West Mercia Officer Takes Part In European Exercise

Chief Inspector Andy Udall from West Mercia Police's Operations Unit represented the force at a large European Union Police Force Training (EUPFT) exercise in Germany last month.

Chf Insp Udall, who works both at Shrewsbury and force headquarters Hindlip Hall in Worcester, explained: "This was part of our small but significant commitment to international policing, in preparation for sending certain specialist skilled officers overseas to contribute to the stabilisation of troubled countries recently emerging from war torn strife and civil unrest.

"I was pleased to be able to attend this prestigious event together with eight other British police colleagues. The numerous exercises were aimed at testing and evaluating the joint working practices and procedures of 16 different European police forces. The exercises were challenging and included serious public disorder and riots, fatal road traffic collisions, armed criminal activity, dealing with improvised explosive devices, armed kidnap and hostage situations, facilitating peaceful protest, political campaigning and polling day scenarios.

"While it was very apparent that we all work within different cultures, it was reassuring to discover that we all had the same aims and objectives and were very much part of a large ‘police family' with many skills and abilities in common."

Ch Insp Udall took part in the 14 day EUPFT exercise near Bruck, 70kms south east of Berlin, at a former East German military training ground. More than 300 European police officers took part and the event was paid for by the European Union in Brussels and police in Germany.

Ch Insp Udall continued: "It was very testing and although we knew the scenarios were not real, it certainly did not feel like that for my team within the HQ Unit and for those officers on the ground. Each scenario was realistically created and felt very genuine. Obvious difficulties with communication existed on occasions and although the common language used was English the heavy foreign accents heard over the radio network made it difficult to understand at times. This is a true reflection of possible operational difficulties during a live mission."       

The British response to the exercise invitation was organised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.   

Issued: Thursday 22 July 2010