’s Department. Over the next few days IPA members arrived from all over the world, 36 from 11 nations; Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Denmark, Brazil, Canada, USA, Germany and the UK. It was an amazing mix of people and cultures, which made a fascinating blend of people. The course programme included: active shooter, combat shooting, knife defence and open hand fighting skills. I kicked off with the first

presentation about the DTG. I must say I felt some pressure, but once started I became comfortable with the audience and got into a flow. I explained that the IPA-DTG techniques are formulated by police officers for police officers: with minimum input and maximum output, that are easily taught, easily trained, easily remembered, easily recalled under stress and not gender specific. It is the objective of the Professional Commission to expand the DTG to every Section. It is free to join and if anyone is interested, please contact Robert Stenhouse - robert.stenhouse@sky.com - for more information.

Police Street Survival Training course IBZ Gimborn Chris Duncombe In July Chris Duncombe was at Gimborn for a course that taught him a whole range of self-defence, active terrorist drills and more. Chris said “It was easily one of the best courses I’ve ever done.” I arrived on the Sunday before the course started, to settle in. The grounds are so peaceful, a real oasis. I spent the rest of with the skills we had learned before and how the psychology of situations affects both you and an assailant. After lunch was first aid skills for major incidents. Then it was into Cologne for dinner and some tourist shopping.

the day in the honesty bar getting to know the others who turned up early. There were officers from everywhere, from South Africa to Finland. Everyone moans about kit and training though, so some things are universal. Day 1 We started with introductory lectures, then onto the Explosive Self Defence System, a method developed by the DTG. This was about gross motor skills to gain control in a defensive situation.. Day 2 The first half of the day was about being in a fight or flight situation. After lunch was a talk about the point shooting technique developed in Shanghai. Only three of us did not routinely carry fire arms so I was apprehensive about this bit. I needn’t have been though, within two hours I was shooting (air soft pistols in lieu of real ones) just as well as everyone else. Day 3 started with knife defence skills, building on day one. I learnt new skills that have given me real confidence in my work. Again, it linked in

Day 4 was fun all the way through. We started with a presentation on marauding terrorist attacks, followed by a practical exercise on defending a room. After lunch it was onto a selection of scenarios to test our knowledge. These were difficult but so much fun including hiding in a dark basement with a hostage and knife attacks in a domestic. Then there was an evening BBQ and beers to round it all off. Day 5 This was a debrief morning, with most people having to get flights at various times. Glorious sunshine helped the sore heads and the goodbyes to new friends. Overall the course has been fantastic, I have learnt so much. I can’t wait for next year and massively recommend it to everyone, regardless of fitness or ability.

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Professional Development

Defending America: The Defensive Tactics Group Crosses the Atlantic Ken Pennington

With the help of a £300 bursary from the IPA, Ken Pennington crossed the Atlantic to take in both the Young Police Officers’ Seminar (YPOS) and the Defensive Tactics Group’s (DTG) first trans-Atlantic course. I spent my first day in Chicago sightseeing , attending a Chicago Cubs Baseball game at Wrigley’s Field and climbing up the Willis After a dinner of pizza we headed to a nearby gym to have a go on the MILO use of force simulator, using laser enabled Glocks to deal with scenarios such as domestic violence, active shooters, suicidal persons and traffic stops. Amazingly all of my shots hit the target! fun! After lunch we used one of the houses in the ‘town’ to practice room clearing, building containment and various tactics, moving inside and out of the building. We also watched Jefferson

Tower. I had submitted an IPA Travel Form and local members supplied tourist tips for the city. That evening I was collected in a Chicago Police Department Ford Interceptor SUV. Officer Kane and his partner took me out for a ride along. I was equipped with body armour and although offered a Taser (I hope in jest) I was confident the heavily armed officers I was with could protect me! We toured the roughest areas of the district, popped by Barack Obama’s family home and ended with the ‘Breaded Steak Challenge’ which consisted of a baguette rammed full of bread crumbed steak,

County SWAT team practice on the house next door including blank rounds and flashbangs. They practiced their scenarios over and over again throughout the morning at full intensity and speed, with actors playing the ‘bad guys’. For dinner that evening, Kenyan members cooked us a traditional meal, delicious and extremely generous of them. Plates were literally licked clean. The fifth day began with tactical shooting on the indoor ranges at Fox Valley Technical College.

