Friday, May 13, 2011

Technicial difficulties tend to make updating hard

Its been several days since my last update but I have an excuse!  Blogger's been down and and before that the hotel was having internet troubles.  All of which gave me an excuse to put off this entry.  Just thought I'd let you know its not all my fault...Anyway, Wednesday we ended up visiting the Central Police Training Center to be educated on how the the Metropolitan Police hire new officers for the police force (or police service, as they are known over here).  Essentially, people who want to join the police service are required to serve for a number of years as "specials".  Specials are volunteers who work for free, and the departments hire new officers out of this pool of volunteers based on how well they perform their duties.  It wasn't until recent years that they began using this system, but because of a lack of budget and funding they have had to find ways to make it harder to join.  After being selected, a recruit is given a total of 23 days of training which can be done all at once or split up depending on whether they have a job or not.  So not only do they spend several years working without pay, but they also get a surprisingly short period of training.  To be fair, however, they gain valuable experience as a special and because only the best are selected 23 days may be all they need.

We also visited one of the cities many police stations for lunch, a tour of their jail cells and another talk.  Constable Richard Watson gave talked to us about several things, but the subject that stood out was the equipment officers use in the UK.  As you may know, the police do not carry firearms in England.  Instead they carry tasers, CS spray and batons.  CS spray is pretty much pepper spray, as it has the same effects.  One of the batons officers who patrol in vehicles use is the ASP baton, as it is collapsible.

Yesterday we visited the Central Communications Command, which is the central command center for the Metro Police's emergency number, 999, as well as where the CCTV cameras prevalent in London can be accessed.  They are planning on adding a new non emergency  number, 101, which would free up their lines for the possibly life threatening calls they receive. 

We also visited Michael Messinger hall for hands-on combat training.  I hadn't brought exercise clothes, so me and a small group of other students sat on the sidelines and observed.  Noe of them will be able to spar a professionally trained fighter, but it was a good look at what type of training an officer would receive.  Probably one of the more interesting things about the building was the fact that it was originally built for the inquest into the Titanic disaster.  The building interior was built as a model of the bridge of the ship. 

Today was the first free day, and they continue into the weekend, so I think I'll cut it short here and have my next entry be about the weekend.  Till then, cheers!

-Pat

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