I was fortunate enough to be selected to attend a last-minute exchange in Bonn, Germany which commenced on Thursday 3rd August. The three-night visits organised by Alex Williams (Region 9 London North Branch) are part of a new initiative to bring more professional development opportunities to serving IPA members this autumn. Reciprocal visits will see London IPA branches host a number of German police officers to experience some of the best policing and social opportunities during their three-day programmes.
IPA member Ryan Fitt and I were kindly picked up from the airport by the Commissioner of police Andreas Piastowski, who drove us to the Specialist Unit, BKE. We had a great input from the Deputy Head who outlined his unit’s role and responsibilities. This riot unit is also specialised in Armed Counter Terrorism Policing. They gave us a run-down of all the different responsibilities of the Bundespolizei for example: (Borders, Helicopters, Riot, GSG9, Close Protection etc.).
In the evening we were welcomed by the head of the local IPA. We introduced ourselves and talked about or roles before we all had dinner and chatted to all the members.
On Friday the day started off with a bang at the gun range. It was brilliant! Loads of bullets were fired with interactive moving targets. Our instructors were fantastic teachers and I only wish we had this technology available in The Metropolitan Police. A short visit to CID was next on the agenda. We were told how their unit worked and had a breakdown of what each department does before having an informative lesson with their Forensic officer. Important to note, is that all Sudden Death calls are attended by CID officers.
In the afternoon we visited the traffic garage and were able to sit on a large police motorbike and see what great technology it was equipped with. Their incident response vans are so high tech that they have their own power source and air conditioning.
The evening was spent in a gem of a restaurant, which is hands down the best Spanish food I have eaten outside of Spain. We were joined by two other members and even had the fortune of seeing our host sing Spanish songs whilst wearing a sombrero. A really great end to a fantastic second day.
On Saturday I had my first ever ride along in a foreign country and loved it so much I went twice. My colleagues were great fun and it’s good to see that not too much changes between countries with our customers and processes. It was such great fun, and I would definitely do it again. I have been trying to organise a ride along for close to 5 years and am thankful Andreas was able to make this happen.
The rest of the day I was taken on a private tour to the "House of History" by Andreas as well as a walking tour of Cologne. He has in-depth knowledge of so many buildings and the history behind them that there was never a dull moment.
Sunday was a particularly thrilling day as Andreas managed to secure the Marine unit for a trip up the Rhine. I learned all about the different instruments on baord their vessel as well as what their role entails. This is namely the controlling of safety standards and paperwork on all vessels every three months. We were even able to board a vessel and see our colleagues work first hand. The views were spectacular, and it really was a memorable experience that even Andreas had never done before.
We ended our exchange with lunch at the old DDR outpost in the airport before wishing our host farewell.
I am so happy to have taken part in this exchange and look forward to showing the many new friends I made, around London.
Andrew Wienand, 9 Region, London North (of the Thames) branch.