Day two covered suicide bomber behaviour, terrorist attack methodology, and explosives, from the Toronto Transit Police. It was also time for photos in our ‘formal’ uniforms. It is always interesting to see the differences in styles across the world. Day three had participants split into two groups. First of all one group headed off to a local

cheese and marinara sauce. I couldn’t finish it! The ride along enabled many discussions around the policing challenges and differences between London and Chicago. The four or five ‘shots fired’ calls we attended told a grim story, especially when coupled with three armed robberies in the space of a few hours. The next morning I took a Greyhound Coach up to Green Bay, via Milwaukee. Day one started with an amazing breakfast cooked by the Brown County 911 dispatch ladies. Then we headed to the lecture theatre for a welcome by Joe Johnson, President of Section US and an overview of DTG from Rob Stenhouse. Introductions were followed by a really interesting talk on narcotics, crime scenes and drug trends from Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Keil - an expert in the field and author of a book full of useful info. After a lunch of sub sandwiches we had talks on human trafficking and sex offending from Brown County Sheriff Office Sergeant Matt Wilson and social worker Dawn.

shooting range. We were shown around the County SWAT truck and then got to fire some of their carbines from the truck door and roof turret. Then we did some tactical shooting with a variety of handguns from .22 up to .45 calibre. The afternoon consisted of a defensive tactics input, focusing on unarmed combat and knife defence tactics, from the very capable and experienced Rob Stenhouse. The skills he taught were effective and something all officers should receive, particularly in the UK where we often don’t have a Taser or a firearm to hand. On the fourth day we visited the amazing facility of Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, where Law Enforcement, Fire and EMS staff from across the state of Wisconsin learn their trade and carry out CPD. The facilities were fantastic and included a full sized jumbo jet, derailed train, tunnels, trenches and a small town. The morning session focused on vehicle ambush tactics including how to defend yourself from a vehicle and how to use tactical cover. I even got to drive the Dodge Patrol Car at speed across the skid pan - amazing

Practice on the rifle and handgun from various positions was carried out with expert guidance from Brown County Sheriff’s Department Officers. After lunch we had an input from the FBI on how they tackle gangs, using Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs as an example. The fifth and final day marked the course coming to an end. As usual, it was terribly sad to say goodbye to all the lovely friends made through the IPA. Lots learned and unique memories made.

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Professional Development

Street Gangs to Organised Crime Seminar, held at Leicestershire Neil Hallam , Editor Arthur Troop envisaged a social network to unite police officers around the world. He achieved this vision, creating fantastic opportunities to travel and meet likeminded people. As the world became a much smaller place, with international travel available to many, another unexpected benefit arose out of our international fraternity. The benefit was the sharing of experience and good practice. With international borders becoming less of a barrier to criminals, the police needed to become more joined up and the IPA provided the perfect vehicle to achieve this. The Street Gangs to Organised Crime seminar, held at Leicestershire Police HQ was a fantastic example. T he day opened with our trans-Atlantic visitors , Brian Dale & Charles Ashaim, from the Portland Oregon Gang Enforcement Team. They began by saying “most visitors never see the side of Portland began in gulags during Stalin’s reign. These are poor quality tattoos, done in prison, with Ink made by burning boot soles, diluting the residue in urine and straining through a bed sheet. Mark has published a book, called Thief in Law, which provides much more detail on the tattoos and their meanings.

we deal with”, which many of us could say about the cities we police. A compilation of videos posted by gang members on social media and CCTV of several carpark shootings, demonstrated just how blatant some of them can be. Brian described the gangs as “super empowered” saying they were not afraid to display their gang association, were armed at all times and always in packs. Steve Knight , from the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority, described his area of work as “slavery in its most pure form”, saying the Gangmasters control lives, take their wages and keep them in captivity. The difficulty of Steve’s work is highlighted by what one worker told him; “I know I’m being exploited, but I can send £100 per week back to Romania. I would only get £30 back home” Dave Magrath spoke about organised immigration crime and its links to street gangs. He said that illegal immigration is not a victimless crime. Even without any criminality, it has a huge cost to taxpayers, through benefits and healthcare. Mark Bullen gave a fascinating insight on Russian organised crime and their tradition of prison tattoos. All Russian criminals who have been in prison have tattoos, which used to be rarely worn by other people in Russia. The tradition

DS Martyn Linton , of Surrey Police, told us about the County Lines problem with travelling drug dealers. Martyn described once being on the periphery of a London gang himself, until some of his friends were involved in a murder. That was his wake up call, which led to joining the police. His work has benefited from him winning an IPA scholarship to spend three days training with Florida Police on drug gangs. Other speakers included West Midlands Superintendent, Rich Agar, on his Operation Jigsaw youth crime project and Nathan Hancock, on the Street Doctors project, where Leicester medical students are teaching kids first aid skills to deal with street violence, and Dr Matt Hopkins, on academic perspectives on criminal gangs. It was a fantastic day’s programme, through which I learned an incredible amount. A big thank you to the speakers who gave us such an interesting day.

