An Australian experience at Gimborn
Arriving at the castle in Gimborn, Germany was an experience in itself. It is a beautiful castle set in the woods amongst a tiny village where you immediately get the feeling that time stops, which is reinforced by the fact that there is limited phone coverage and internet connection. For me, I loved the thought of sleeping in and living in a castle for a whole week especially as we have nothing like it at home in Australia. I could further appreciate this when we were given the history of the castle on the first day which was built in the 1600’s - this was before Australia was even discovered. As interesting as this history was however it did set for an unnerving week as we were told of the myths and legends of the castle including the phantom black hound and various ghost sightings that were seen and heard in the castle. This made our walks home from the bar each evening entertaining, with peoples imaginations growing and others taking it upon themselves to frighten others. We were able to see the vulnerability of others, regardless of their gender, size and rank.
The conference I attended was “Family Liaison Issues – victim support after crimes and/or disasters”. Our group consisted of police from Norway, Cyprus, Germany, United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland. It was great to be surrounded by such a diverse group of people, but as always when you meet with other police, despite the differences in culture there is that common police bond. The conference consisted of a Swedish kidnapping case study, a lecture about domestic violence support by German police andFamily Liaison issues by the British police and the Danish police. It was interesting to exchange ideas and systems in these areas, where similarities and differences between national police forces were exchanged. The value of exchanging ideas and information from varying police forces was apparent, as we all contributed to each contingent of the conference.
The benefit of exchanging information allowed for me personally learning new skills and proficiency, but to also to bring back information to the New South Wales police force. I have began to conduct meetings with the relevant areas that may benefit from this information and am in the process of compiling a comprehensive paper that will assist the department in bettering and improving certain processes. It was not until I was able to network with international police forces that I was able to appreciate the great significance that regular information exchange delivers. It is an area where unfortunately due to the isolation of our country that we are somewhat disadvantaged.
The end of the week saw some disruption to most of us on the course at Gimborn as news began to filter back that volcanic ash from Iceland had caused flights around most of Europe to be cancelled. This saw the creativity of people using various means to find their way back home. For me, I unfortunately had to cancel my plans from a week I had planned in Nottingham so kindly arranged by Detective Chief Inspector Michael Luke where I was to spend some time with the CID and serious and organised crime sections, as well as visiting the IPA headquarters. I did however eventually manage to get myself to London a few days later than I had originally planned to, where I was able to visit Scotland Yard, in particular the Scotland Yard Crime Museum – something I would recommend that any police officer visiting London can manage to get themselves to. I was also able to spend some time with the Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit and was lucky enough to visit 10 Downing Street.
The friendships that were formed during this time support exactly what the meaning and purpose of the International Policing Association represents. I am sincerely so thankful that I was given this opportunity through the Arthur Troop scholarship and would like to acknowledge my National Section of the IPA and commend them on what a brilliant job they have been doing in constantly improving and building up the IPA in this part of the world. I would also like to acknowledge Stephen Crockard the assistant International Secretary General and also thank my department within the New South WalesPolice, Australia for being so supportive of this study tour. I would encourage anybody else to seize any similar opportunities as this, as the experience gained is greatly significant.
Emma Cassar
Detective Sergeant
NSW Police, Australia