Washington and on...

Leaving on a jet plane

This has been a bit of a busy week for me, spent, in the main closing down my apartment, saying goodbye to friends and preparing to board the bus back home to Edinburgh.  All of which has been a good bit harder than I expected!

First off, I’ve managed to accumulate a lot of stuff, such as bedding, pots and pans and the like.  Craigslist is a fantastic place to stick these for sale, but many of the responses were not what I had expected.  I priced everything to sell -  there was no room in my hand luggage for the two single beds my kids slept on - so my prices were low.  To that end, responses were high and not always from people wanting to buy.  I got, I think about 60 calls, emails and texts for each item from people who wanted what I had for free.  I got calls from homeless shelters, families in poverty and homes for battered women all looking for my stuff.  I don’t know if that happens when things like this go on Gumtree in the UK -  I’ve certainly never experienced it -  but it was certainly an unusual list of enquiries I got in the States.  One of the things that made getting rid of my kit difficult was the snow.  The day I put these on was the worst day of snow in DC for years and everyone wanted to come ‘tomorrow’ except one guy.  He worked for a shelter for women who had been abused and said he would come now as ‘these ladies have nothing’ and snow was not stopping him getting them something (I checked out both the shelter and him and he was completely genuine).  So, I watched all my kit head off to a women’s shelter in DC last Thursday leaving me with a near empty house but with a warm fuzzy feeling.  That was nice.

The weekend was spent trying to fit everything into a couple of cases…these ziplock bags are an absolute lifesaver!  And meeting friends for the last time to say goodbye.  This bit was important.  I’m pretty good in my own company, but one of the challenges of Fulbright, for me, was the loneliness.   When I arrived in the States I knew nobody.  No one met me at the airport; no one showed me to my apartment or around campus.  It was, at times a very lonely affair.  Being the resilient soul that I am, I got on with it and met some great characters along the way who took me under their various wings and showed me parts of Virginia I would not otherwise have seen.  One of the things I did stick in at during my school days (and there were few of those indeed!) was piping.  The ability to torture a set of pipes has taken me to some far flung parts of the world and has given me common ground with people I’d otherwise not have met.  So it was in Virginia and, armed with no more than a practice chanter, I joined some great people at the City of Alexandria Pipe Band who introduced me to new tunes as well as to various parts of the Virginia and, indeed, New York that I would not otherwise have come across.  Please check them out and give them a wee Facebook ‘like’!

Once the bags were packed, it was a few beers in Glory Days on Monday night with the characters that lurk there before getting up on Tuesday, my last day in the States.  It was nice to revisit the White House once again and, I guess like so many, I wanted to stand at the spot on the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King stood and take in that most iconic of American views for the final time before a last lunch of oysters and chilli in the Old Ebbitt Grill amongst the tourists and politicos before heading for the airport and home.

Hockey…Embra style!

It was nice to get back to Scotland on a dreich March morning.  It was fantastic to see my wife and kids again and great to walk around my home city. One of the things I really enjoyed about the States was the ice hockey.  I spent a fair bit of time either at the Verizon Centre watching the Caps or in Glory Days doing the same.  So, with that in mind, I got us all tickets for the Edinburgh Capitals last night.  Like so many things about this whole adventure, it was very different but just the same.  At Murrayfield, we were in seats that cost a tenner (the same row DC would have cost $600).  In Edinburgh it was sausage rolls rather than hot dogs and Bovril rather than beer.  For the benefit of my American mates, Bovril is a hot drink which can best be described as thin beef gravy…sounds great, eh?  But the thing that was most Scottish was the support.  In the US, supporters were in the main passive in their cries…’referee, you suck’; goalkeeper from the other team ‘you suck’ and ‘Lets go Caps’.  In Edinburgh the cry was rather  less passive “get intae them”!  It was a nice reminder of Scottishness and great to be back!

The highs and not too many lows

So, one of the questions I’ve been asked of the last couple of weeks has been about the best and worst bits of this adventure.  Something that’s impossible to answer in a single sentence, experience or place. However, there have been a few stick out moments, on both sides of that particular fence.

So, what were the highlights of this wee adventure?  Professionally, it was being around some top police departments.  Leesburg, Roanoke, Manassas, and New York Police Dpartment

being some of the stick outs.  I got an understanding in these places about some of challenges US cops face every day.  Particularly, the everyday risk of active shooter incidents - my experience in Leesburg really gave me pause for thought in that regard and there was certainly allowed me to take away so very good learning as a result.  There were also the ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences that colleagues shared with me.  Driving into Manhattan and being told how the skyline looked on September 11th, 2001 and hearing the experiences of officers who were working that day will remain with me for a very long time.

What will also remain with me is the professionalism and vocation of the officers I met.  They were in the police for the same reasons as me -  public service.  We shared similar values on both a personal and organisational level, which was reassuring.  I was left feeling that Police Scotland are on pretty much the right track in terms of the values the Service holds and which it asks officers to live by.