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Article

Twinning with Section Ireland Denis Hunt , Secretary, Wales Region

IPA nights at the Tower of London Clive Wood , President– Section UK I recently took advantage of our excellent member benefit in being able to attend the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. Members of the IPA have been able to enjoy this opportunity for many years which is not open to members of the public and includes access to the Beefeaters bar. T o ensure the event continued to be viable for the Warders opportunities to attend have been widened but the IPA night name still remains. Of course the Yeomen Warders themselves often choose to bring guests to supplement the numbers and enhance the ambience of the evening. I am grateful to Gary Egerton and his wife Doreen who now manage bookings for the event on our behalf. When a Branch or Region wish to organise a visit to the tower email to toweripa@yahoo.co.uk This will allow Doreen to check the diary to see when your group can be accommodated. I would recommend booking as early as possible. It is also important to note that there is a strict dress code for access and if this is not matched access may be denied. This would be embarrassing both for ourselves and the organisers. Gentleman wear a suit or collar and tie, and ladies wear a smart outfit. After the private tour by the Yeoman Warder, who will have given up their evening to take you around, you do get a chance to visit the bar. The prices are extremely reasonable and, again, the bar staff volunteer their time, so including them in your round as well as the Yeomen Warder would be a nice thing to do. To be very clear, there is no charge for access to this historic ceremony. I’m aware that some organising members charge an administration fee. Whilst that is a matter for individual members booking for the evening it is not a requirement of the IPA or The Yeoman Warders. Please do continue to support the event which is a significant member benefit for us and of course a really nice evening out. Gary and Doreen will give you all the details when booking but if you have any queries don’t hesitate to contact them directly or indeed myself.

During September, it was the privilege of Wales Region Executive, namely Chairman Ken Davies, Treasurer Clive Cowey and Secretary Denis Hunt, to be hosted in the town of Wexford by Section Ireland. The full and enthusiastic formal meeting was arranged to set up twinning facilities, initially between Dyfed Powys Branch and Tipperary Region, but it then progressed to similar links being set up for South Wales Branch and the Regions of Wexford and Waterford. W hat really came out of the meeting was the overwhelming enthusiasm in Ireland for the IPA, with about 60% of the Garda being active members. This amounts to a membership of over 7000. It was really encouraging to see that at the meeting of Region representatives, many were serving officers aged around 30 to 35. Much of this ‘rebuild’ of the IPA has taken place over the past 8 or so years, with members not simply being ‘signed up’ when they are new recruits at the national training school, but immediately becoming directly involved in the extremely wide range of social and professional development activities that are offered and heavily subsidised by Section Ireland. There is no doubt that much of this success flows from the support given by the Police service itself, with many senior serving officers being members. Although the membership fee is higher than the UK (currently €45), it is taken directly from the members monthly salary by the Force. The return by way of social and professional study subsidies more than compensates. South Wales Branch have been asked by the Wexford and Waterford Regions if we would consider a Friendship Visit to their area. They would be very keen on a small golf challenge, or a visit to the horse races in the Wexford area. Their annual Five a Side Football competition is open to all comers, with a holiday in Spain for the winning team! How can we match that? They would accept a team from Wales if we were to put it together for the competition this October, or alternatively for the 2019 event. For members who simply like to travel socially with their families or friends, please be mindful of the fact that Section Ireland has currently available at least six IPA ‘houses’ (usually quality apartments) that can be rented. Some are only available on a single week hiring; others such as Dublin are on a daily booking. The recently upgraded apartment at Wexford, based in a most desirable location on the edge of the town is around €25 pp per night for members, slightly higher for non-members. Obviously they are on a self-catering basis only. The Accommodation link at the IPA Section Ireland website provides an excellent description and photograph of each property. So that is Section Ireland, with a membership that is young, frighteningly enthusiastic towards the IPA, full of ideas and itching to become involved with their neighbours across the water.

