I am delighted to be able to share my experiences on what can only be described asone of the best trips of my life. As a new IPA member, having only joined withinthe last year I did not dream such an opportunity would have been available to me,and then even after having learned I’d been successful in my nomination torepresent the Section UK of the IPA I would not have dreamed how fulfilling thetrip would be.
About 0600 Hours on Friday 8 October 2017 I left to catch my flight at the airport,in a state of considerable excitement. In all honesty also with a small degree ofnerves, this being my first IPA trip, I wondered would I make a good account ofmyself and the Section. I continued with broadly similar thoughts as I continued tomake my way through the various airports and connecting flights.
About 1700 Hours approximately local time, I arrived at Belgrade Airport, shortly
after stepping off the plane I was warmly greeted by: Natasa Mitrovic who sped methrough the airport and introduced me to other colleagues visiting from Austria,Norway and Germany who had also just arrived. Natasa then took us to meet VitomirGolusin, who would be responsible for our onwards transport to the hotel. Beinggrateful for any kind of pre-arranged transport the experience that followed wasbeyond anything I would ever have imagined. I and my international colleagues wereushered into waiting saloons, with motorcycle escort riders and blue-lighted to ourhotel through the city centre of Belgrade.
Arriving at our hotel shortly after we were booked in by our hosts and I had the
pleasure of meeting my roommate for the remainder of the trip: Derek Hignett ofDevon and Cornwall Police. I had spoken to Derek several times already via
telephone, after we had both learned we’d been successful in our nominations andcan honestly say I felt like I knew him already. Derek was also very good at
quickly alleviating the slight nerves I had about the trip.
After we got settled we quickly went down to the hotel restaurant where we sharedan excellent dinner with our Polish and Norwegian Colleagues, including OysteinWiik and Magne Langseth, who we would spend much of the rest of the trip with.
Everyone was wonderfully warm and as experienced IPA travellers were particularlywelcoming towards me. I especially enjoyed speaking to Magne who I was delighted tolearn like myself also specialised in Crime Prevention. Thanks to his excellentcommand of the English language we were able to converse for some time on thesimilarities and divergences in our respective practices of: crime prevention,community engagement and partnership working. Resolving almost from the minute wemet that we wanted to stay in touch and benefit from each other’s knowledge,possibly even setting up a conference together.
After dinner myself: Derek, Magne, Owlik and BojanMarkovic a local senior officer, decidedto head out to see a little of the city, which could only be described as beautifulwith a vibrant and friendly nightlife.
The next morning around 0900 hours we awoke to enjoy the excellent hospitality ofthe hotel and I had a chance to chat with Oliver Hoffmann of the German delegation.
We then quickly changed into uniform and were escorted to the Capital square for0930 hours where local officers performed a fantastic display in ceremonial
uniforms with flags of every nation present.
Around 1000 hours we then went to the National Theatre, which was clearly steepedin History. Having lived in Edinburgh for much of my life I am familiar withexcellent theatres, but was still impressed by the grandeur of the national theatreitself. Whilst the performances that followed were nothing short of breathtaking:
Police Orchestra, Police Choir, operatic performances, Folk dancing and music,
Ballroom dancing as well as eloquent speeches, kindly translated to English as wellas renditions of: Serbian, Serbian Police and IPA History.
From the theatre at around 1330 Hours we were escorted to Army House, where weenjoyed a fantastic lunch and had the chance to meet more international colleaguesincluding Daniel Hogberg of Sweden, who we would also spend the rest of the tripwith.
That afternoon I undertook to see more of the city, and in an effort to ensure my
tunic continued to fit (after the excellent hospitality) went for a run around the
city. I quickly established it was even more beautiful in daylight. I then spent
the afternoon in the spa with various colleagues, before preparing for the
evening’s gala dinner at 2000 Hours.
The dinner could only be described of one of the best evenings I’ve enjoyed in thelast several years of my life. As a collector of police memorabilia I was
enthralled with Stojanovic Slobodan’s amazing collection of police uniforms,
equipment and insignia on display at Army House, again one of the most impressive Ihave seen. This was followed by an excellent opening ballroom dance between ourhost: IPA Section President of Serbia: Aleksandar Baric and his beautiful andtalented dance partner. This was then followed by further dancing, bands, opera,singing, presentations and kind gifts from our hosts. At this point I was delightedto be able to give our gifts for our fellow delegates and wonderful hosts, which Ihave to thank my force and Branch for. A particular highlight of the evening was myroommate’s rendition of ‘My Way’, easily the show stopper of the evening. AlthoughI was glad to enjoy several hours more excellent company and dancing with my newfriends, before eventually accepting the inevitable at around 0200 hours the nextmorning that since the room was being dismantled: I, Daniel, Derek and other newfriends had to return to our hotel.
The following day I enjoyed a pleasant breakfast with what seemed like old friendsby this point and shared warm farewells with my new friends and colleagues from allover the world. Once again our hosts ensured we were well cared for, by picking usup and transporting us to the airport.
Ultimately I could never dream of thanking our hosts enough, for what can only bedescribed as a trip of a lifetime. President Aleksandar Baric and all of his
colleagues, too numerous to mention, were the literal embodiments of hospitality,professionalism, comradeship and above all else friendship. My thanks also do notend there, I owe every other visiting colleague a thanks for how friendly they wereand their contribution to such a memorable trip, in particular my UK ColleagueDerek. I also have to say a thank you to the IPA at Section, Regional and Branchlevel who all helped me with my trip in some way. As well as my force for theirflexibility with me and the Sport and Recreation Association.
Finally the mainpoint I would like to make with this article is that this trip was all about theIPA and would not have been possible without it, therefore I cannot commend highlyenough the IPA or the opportunities it presents to officers, including new members,particularly junior in rank/service officers such as myself. Therefore I would urgeeveryone to join the IPA and take advantage of the amazing opportunities itpresents to every one of us.
Yours in Friendship,
Lee Brodie.