On the downside, well not much really. I guess the big thing was the occasional lack of access I came across.  Some departments simply didn’t return my calls or emails, which was disappointing and some policing bodies promised me a great deal before I arrived and delivered very little once I got there.  I don’t really know why that happened.  I did arrive in the States just at the time of the Ferguson shooting and got home the day two cops were shot in that town.  I guess a foreign officer turning up to ask about values in policing may not have been the easiest thing for some senior cops to talk about during that period. However, the upside of that was that it spurred me on to make contact with other places, where I might not otherwise have gone, NYPD being a great example of that.

Being away from Scotland for so long has, I think, given me a perspective on policing here that only distance can bring.  I’ve followed the coverage of what has been happening in my Service with interest.  That coverage has come from UK news channels, American news channels and the print media on both sides of the Atlantic along with the perspectives of cops on both sides of that waterway.  One of the things that has become clear to me during this adventure is that policing is, pretty much, policing wherever you go, as long as you go to democracies!  Stop and Search or, as the Americans call it Stop and Frisk is equally sensitive in both nations.  The use of guns on by cops is also something that raises temperatures, concerns communities and challenges policing in similar ways in both nations.  That surprised me: cops in the States carry guns, so you’d a thunk that it would have create less impact when they were used. I guess for many that may be the case.  However, when the cops shoot and kill, people ask a lot of questions in America or the UK.  I think that’s a very good thing; police officers who carry a gun also carry a huge amount of responsibility.  It’s right that the use of the former is balanced and tested against the latter.  

Decision-making by police officers can, at times, be a very complex business.  One of the ways that police are thinking about this is through the introduction of body worn cameras.  There is  huge amount of money being devoted to this in the States and some tests currently being undertaken in the UK.  I guess for me, the fundamental question around this is ‘who are the cameras pointing at’?  By which I mean, are the pointing at the cops to make sure they are doing their jobs right or are they pointing at the public so others can see what the police see? This is one of the questions that academics and police departments in the States are wrestling with just now.  I look forward to hearing the answer.

On an experiential level, there were many great highlights.  Some obvious, others less so.  Thanksgiving dinner was a real highlight.  To enjoy this ‘low expectation’ holiday with some really great people was a particular bonus.  Another one was eating ribs in Cozy Corner.  That was the place where the taxi driver, Frank, would not let me leave without him as he thought I’d not make it too far from the restaurant without getting stopped and searched…and not by the cops!!  The ribs were great though as was standing eating burgers in a carpark with 50,000 other people before the football.  It was good to see NFL, it was great to do it on a tailgate and get a chance to enjoy the whole experience.   Graceland and Memphis were fantastic and New York was good to see, even if it was the coldest place I have ever visited on earth!  All fantastic memories.

My perspective was also changed on a few things and reinforced in other areas.  My thoughts on the military certainly were changed by my American experience.  An acknowledgement of service personnel at pretty much every public event certainly got me thinking about how I feel about the military and how that can be separated from any policy that deploys them.  This was brought home with particular impress at the Concert for Valor - half a million citizens celebrating their military was quite moving and, indeed, most impressive. 

The national pride of the Americans also moved me.  I loved the way that anthems were heard in silence and how all members of any particular crowd respected these…something I wish we had in Scotland, but it’s not a situation I think will arrive anytime soon.

I’ve really enjoyed my time in the States.  I didn’t quite know what to expect when I got there but what I found I very much liked.  I enjoyed the ambition of the place, the pride citizens have in their country and the kindness I came across.  This was truly a once in a lifetime experience for me and it was one I was grateful for every day over the last five months.  I do think it is an experience that’s changed me.  I feel a bit more mellow and my perspective on Scotland and policing has changed in ways which, I hope, are positive.

Thanks all

I’ve been really grateful for the friends I’ve made in the States and the new experiences they have made possible for me.  One of the things which prompted me to apply for Fulbright was that I had only ever lived and worked in Edinburgh and wondered what an alternative would look like.  As location for this alternative experience, DC could not have been better.  I came to a city of huge diversity, great opportunity and fantastic architecture.  I arrived in a country where nobody ‘kent yer faither’ and where ambition and hard work could well result in reward.  I travelled to places that, I never thought I would and during it all I’ve been proud to call myself a Washingtonian and Virginian.  I very much hope to return to both again.

Writing this wee weekly update has been fun too and I am incredibly grateful to all everyone who has read or commented on my ramblings over these last 20 weeks, I have greatly appreciated it.  

I am both thankful and appreciative to both Fulbright and Police Scotland who allowed me to undertake this adventure.  I’ve learned lots thanks to the former and hope to apply that learning within the latter.

I’m now ready for re-entry into my real life and I’m looking forward to that too.  On Friday night I will have a cold beer and look back on what has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.

So what I’ve learned this week and on this adventure?

Very simply lots, and I’m grateful for it all!

Thanks again for reading and with very best wishes, take care

Richie