Four Polish police officers visited a Fenland police station today as part of a fact finding tour of the country.
Officers Tadeusz Jurczynsici, Janusz Rodzorski, Kriysztof Burdair and Tomasz Wojtowicz met with Fenland Chief Insp Mike Winters and Det Insp Dave Murphy at March Police Station.
They were given a tour of the station and sat down to discuss the different challenges and approaches that exist in the two countries.
At the end of the tour, the Polish guests were presented with helmets as a memento of their brief visit.
Chief Insp Winters said: “We talked through some of the differences and similarities between us and the challenges we face.
“There are a lot of differences in our cultures and our approach to weapons.
“We learnt some interesting stuff about the relationship between Polish and Lithuanian people and why tensions may exist there.
“We also talked about the exploitation of workers. We discussed whether exploited people who commit small crimes are victims or offenders and whether we should prosecute.”
Det Insp Murphy was interested to learn more about the symbolic nature of tattoos on Lithuanian and Russian people and how they can show where someone is in the criminal hierarchy.
During the trip, the Polish officers have visited Cambs Police’s Huntingdon headquarters, where they spent time with the traffic department and were shown the armoury.
Before they return home on Saturday, they will visit Peterborough station to learn about the CCTV system and the control room.
Polish officer Mr Jurczynsici said he and his colleagues have found their stay in England a fascinating experience.
He said: “It has been fun and an informative experience. We were impressed by the automatic vehicle registration technology you have because we don’t have that in Poland.
“For me it was interesting to visit the armoury because I have the same job in Poland.”
As part of the International Police Association exchange programme, Police Sgt Martin Monger visited Krakow to learn about Polish policing.
He said: “They have a very different approach so I think this visit has given the officers an insight into our community policing.”
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