Police representatives from 10 European countries arrived at the Garda training college, Templemore, Co Tipperary, this week to participate in a four-week language and skills course. The course is part of a series of co-operative measures between European police forces, Supt Owen O'Donnell, of the management school, said.
"One of the purposes of this programme is to increase police contacts within the European Community. Since the emergence of new democracies, post-Soviet Union, there is an increasing desire on the part of future applicant members of the EU for involvement in police matters," he said.
Among the 16 guests are ColJuris Jasinkevics, deputy chief of police in Latvia, who was born in a Siberian gulag under the Stalinist regime. He said that while the Republic and Latvia were similar in population numbers and geographic area, his country faced many problems as a transit country. "The EU's future is in key countries like the Baltic States because they will be its border," he said.
The group will learn about the Irish legal system, the history and structure of the Garda, the role of the Army and the function of Garda speciality units such as the Criminal Assets Bureau. They will also participate in a two-week language course. Their teacher, Ms Cindy Barbour, of the Language Centre of Ireland, said she was focusing on interviewing, negotiation and presentation skills.
Mr Jean Pierre Albarelli, a police commandant in France who specialises in immigration issues, said the building of links with other police forces was important. "We are going to have individual presentations as well so we can teach them our system," he said. Lieut Col Burhard Klein, of the Wolfsburg police in Germany, said there had been a lot of competition among his colleagues to get on the course.
"It is an occasion not just to talk about official issues but also about the individual careers of colleagues because everybody has his own experience of the job."
Supt O'Donnell added that there were also links established with John Jay College in New York under the McCabe Fellowship. "We would go over to look at certain aspects of policing, for instance the multi-ethnicity issue. New York is an ideal place to look at it because of its huge ethnic minorities."
Meanwhile, two groups will arrive from Penn State College, Pennsylvania, this year. They are interested in the Irish system of policing on drugs. "A feature they are interested in is the nature of policing using an unarmed police force," he said.
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