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Article

International Youth Gathering Sean Hannigan Section UK VP Section UK hosted this year’s International Youth Gathering at Walesby Forest Scout Centre, Nottingham. We welcomed 45 young people from over 25 countries, with two team leaders travelling from Canada and Russia.

T he young people were met at the airport and transported to the wonderful land of Robin Hood County. Harvey Whittam was responsible for the transport organisation of the large group from five different airports. After successfully navigating their way to Nottinghamshire, a wonderful adventure began where cultures and languages began to live with each other and learn from each other to become One IYG. The specially made IYG 2018 Banner travelled everywhere IYG went including Oxford, Trent Bridge, Halstead Abbey and Fox Road. Keeping young people active and interested was one purpose of IYG and we found building a raft was just as useful as building relationships through a common language. Luckily all the rafts were robust enough to sail into the sunset. Eating out UK style and eating in were important factors of the IYG. The youngsters had already started to bond and appreciate each other’s cultures, backgrounds and taste in cuisine. Sharing different foods and being able to chat was a regular feature of IYG Life.

Without the help of IPA members from across the UK the IYG would not have been the success it was. The award of a certificate of recognition at World Congress was testament to the hard work members put in. Well done to everyone and a big thank you from me for a fabulous IYG. Thanks go to Bill Lloyd, Henryk Kowalczuk, Tom Chisholm, Gary Campbell, Stewart Leask, Edwin Cook, Tony Granger, Andre Bak, Terry (John) Barnett, Simon Crane, Gary Carroll, Yvonne McGregor, Phil Gilliver, Dax Byrne-Turner, Wes Marchant, Ian Hague, Derek Langtree, Owen Rumbold, Alan Coltman, Paul Devlin, Nigel Heywood, Steve Gale, Grace Whittam, Rob Stenhouse, Steve Bretherton, Jean LeBlanc, Irina Konobeevskaia, Lucy Stenhouse and Harvey Whittam.

Visits to places of historic and cultural interest were arranged such as Stratford upon Avon, Oxford and the well-known Stately home where Byron lived, Halstead Abbey. We experienced a real slice of Old England through the centuries. In Oxford the Chief Constable even sent down four Police Officers to meet and greet IYG 2018. Hats and helmets were tried on and many selfie pictures were taken. No visit to the UK would be complete without going to the Home of the IPA at Fox Road and meeting members of Section UK and the International Administration Centre. We were delighted to be met and hosted by Clive Wood. At IYG we also wanted to ensure that some practical skills could be taken away by everyone, so we arranged specialist trainers to come in and teach medical aid and defensive tactics under the guidance of Rob Stenhouse. One of the most challenging but enjoyable sessions was a Drama Workshop which really tested the Cultural Professional and Social side of the IYG participants. This was a great success and run by the Actress Sarah Crofts, stepdaughter of our own Andy Gregory.

Next Year IYG takes place in Croatia August 03 to 19 so look out for the advert and booking forms.

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POLICE WORLD Vol 63 No. 4, 2018

Cutlure Corner

I know nothing about writing By Neil Hallam – Editor That was Sean Hannigan’s opening remark at the very start of Gimborn’s first writers’ seminar. By Friday of that week, we all knew considerably more than we did on the Monday. F or anyone who does not know, Gimborn is an educational charity , run as an offshoot of the IPA. It is set in the most beautiful of German mountain settings in a historic castle and its associated buildings. Apart from the seminar participants, the population of Gimborn is about 24, making it the perfect location for undisturbed study and relaxation. Sean first became involved with Gimborn under his umbrella as the VP in charge of Professional aspects. The regular programme of courses of Serious and Cross Border Crime fit very well into his professional portfolio. The German Police make regular use of the Gimborn seminars, recognising this with significant levels of State funding. Although Section UK members were attending Gimborn, they did so in much smaller numbers. A change in VP role for Sean in picking up the Cultural portfolio presented an opportunity to change this, with the addition of some less procedural courses. A chance conversation with Sean at the 2017 National Conference in Durham sowed the initial seed for this seminar, when Sean realised there were several of us within the IPA who had successfully transferred our police experience into books. So, 18 months from this seed of an idea, we sat in Castle Gimborn, among an international group of IPA members, with varying levels of writing and publishing experience. I was among the group of presenters, brought along to share our experiences with the aspiring writers. I remember thinking: if people had travelled from England, Ireland and even the USA to hear me speak, then I would have to be interesting. Conversations with my fellow presenters revealed similar thoughts when we learned how far our audience had travelled. Our presenters were: Neil Hallam , writer of four novels and two non-fiction books. Peter Playdell , (aka John Halden) writer of several children’s novels David Lewis , non-fiction writer and Cruise Ship speaker Ernie McCall , writer of niche non-fiction about the Royal Irish Constabulary in the early 20th century. Then a double act of writer Mark Thompson and publisher Clare Christian took us through the entire process of writing Mark’s first novel, submitting it to agents and publishers, eventually being accepted by Clare’s Red Door publishing company. Rather than a traditional Gimborn seminar, of listening to speakers, our seminar moved between presentations and practical exercises. The whole week’s program was kept fluid to develop with our participant writers as they gained confidence. A second Writers Seminar is planned for 11th to 15th November 2019, where writing for magazines and screen will be added to the program. There is also a desire to start a Writers’ Special Interest Group – For more info, please contact Sean Hannigan at vphannigan@ipa-uk.org or 97828 261174.

