The oldest city police department
in the world seeks IPMBA training
by Kirby Beck, PCI #002T/EMSCI #017
Coon Rapids PD (MN)
IPMBA Past President
Near the end of 2002, the IPMBA office
was contacted by Inspector Anthony Moore of the Metropolitan Police at Scotland
Yard in London. He wanted an IPMBA Police Cyclist Instructor (PCI) to come
to London and train some of his officers. As the largest, most visible police
department in England, "The Met" wanted to lead the way in standardized bike
patrol training and policies for British police. Inspector Moore had been
told that IPMBA was "the place to go" for experience, professionalism, and
high-quality training; his research proved that was true. When asked if I
would be able to travel to London for the purpose of training bike officers,
I jumped at the chance. After all, the Metropolitan, founded by Sir Robert
Peel in the 1820's, is the oldest city police department in the world. Much
of what we still do day-to-day was originally developed by the Met. I used
to keep a copy of Peel's Principles For Modern Policing in my COP office.
A government group for transportation alternatives in London, called Transport
for London (TFL), was already working with the Metropolitan Police to address
crime problems at transit stops. One of the tools they implemented was the
Met's first true mountain bike patrol. The bike patrol was used to provide
saturation patrol in selected areas where robberies and other crimes were
on the increase, affecting patrons' sense of safety and threatening the use
of transit and trains. TFL agreed to provide a grant to the Met for high-quality
training and for expansion of the bike patrols. This grant enabled them to
bring an IPMBA PCI to London to conduct the Police Cyclist Course. It will
also enable them to send several Met officers to the IPMBA Conference in
Charleston to continue their education. Inspector Moore invited personnel
from three other departments to participate in the training - Hampshire,
City of London, and North Yorkshire.
I was in London from February 2 - 14, 2003. I was lodged in a police house,
converted into a dorm-type facility, right next to Peel Centre - the Metropolitan
Police training facility - near Hendon in North London. The training center
can accommodate several hundred students, and has three 13-story dormitories
to house the recruits during their 18-week basic training. The entire
Metropolitan Police is comprised of over 26,000 officers.
Most of my time was spent working or preparing for class, as I was scheduled
to present at a conference and conduct two four-day PC Courses. I did have
about two days and several evenings to enjoy the sights and history of London.
This limited exposure and the warm hospitality has piqued my interest in
another trip to England someday.
The conference took place on February 3 at the New Scotland Yard. It was
a daylong national conference on police and medical bike patrols, and the
first such meeting of that scope in the UK. There were police, medics and
vendors from all around the country. I was pleasantly surprised that medics
were already using bikes nearly as much as the police. London Ambulance Service
operates a nearly full-time bike patrol in Central London. The coordinator,
Tom Lynch, was at the conference and gave a presentation on the team and
its success. Tom, a former BMX and mountain bike champion, is incredibly
knowledgeable and motivated. It sounds like he is currently a member of IAMBU,
but he has put together his own training program. I put a bug in his ear
about IPMBA's EMS programs.
I was asked to give a presentation on bike patrol uniforms and uniform policies
found in the United States. It was during this presentation that I became
aware of the differences in our culture-specifically, our slang. While discussing
the purpose of a chamois and the type of underclothing to be used or avoided,
I told the attendees that it was important to "take care of your fanny."
Moore winced noticeably and looked like he was about to have a stroke. We
were, after all, in the bowels of the ultra-politically correct environment
of Scotland Yard. Each email he had sent from Scotland Yard concluded with
a half page of "PC" disclaimers and warnings. Anthony was apparently visualizing
the final years of his career spent counting buttons in the Quartermaster's
warehouse. "You can't say that word at Scotland Yard," he told me. "Which
word, fanny?" I asked him, and his face took on a purplish hue as he cringed
again. By now the chuckles from the coppers in the room were quite evident,
albeit muffled. "Okay," I said, totally confused. Later, after the laughter
died down, I was told that the word was slang for the front part of a female's
bottom. Certainly it wasn't the first time in my 50 years that I'd put my
foot in my mouth, nor do I suspect will it be the last. I later learned that
fanny packs are called something like "bum bags." So next time you're in
England, be careful what you tell people you are wearing!
Another cultural difference I noticed was the ability of the average British
person to cycle safely in traffic. The streets in the UK, like those in most
of Europe, are incredibly narrow and crowded. With parked cars present, there
is rarely room for a car to legally pass a cyclist. Cycling on footpaths
(sidewalks) is strictly forbidden. Because of the heavy traffic and lack
of safe cycling facilities, English schools are required to train children
to bike in traffic. They seem to do a much better job than the American schools.
These officers knew how to ride in traffic and were comfortable doing so.
It was a good thing, given the roundabouts and left-side riding I encountered
for the first time.
Despite their skills, the Police Cyclist Course still offered a challenge,
and they honed their basic and slow speed handling skills, perfected safer
ways to overcome obstacles, and learned how to use the bike as a complete
law enforcement tool. Quite a contrast to the British bobbies of the past.
They rode simple three speed-type bikes, often their own, as transportation
around their beats. They wore their regular uniforms and did not use their
bikes to chase people or respond to emergencies. The bikes were used more
for public relations than to supplement foot patrol. This new generation
of "Biking Bobbies" was learning to do far more than their predecessors ever
would have imagined.
Almost every officer passed the Police Cyclist exams and obtained IPMBA Police
Cyclist certification. Several good candidates indicated an interest in becoming
IPMBA Instructors. I'm confident we will see them at future IPMBA conferences,
starting with the 2003 IPMBA Conference in Charleston, West Virginia.
Kirby can be reached at
Kirbyp42@aol.com.
© 2003 IPMBA. This article first appeared in the Spring 2003 issue of
IPMBA News. |
