Our President in Poland - Bruce Hutton Goes To Warsaw
New Zealand IPA President Bruce Hutton was the only southern hemisphere police representative in a crowd of 15,000 people when he attended the 15th anniversary of Warsaw’s International Police Training Centre last September.
The Training Centre invited two officers from each IPA member country to attend the celebrations and 60 officers from 23 different countries accepted. They joined national and international dignitaries, Polish police officers and thousands of schoolchildren and residents from the local community.
Russia sent along its Minister of the Interior and Mexico provided “lots of generals” to celebrate the anniversary, Senior Constable Hutton said. “They had bomb detector equipment, robots, all types of weaponry,” he said. They demonstrated action-packed mock-up situations that showed off their skills and training. Some abseiled from helicopters. Others carried guns and were dressed in full protective combat gear, capturing ‘suspects’ and keeping them handcuffed on the ground. “It was a big day. “Whole schools came, even though it was a Saturday,” Hutton said.
Despite Poland being a country undergoing huge change with little wealth available, he was impressed that police officers received two years of training and achieved such a high level of professionalism.
Hutton was of great interest to the Polish police and local community and many people wanted to talk to him. “I was different. “For a start I was bearded. “You don’t see many bearded policemen, “he said. And there was the white ceremonial helmet he wore that stood out among the sea of dark peaked caps worn by his colleagues.
And there was the connection between Poland and New Zealand with refugees coming here during the war. Hutton was stationed at Woodville at one point in his career, close to the Polish Children’s camp in Pahiatua and knew several Polish families who had settled in the area. One elderly lady told him she had the chance to go to New Zealand but had too many family commitments to take up the opportunity.
Hutton had only short bursts of time away from the training centre complex during his four day stay there. He saw buskers in Warsaw, cows grazing on village greens and the new memorial wall to Pope John Paul II.
Members of the Special Forces put on a heart thumping display for the 15th anniversary of Warsaw’s International Police Training Centre September 2005