I’m a writer too Mike Baker , South Wales Branch I was among several serving and retired police officers who attended a writer’s seminar at Gimborn, Germany. Gimborn is a wonderful old castle and is owned by a local Baron who leases it to the IPA. The centre is located about 30 miles from Cologne. T his particular seminar was focused on the skills required to be an effective writer, not just for writing a book, but articles for magazines and children’s books. The participants came from the UK, the USA and Germany. There were several published writers who gave freely of their time, each of whom were retired or serving officers and they gave advice on writing for each of their genres. There were also representatives of publishing companies who explained the difficulties attached to the process of getting any article or book published. This was a week long course and everyone was accommodated at the castle. We were treated well with en-suite rooms and regular meals, and there was also a bar which became an additional meeting place where we could not only have a beer but discuss the issues brought up during the lectures. Each of us took an active role in producing articles for discussion, which were commented on by those running the event. This proved to very useful and enabled each of us to critically examine our own skill and ability. At the end of the seminar everyone left feeling that it was a very worthwhile endeavour and asked for it to be run again in 2019. I for one enjoyed the event tremendously and will be returning next year. Well done Gimborn.

Members’ Day Saturday 15 December at Fox Road

IPA UK HQ will be open from 1100 to 1600 this year where any Branch or Region can pop in and use Our Home to see their Branch archives and have a nice cup of tea or coffee and also present 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60 year Certificates. O ur President Clive Wood will be there from 1400 to 1600 too. Afterwards we will be going to COSMO in Nottingham for a bite to eat. Please contact Sean for further details. Brian Kennedy will be present to record further Oral History.

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Culture Corner

‘All aboard the Skylark’ Denis Hunt , South Wales Branch

10 am on Monday, 3rd September was a beautiful sunny time of day for members of the South Wales and Dyfed Powys Branch to launch a raid across the Channel (Bristol Channel that is) on the good ship ‘Waverley’, led by our ‘dastardly Captain’ Ken Davies. T he mighty vessel ‘Waverley’ is the last remaining operational passenger paddle steamer in the world and was built in

were all somewhat chilled from the fresh belting wind bearing down upon us from the mouth of the River Severn. In fact we were all so glad to eventually get on board and down into the café area for warming coffee that any thoughts of moaning to the crew went out of the portholes.

regarding various steam locomotives and equipment that we passed along the route. However, it was a glorious one and a half hours of the clickety-clack of the train running along the rail track, clouds of lovely smelly steam working its way into our carriages and the constant sound of the train whistle. Ah, the memories of lost youth from years gone by. So arriving at Bishops Lydeard we then boarded buses for a final journey up into Clevedon where, in theory, we would have a relatively short journey back across to Penarth. Another slug of grog in the nearby pub seemed an ideal way to pass the time until 8.15pm when our lovely lady of the seas would be waiting at the end of the pier. 8.15pm arrived and strangely there was no lovely lady of the sea in sight. In fact, typical of a lady, she kept us waiting until she sailed out of darkness and into harbour at around 9pm as if nothing was wrong. By this time we

