Richie's Police Report

Mates in Mathews We travelled a bit south of DC last weekend to see a friend and former colleague, Carmen Chesney!   We always thought she was a Canadian, but it turns out she’s from Virginia, who knew? Recently she took the big decision to return home to Virginia taking her husband and dogs with her.  And what a great home it is! We stayed right on the river, the kids got to kayak and we got to enjoy a beer watching the sunset, all of which was brilliant.   The town we were in was called Mathews , which came fifth in the best small town in America contest a few years ago.  That’s a pretty big deal, given the huge number of small towns there are across this continent.  It was a nice place, it was also like stepping back in time.  We ate at a place called Richardson’s . It was straight out the ‘50s.  Thick milk shakes and wee milk bar to sit at.  If the Fonz walked in I’d not have been surprised! What I really noticed was...

Vocation and learning is alive and well in Maryland I had a great day out last Wednesday.  I was invited to speak to a group of 16 to18 year olds at  Frederick County Career and Technological Center  This is a vocational college which local kids attend for half a day, every day and spend that time training for a career after school, usually one that doesn’t include college or university.   I think we used to have such places in the UK and called them technical colleges.   What a great place it was!   There were classes for everything from hairdressing to car mechanics; from computer engineering to cake making.   There was also a class on medical biosciences which is often taken by kids wanting to go to medical school and is something medical schools like to see on applications.   Over and above the subjects on offer, the students learned business skills.   They managed this through running businesses using the college facilitie...

The State of the Union? Its been a bit of a couple of weeks of politics here, the UK Prime Minister was over last week and Tuesday was the ‘State of the Union’ address. This the the president's annual opportunity to set out in Congress how America is getting on and what his legislative programme is going to look like for the next year.  It looks very different to the Queen’s Speech but I guess the point is the same.  Some of the differences are in the aesthetics.  In the States the room is has a vibrant blue carpet and the seats are blue and yellow.  It is very different from the burgundy leather of the House of Lords .  Those present on the floor are in colourful ties and outfits, I always feel in Westminster it has a bit ‘men in grey suits’ look about it.  Those in the gallery are equally as bright, some in smart suits and others in bomber jackets, often marking out prior military service.  It's just a bit less formal than we a...

Metro disaster Washington suffered a real disaster this week.  The city runs on a great Metro system but unfortunately a couple of days ago there was an incident on one of the lines and a train filed with smoke in the tunnel.  I can only imagine the fear and panic as Washingtonians feared the worst.  Passengers had to walk along the line before many were taken to hospital, where one lady died.  The TV covered this incident well but I, like many, was left reflecting on what might have happened.  The TV coverage showed the FBI and the Department for Homeland Security at the scene.  This led many viewers to think something sinister had occurred.  Thankfully that was not the case; this was just a tragic accident.  Nevertheless, the response reminded me that we are fairly safe in this city and when we are not, there are many who are both ready and wiling to offer protection to those who call this city home. This is a line and station I fr...