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| Dom and Mike on Masaryk Square with Radek |
Background;-
The project had been
suggested at the Mayor Making event in Bridgwater 2014 when both Mayors of the
twinned towns met and a proposal for a
Police Exchange was agreed by Insp Pritchard who had considerable experience of
International Police work.
At subsequent
meetings, Brian Smedley of Bridgwater
International, acting on proposals from Insp Pritchard, developed a programme
with the co-operation of UH Town Council but a lengthy delay occurred due to
elections in UH in October 2014 which saw a change of Mayor.
It was agreed that
whilst the UH council/Police would fund the incoming British Policemen
(accommodation, food,programme, transport) the only funding therefore available
for the Czech incoming Police would be
funds generated by charging the UK Police for the visit. This would be reserved
in a kitty by Bridgwater International to cover an incoming visit (planned
provisionally for November 2015)
Two sessions including
a powerpoint presentation were provided by Bridgwater International with the UK
Police officers before travel.
Finances ;- Both officers paid a total of £382 each (£764). Airfare was £321.96
leaving £442.04 to cover an incoming trip. No profit was made by Bridgwater
International during this project. No subsidy was received or is expected from
Bridgwater Town Council. Some additional help with budget was given by Mr Antonin Machala of Altech sro (and the
founder of the Bridgwater-UH link). Elements of the Police programme was
subsidised by Bridgwater International.
An additional request for hold luggage
totalling £34 was submitted by the officers to carry extra equipment. This was
paid for but has not yet been reimbursed.
The officers flew Bristol to Prague on Thursday 12th Feb 2015 by Easyjet and were met at the airport by
Brian Smedley and taken to join the tail end of the programme by visiting
Bridgwater College students. This included overnight accommodation at Hotel
Arlington (Prague), an evening meal and social with Czech music on the 12th
plus a touristic programme with the students on the 13th including
metro passes , a visit to the Resslova Crypt and a meal at the Parachutista
restaurant. This was paid for by Bridgwater International.
On the evening of Friday 13th
Feb UH sent a car and driver to
collect the officers + Brian Smedley and all were driven to UH (3 hours). A
meal on route was paid for by Bridgwater International.
Accommodation was
provided for all 3 from 13-16 Feb at the Hotel Mlynska. Single rooms,
breakfasts included.
In the afternoon a private visit to a Goose farm was organised by Bridgwater
International for PC Bryant.
In the evening a wine tasting was arranged by the
inspector of the Town Police Mr Paurik
including food in the wine cellar of a friend.
The State
Police arrange the programme for the remainder of the day including
accompanying State police officers on their duty in police cars-largely
speeding and road traffic operations or patrolling areas of concern such as
abandoned warehouses, supermarket complexes and railway sidings.
UH council paid for
the officers to have a meal at the Orlovna restaurant.
Bridgwater-UH Friendship Link.
On Monday 16th
February the officers were taken to witness a demonstration of weapons used by state and town police. This demonstration was
held in Salas at the outdoor shooting range and was paid for by the UH
council with the co-operation of arms
company Ceske Zbrojovska. Officers
attended this event out of uniform and didn’t participate in handling the
weaponry. Cllr Smedley chose not to
accompany the group to this event. Food was provided at the firing range.
They
received in return 2 x town police hats.
A reception in UH town hall by the Mayor (Stanislav Blaha) and town councillors for the officers included a debriefing session where all sides
could speak of their experiences. The UK officers presented mr Blaha with a
plaque from the Avon & Somerset Constabulary.
A meal was provide by
UH council in the evening at U Sestka restaurant.
On Tuesday 17 February the officers continued to work with the
Czech Police and took part in a visit to the Police HQ after which they were
given a meal at Hotel Mlynska and then driven back to Prague airport for the
flight home.
Summary;- The visit was an extremely important event on the twinning calendar and precisely because of this Bridgwater
International wished to ensure the event went ahead despite the problems
regarding funding and the slight confusion about who was paying and whether it
was an official police trip or a private visit. Costs were kept down by subsidy
from Bridgwater International and our sponsors .