1946 to replace her predecessor that was sunk at Dunkirk whilst attempting to evacuate troops. Our destination this morning was initially to be the coastal town of Minehead. As we sailed out of the small town of Penarth near Cardiff, the sun gave its best, but the further we got to the English coastline the bleaker, windier and damper it became. The rain kept hitting us intermittently over the next few hours, when finally we all gathered at the small railway station and boarded the West Somerset Steam Train for a superb rattle along the tracks down to the end of the line at Bishop Lydeard. There is nothing more entertaining than being on a steam train, surrounded by passengers who seemed constantly content to bore their female partners with information

Have you seen my Classic Car ? Denis Hunt , Secretary - South Wales Branch

South-Wales member Howard Yeoman recently put forward a suggestion for a Classic Car Section in this area. Emails and Facebook entries were circulated throughout the Region and also Section UK, with feedback from an initial six or more members. T aking advantage of the Branch monthly coffee morning meeting in Cardiff, Howard invited members to bring their vehicles and use the opportunity to talk much intelligent talk about spark plugs, tappets, distributors, oil pressures and many other such enthralling subjects

that only people who own these wonderful machines would ever talk about. And so, the inaugural meeting of the South Wales Branch Classic car section was born. Any new members and machines would be more than welcome to join with us. Then, cups of coffee in the garden centre to round off the morning, with one member even slightly agreeing to put together a Branch Treasure hunt for a future social event. All said and done, a very enjoyable morning.

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Article

Reliant Regal (“Trotters - Fools & Horses”) Gennaro with daughter Francesca

Mounted Section Sergeant with Gennaro and Superintendent Hitch with “Odin”

“An Inspector Calls ” Mike Vince , Treasurer Thames Valley Branch Coldstream Guards, HM Queen Elizabeth’s Keys, a police station and ‘Trotters’ Reliant Regal - what is the common denominator? These are some of the requested itinerary items for our IPA Italian visitor, Ispettore

Superiore, Gennaro Palumbo and his wife Marina. G ennaro is Il Commandante (Senior Inspector) Carabinieri , of his own station in Serra De Conti, Ancona, which is on the east coast of Italy and south of San Marino. Mike met up with the Palumbos at Heathrow and drove them to his home in Buckingham for their next few days. Tea and cakes in the sunny garden upon arrival and the exchange of gifts completed the introductions. Then Maggy Vince prepared a special meal for the visitors, who retired to bed reasonably early as they had been up at 4.30 am to catch their flight from Bologna. Next day, - Day 2 After breakfast we took our guests to Bicester rail station and onwards to London. First port of call was the Guards Museum in Birdcage Walk and a very informative visit, with Gennaro soaking up all details. During a brief visit to the front of Buckingham Palace they saw a Household Cavalry detachment escorted by two Metropolitan Police mounted officers leaving the Palace. Making use of London travel cards, we took them by underground to North Greenwich and a “flight” in the Emirates cable car across the River Thames. The usual touristy visits included the now demolished New Scotland Yard, the new location for NSY on the Embankment, Downing Street and a quick chat with the armed Police guarding the infamous gates there and finally a unique evening visit to the Tower of London for the IPA Guest night - Ceremony of the Keys.

the Superintendent and all of us using our smart phones with “Google Translate”. Then there was a whirlwind tour of the Mounted Section stables, meeting four exceedingly tall horses, then down in the dungeons - Custody Suite - the Control Room and the CCTV monitoring room, culminating in a hands-on examination of an Armed Response vehicle. Branch member, Graham Tabersham now takes up the story for their Day 5… “I had the pleasure of hosting Gennaro & Marina Palumbo from Italy. Having myself only returned from a trip to Rome two days before, we had plenty to talk about through his daughter, Francesca, who served as translator. It was his wish to visit the British Motor Museum at Gaydon. Gennaro is something of a collector himself, with two VW Beetles a VW Camper and a Moto Guzzi Motorcycle. At Gaydon he was fascinated with the old cars and the cry of “Look!” followed by a loud burst of Italian was often heard with Francesca trying to keep up with the translation. Of all the cars on show the ones he liked the best were the 3 wheeled Reliants. He is shown beside a Royal Mail Reliant Super van version and possibly the most famous 3 wheeled van in the whole wide world (well, in the UK anyway): Del Boys Reliant Regal. I was surprised to learn that in addition to being used for “Only Fools and Horses” this vehicle has also appeared in films featuring “Mr Bean”.

Reliant Super (“Postman Pat”) Gennaro (left) with Graham Tabersham

So after a hectic week, Francesca drove her parents to London Heathrow for their return flight back to Italy. This was a “friendship visit” at its best. Gennaro’s “wish list” was honoured and more.

