Force Welcomes Visitors from India

Tuesday 16 October, 2012

A team of high-ranking Indian police officers visited West Yorkshire to see for themselves how local policing is here for good.

A delegation of 73 officers arrived on Monday (15 October) to begin a two day visit of the Force.

The officers visited every division as part of the Anglo-Indian collaboration between the two governments on justice issues.

And top of their to do list was a strategic course to help the visiting officers gain a better understanding of local policing systems, structures and partnership working in West Yorkshire.

Supt Owen West of Force Training School said:

“I was delighted to welcome our Indian colleagues to the Force.
“They got to see first hand how our officers in this country deal with the issues they face on a daily basis.
“It was a two way process and we all shared our experiences from policing in our respective countries.
“Crime does not conform to local, regional, national or even international boundaries and it is vital in the modern age for Forces to work with others across the world.
“By hosting visitors such as our Indian friends we are forging important relationships for the future.”

On the first day of the visit officers attended the Force Training School where they were welcomed to West Yorkshire by Assistant Chief Constable John Robins.

The delegates then joined Assistant Chief Constable Geoff Dodd to observe officers from the Local Policing Department talk about their work.

They then went out in smaller groups to visit all divisions across the eight territorial divisions - a mixture of rural and urban areas – to gain a strategic overview of the particular Division.

The visit was part of a wider two week study tour of the UK organised by Cambridge University.

All of the officers are part of a mid career training programme aimed Indian Police Service Officers at Deputy Inspector General level with between 14 and 16 years service.

Neil Wain the Director of the programme, and former Assistant Chief Constable with Greater Manchester Police said: "This is a great opportunity for the sharing of knowledge and experience between the two countries. Such learning and relationships are vital in the modern world as policing tasks, such as terrorism, human trafficking, drugs and cyber crime know no boundaries and are truly international. This visit is also a great way for local West Yorkshire officers to build up their own knowledge of different communities and cultures which can only benefit their relationships with the communities of West Yorkshire".

"In recent years the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has taken a bold step to outsource the delivery of their senior officer training to, not just an external organisation but a foreign one. In many respects this is a groundbreaking programme that could be described as a visible representation of what might be delivered by the new British College of Policing that is being established this December."