International Attendees - The Novelty
Never Wears Off!
Despite the fact that the IPMBA conference has long attracted participants
from around the globe, the novelty of hosting guests from other countries
never seems to wear off. Perhaps it is the pleasure of introducing someone
from another culture to some of the charms and peculiarities of the
United States. Even if the same person returns
year after year, there is always something regionally specific to discover
and share.
The 16th Annual IPMBA Conference attracted participants from 34 states and
six countries, not counting the United States.
Australia was once again represented by
Adam Bernhardt, who was honored to have been selected to help teach
the Police Cyclist Course as part of an international cadre headed by
Canadian Chris Whaley. Chris was
joined by fellow "Ontarians" Liz Bouchard (University of Guelph Police),
Scott Elliott (Niagara Regional Police), and Tracy Swystun
(Windsor Police). Liz, Scott, and Tracy all successfully completed the IPMBA
Instructor Course, more than doubling the number of certified IPMBA Instructors
in Ontario! The province of Quebec was represented by repeat visitor George
Martin of Listuauj Police.
London Ambulance Service dominated the
UK section, with Keith Plummer and
Gerard Robinson in the Instructor Course being joined by Tim
Daniels, Lee Emmett, and Tom Lynch for the conference.
Tim Larrad was the sole police representative, becoming the first
IPMBA Instructor for the West Mercia Police. It would have been nice if they
had left the fine British weather at home! Or was it the
Irish who brought it with them?…
IPMBA was pleased to welcome the first participants from the Emerald Isle
- Joe Dunleavy and Morgan Oconnor, both with An Garda Siochana
and based in Dublin. Having been certified as IPMBA Instructors, they will
be delivering training to the Garda's 300+ bike officers.
Mike Satlow again came all the way from
Israel to attend the Maintenance Officers
Course, offer his Bikes Against Terror workshop, and assist with other sessions.
And finally, the country with more bikes than people sent an excellent
representative in Tommy Hamelink from the Hague Police in the
Netherlands. Tommy conducted several
well-received workshops on using the bike for crowd control and tactics.
At press time, IPMBA representatives were busily preparing to attend the
fourth annual 999 Emergency Services Cycling seminar, to be hosted by the
Hampshire Constabulary and held in Southampton,
England. An IPMBA Instructor Course will
be held just prior to the event, and several attendees from the Netherlands
are expected in the class.
Through its increasing presence around the globe, IPMBA continues to strive
to meet its goals of promoting the use of bikes for public safety, providing
resources and networking opportunities, and offering the best, most complete
training for public safety cyclists.
More Stories from the 2006 IPMBA
Conference...
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