Day 3 fulfilled another item on Gennaro’s wish list - a visit to Milton Keynes Police Station hosted by Superintendent Yvette Hitch, where our party was entertained in the Superintendent’s office. Gennaro speaks little English, can understand most spoken English if said slowly but everything in the “communication world” went well with exchanges in Italian, some French spoken by

Gennaro wearing the Guards traditional Busby helmet

Gennaro and Marina in Emirates “flight” across the River Thames

Gennaro with Superitendent Hitch, Thames Valley Police, Milton Keynes

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Article

Visit to Holyhead by Ghiora Szabo of the Section Israel. Bill Rogerson . MBE, North Wales Branch North Wales Branch member Bill Rogerson took up the offer of acting as local guide to a member from Israel who was coming for a short stay in the area on a cruise ship. Here is Bill’s story. O ur Branch received an IPA Travel Form from Ghiora Szabo , a retired Police Officer from Israel, saying that he was

Communication was difficult, but with the aid of a translation App on my phone, the language barrier was broken down a little. Ghiora served for thirty years as a police officer in Israel, which he said was remarkable, as the life expectancy for police officers could be much less. It transpired that he was a rank equivalent of our own Inspector and he also served as a firearms instructor. He served for most of his career in the city of Karmiel, about 54 Km North- west of the port of Haifa. He joined the IPA in 1969 and has been a continuous member ever since. He travels widely around the world and wherever he goes he makes contact with IPA members. After our initial meet and greet I showed them around the port town of Holyhead and St Cybi’s

Church. Lunch was taken in a local café, after which I took them to my house for tea and biscuits and to meet my wife Shirley and two granddaughters. Sadly, it was soon time for Ghiora and Miriam to return to the ship and I took them back to Holyhead via a scenic route, taking in Trearddur Bay and South Stack. On arrival back in Holyhead it was time for one last look at St Cybi’s Church and finally back to the town’s railway station, where they caught the shuttle bus back to the ship. It was indeed a memorable day of international friendship and one to be remembered for a long time to come.

going on a round Britain Cruise which would dock in Holyhead. Ghiora requested a tour of Holyhead for himself and his wife Miriam. The day I met Ghiora and Miriam came after weeks of glorious sunshine but, this day was typically Welsh and rainy. Our first stop was a local cafe for coffee and an exchange of IPA and British Transport Police memorabilia, along with typical souvenirs from our respective countries. I discovered that Ghiora, who is now approaching 80 and Miriam, were both from Romania but left in 1965 when Ghiora was 26, because of the troubles in their country. They moved to Israel where Ghiora joined the police force.

50th anniversary IPA Voralberg, Austria Richard Lock Sussex Branch

My wife Yamila and I travelled to Feldkirch, a small medieval city on the western edge of Austria, for the anniversary celebrations of Voralberg province. We arrived first at Innsbruck and caught the westbound train enjoying spectacular alpine views, which according to Rough Guides “is one of the most scenic railway journeys in Europe.” O ur first full day started with a coach trip to Liechtenstein , wandering around the capital Vaduz. Our guide provided us with plenty of facts about the principality, but the fact that stuck was that there were more sports cars per head of population than anywhere else in Europe. I would like to say how impressed we were with the varied and entertaining anniversary event and the welcome and friendship shown to us by our Austrian ‘police family’. This welcome was also extended by the ordinary Austrian people themselves and we were met with unfailing courtesy and a willingness to help two foreigners with no knowledge of their language. An example of which was upon returning to Innsbruck Railway Station at the end of our holiday, we were given a lift to our hotel by a complete stranger my wife had engaged in conversation with on the platform.

We were treated to a demonstration of hostage rescue with plenty of screams from one victim as she was dragged by the masked perpetrators. The rescuers arrived carrying shovels and a ladder, creating confusion by hurling stun grenades. They smashed their way into the vehicle, pulling out the hostages and disabling the hostage takers. The drama continued with a police dog demonstration. The next day we visited the medieval Shattenburg castle, where a guide showed us how to use a spinning wheel, which took her a year to learn. My wife volunteered to try her hand at it, with limited success.

A flyer passed around at the Gala Evening advertised the 40th anniversary of IPA Verbindungsstellen, Innsbruck in March next year. I have already pencilled it in my diary.

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